First Epic Ribs Cook

[Heuer]

I decided to give spare ribs a go on my KJ Classic for the first time. Read up quite a bit, including John's excellent 'Book of Knowledge', but decided to follow the KJ’s own Chef Eric Gephart’s method which cut the cooking time in half; was so simple and easy to do compared to the other methods. His mantra is "3, 2, 1 is too long" resulting in mushy meat. He suggests 45 minutes on each side at 300F, wrap in foil preseasoned with honey, light brown sugar, Dijon mustard and unsalted butter and then back on the grill for 45 minutes a side. I presalted the two racks of ribs for an hour and then used Meathead's Memphis Dust (salt free) rub I made up as per his recipe on 'Amazing Ribs'. Only substitution was using Maple Syrup rather than honey for the half way point. Smoke was courtesy of a couple of chunks of Pecan.

 

I thought this was going to be a complete disaster by using Meathead's rub and Eric's method which itself seems to go against all the 3,2,1 advice but the results were quite stunning. Meat fell off the bone but still had that nice bite. Eric's recipe tutorial is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3czUlCntWTo&t=635s

[eric]

Looks Great!!

[K_sqrd]

Looks like you nailed smoking ribs. Great job and they look delicious.

[jark87]

Looks great! I recently cooked almost the exact same recipe - Memphis dust (with added jalapeño powder for extra punch) and following Chef Eric’s wrap recipe with honey and butter. My ribs still came out too tender. Taste was great, but you couldn’t pick up the ribs without having them fall apart. My wife loved the taste and has been after me to cook them again, so I’m encouraged by your success!

[CentralTexBBQ]

@Heuer, nice looking cook!!! What were your sides?

 

@jark87, a properly seasoned fall off the bone rib is still pretty amazing. So, while I shoot for a nice bite through rib, I don't sweat it if it goes past that point during the hold, which it often may. It's not always possible me to eat them as soon as they come off because I am doing large cooks and multiple proteins. But, I opt not to wrap during the cook in order to achieve the type of bark I prefer.

[Heuer]

Sides were coleslaw, potato salad with sweetcorn and corn bread along with a nice bottle of red. There was some BBQ sauce on the table but it was neither used or required.

 

It seems the traditional 321 method is appropriate for wood/pellet smokers because they have a very free flow of air and low humidity. Kamado's on the other hand have a very low flow of air and maintain a high humidity hence the rib meat will end up mushy if the cook is too long. I also did things differently (by mistake!) for each of the racks. The first one copied Eric's gung-ho 'performance' use of the honey/mustard/butter/sugar whilst for the second, directed by my wife, followed his recipe quantities exactly - 2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard, 2 Tbsp Honey or Agave syrup, 2 Tbsp Sugar in the Raw, 5 Pads Unsalted Butter cut ⅛ Inch thick, 2 Tsp BBQ Rub.

 

The second rack turned out better than the first as the meat was firmer with nicer bite whereas the first rack had softer meat, fell off the bone more and was too sweet. I guess there was too much moisture as I overindulged the quantities by probably double! Also been advised not to be afraid of probing the meat tenderness 15 minutes or more before the recommended cook time end. All part of the Kamado learning curve

 

Back to familiar territory this afternon with a Paella on the KJ.

 

[Golf Griller]

I still have not done spare ribs on my grill, but your ribs look a lot better than my first attempt at doing baby back ribs,

[KamadoChris]

Looks good, and we like the Memphis Dust rub here too. I tend to aim for about 275° and do a 2.5-1.5-.5 for spares, they don’t turn out mushy but are fall off the bone tender. 

[Rob_grill_apprentice]

Good looking ribs