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Ribs


Martyn Catanach

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It all depends on which ribs you are buying.

The Bookers ribs (Yellow Box) are really meaty and will take more cooking than the Supermarket trimmed to the bone ribs.

The method 3-2-1 is a starting point. 3 hours with rub on and naked, 2 hours foiled with a little Apple Juice, 1 hour sauced and naked to crisp.

With the Bookers ribs I use this, 2.5, 2.5, 1 method. Cooked @ 105C/220F naked for 2.5 Hours. Foiled and added Apple Juice for 2.5 hours. then naked to crisp up.

Then it's all down to personal taste, to sauce or not, fall of the bone or with a bite.

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The meaty ribs are worth getting and 2-3 ribs from the rack will make a meal for most people.

As Steve says the 3-2-1 is an almost foolproof method if you like fall off the bone ribs. I started off using this and have since adapted the method to my own preference. All ribs cook slightly differently and so may need to be assessed close to the end of the cooking time. The method I now use is "2.5 - 2 - up to 0.5" at a temperature of 120 C / 250 F.

The ribs have a lot of meat but also they have a membrane that covers the inside of the ribs. You can leave this on but it it not pleasant to eat as it stays quite tough even after cooking

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Here is a video that shows how to remove the membrane

The ribs then need to be trimmed as at the thick rounded edge of the ribs contain a lot of cartilage that is not good to eat. Trim the ribs by cutting along the joint where the solid ribs meet the cartilage - this leaves a rectangular strip of ribs known as a St Louis cut.

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Do not through away the trimmings as there are cooked alongside the rib rack and the meat removed afterwards for use in other dishes.

Liberally coat both sides of the ribs and also the trimmings with your favourite rub. Place in a large plastic bag (or vacuum pack) and leave for at least a couple of hours or, preferably, overnight.

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Smoke for 2.5 hours at ~120 C

Dilute your favourite BBQ sauce 50:50 with tomato ketchup and brush liberally on both sides of the ribs. Wrap in 2 layers of foil and return to the smoker for another 2 hours.

After 2 hours check to see if there is sufficient meat pull back. You should be seeing about 1/2" pull back from the tip of the bones but this can vary by rack of ribs.

Unwrap the ribs and place back in the smoker for up to 30 minutes to dry the surface or until cooked to your preference.

Wrap again in foil and leave for 30 minutes before cutting into individual ribs before serving. These are best eaten like this and you should not need to add any additional sauce.

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Great to see those pics Wade as I'm picking up my first racks of meaty ribs from Wilkes this Thursday to be smoked over the weekend then vacuum packed andfrozen ready for the following weekend when I'm away with friends, so great to have a reminder of exactly what I'm doing as I've mainly be doing pulled pork and brisket of late.

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The meaty ribs from Wilkes are frozen and so you should ask them to move them to the cold store on the morning you are picking them up. That way they will be ready for removing the membrane and to take the rub that night.

Last weekend I had a full BBQ load too. 6 Kg of pulled pork, 3 racks of ribs and a 3 Kg fatty. I will be posting the step-by-step fatty guide over the next few days.

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I bet they were delighted with the food, a great way to have a do!!

I can see that the taste of lamb isn't to everyone's taste.

I'm hoping a combo of pulled pork, pulled lamb, beef brisket and meaty ribs will impress my friends next weekend - and ruin the old fashion sausages and burger type bbq for them forever!! xD

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From my preferred butcher they work out at £5.35 per Kilo. I bought 3 ribs last time which was a total of 6.8 Kg this made each rack approximately 2.26 Kg each = ~£12 each.

At Bookers they are £3.70 per Kilo (10 Kg box) and so the same size ribs would work out at about £8.36 each.

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I'm definitely going to have to do some eating from the freezer to make some space then get myself over to bookers at some point! That said Wilkes gave me a lovely discount for working here, worked out at something like £4.50 a kilo or thereabouts if I remember rightly, and saves me having to trek over to Tunbridge Wells or Canterbury!

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  • 9 months later...
On 9/26/2017 at 8:29 AM, Smokin Monkey said:

It all depends on which ribs you are buying.

The Bookers ribs (Yellow Box) are really meaty and will take more cooking than the Supermarket trimmed to the bone ribs.

The method 3-2-1 is a starting point. 3 hours with rub on and naked, 2 hours foiled with a little Apple Juice, 1 hour sauced and naked to crisp.

With the Bookers ribs I use this, 2.5, 2.5, 1 method. Cooked @ 105C/220F naked for 2.5 Hours. Foiled and added Apple Juice for 2.5 hours. then naked to crisp up.

Then it's all down to personal taste, to sauce or not, fall of the bone or with a bite.

Bookers is the wholesaler for Businesses and Charities?  If so dammit I am at mercy of local butchers. Got some spareribs today to cook tomorrow on wsm. Look alright but not meaty enough to be honest still it i what it is.

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