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Thursday, September 5, 2013

The Never Ending Quest for the Perfect Rib

While we seem to have figured out our pork recipe for competition, ribs have been a nemesis as well this year.  So, off the the R&D labs to search for some improvement.

First, I took some spares, removed the membrane from the back, slathered in yellow mustard, and applied an even coating of Oakridge BBQ Secret Weapon Pork and Chicken rub.


Due to my friend Mark's suggestion, I am now going to cook my spares on this handy rack from now on (more on why later).


I then lit our Stretch and brought to a temperature of 250 F.  I then added apple, hickory, and pecan to the ash pan for some flavor.  Then, the ribs went on the smoker.  Here is a picture after an hour on the counter.  I let them sit out to come up to room temperature and to give the rub to make a nice coating on the rib.

I cooked for three hours, then placed the racks in a large foil pan.  Our cooling racks fit perfectly.  Then a added a mix of 1 cup peach preserves and 1 cup of apple juice to the top of the ribs and evenly distributed.  Then, I placed foil on the top and put back in the smoker for one hour.  Here is how they looked after that hour.


I then added our Blues Hog rib sauce and placed back into the smoker for one more hour.  Here the ribs are after saucing and before placing on the smoker.  I am loving that red color.


Here is the final product.


With the higher temperature (we were cooking at 235), we are now getting a product that is more tender.  Maybe even boarder line "too tender" for KCBS judges.  We will probably go back to 45 minutes in foil.  As for the taste, it was good, but I did not care for the peach preserve taste.  We will be moving back to our Tiger Sauce recipe.  Cross your fingers and wish us luck.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

2 comments:

  1. Fruit flavored sauces are not my favorite. We are supposed to judge the meat and not the sauces. We see a lot of ribs that are too tender. You have to figure the time it sits in the box too. They sure look good.

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  2. and I have learned that I do not care for fruit flavored sauces either.

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