Barbecue ribs. Don’t those words alone just make you miserable until you get your hands on a rack? Well, hit up the butcher shop on your way home because Barbecue Bible author Steven Raichlen dished to us how to DIY these babies to come out just exactly right:
• Never, ever boil ribs before grilling.
• Meat that is “falling-off-the-bone” tender is meat that has been overcooked: Strive for tenderness, but with some chew.
• Remove the tough, papery membrane on the back of each rack of ribs (if your butcher hasn’t already done it) before grilling.
• Season the ribs on all sides with salt and pepper or a spice rub up to an hour before grilling. Or you can marinate them for several hours.
• Indirect grilling is a nearly foolproof method for cooking ribs. On a charcoal grill, divide the coals into two opposite piles with a disposable foil drip pan separating them. Cook the ribs, bone-side down, over the drip pan. If you own a gas grill, preheat it to the desired temperature, then turn off one of the burners—the middle one if your grill has three—and grill over the unlit part. If the grill is a two-burner, turn the ribs from time to time so they cook evenly.
• Designed to hold racks of ribs upright, a rib rack will enable you to fit four racks of ribs in the space normally occupied by two flat-laying racks.
• Spray or mop ribs after the first 30 minutes of cooking with a thin savory liquid (even beer) and every 15 minutes thereafter to prevent the meat from drying out.
• Because the sugars in barbecue sauces burn easily, sauce ribs only at the end of the cooking time, sizzling over direct heat. Watch carefully.
• Racks of pork ribs (spares and babybacks) and lamb ribs can be cooked on a rotisserie or spit.
• Ribs are done when the outside is darkly browned and crusty, the meat has pulled back about 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the ends of the bones, and the meat’s tender enough to pull apart with your fingers.
Nestpert: Steven Raichlen is the host of Primal Grill™ and Barbecue University™ on American Public Television, and a multi-award-winning author. Raichlen wrote the best-selling Barbecue Bible cookbook series (Workman Publishing -- more than four million copies in print), including his authoritative new book, the 638-page Planet Barbecue documenting two million years of grilling in 60 countries on six continents. www.BarbecueBible.com
-- Erin Walters
Jul 26, 2010
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