Year of the Pig

WOW. I feel that I have a lot to report on from this weekend, as there was a lot of Pig action. Let me start by mentioning that for the past couple weeks I have been reading Paul Kirk’s book “Championship Barbecue” which I got shortly after my review of his restaurant, R.U.B. (see the Ribulator, Entry #15). It’s a pretty great book with a lot of good information about barbecue, and a ton of recipes. It will make you dream about delicious smoked meat. Last week, I had busted out the smoker to try some of his suggestions for chicken and I was not disappointed, but this weekend it was time to smoke the real deal: RIBS.

***A BASIC WORD ABOUT MY SMOKER: First off, I have THIS SMOKER which is an electric “bullet” or “water” smoker. I think that review is pretty accurate. This smoker is ok, but definitely not awesome, so I wouldn’t run out and buy it. I may have to try some of the modifications that guy suggests, or just go for a Weber Smokey Mountain. That said, the advantage of this smoker is that it is damn easy and low maintenance. Turn it on and it basically keeps a constant temperature, and you can walk away and not worry about it. It certainly has its limitations, including the fact that it seems barely able to get up to the temperature it needs to be at. Also, I don’t think that it generates quite as much smoke as a a charcoal smoker would, but that said, it does a pretty nice job and is a good way to get started smoking. For those of you that don’t know, the electric “bullet” or “water” smoker is basically a little cylindrical tower that looks a little like R2-D2. Inside, it has a heating element in the bottom, around which you put your wood chips or chunks. This provides the heat and the smoke. Above that is a water pan, which helps to stabilze the temperature, and keeps the smoker moist. Above that are 2 18-inch racks, where the smokables go.

Anywho, I got up early on Saturday morning and got out the ribs I had bought the day before from the local supermarket. The ribs looked pretty good to me, trimmed St. Louis Style. Alissa and I did our best to remove the membrane from the bone side of the rack. It definitely takes a little skill and is annoying, but it’s a must. Once done, I followed a basic technique from the Paul Kirk book, coating the rack in a Mustard Slather (recipe below) and then sprinkling them with a basic leftover rub I had from last summer. After that, it was into the smoker. I put the ribs on the top rack, and under them I put a big bowl of pinto and kidney beans (mixed with onion, garlic, bell pepper, leftover mustard slather, and ketchup) to catch all the porky drippings. I put a mix of hickory, apple and oak chips in the smoker pan, and let it smoke.

It seemed like that temperature stayed around 210 or so, and I smoked it for a total of about 5 1/2 hours. For the last half of that time I basted the ribs with the “Memphis Basting Sauce” (see below).

We took the ribs out and I thought they were pretty damn good. They were tender and tasty. This is definitely on the track to my ideal cooking method for ribs. I mean, you just can’t beat smoking.

I think the rub could have been set a little more, and maybe been a little more assertive, but the actual meat was nice and tender, smokey and flavorful. We ate some for dinner–I had 4, bringing me up to 63 ribs–and wrapped the rest, about a half rack, in the plastic wrap and put them in the fridge. I would like to add the that beans were delicious. I think that smoking under pork is about the best way known to man to cook beans.

But that is just about half the story cause there was more to come on Sunday…stay tuned for part 2.

RECIPES
The Baron’s Special Sauce (aka Mustard Slather):
1 Generous Cup firmly packed light brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 Teaspoon White Pepper
1 12-ounce can beer, flat
1 32-ounce jar prepared yellow mustard
2 tablespoons Louisianna hot sauce

Memphis Basting Sauce
3 cups water
1 1/2 Cups red wine vinegar
3/4 cup Heinz 57 (I substituted KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce)
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
1/4 prepared yellow mustard
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon Seasoned Salt
2 Teaspoons Liquid Smoke (optional)
***Combine and simmer over medium heat for 15 min. Use Baste warm.

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