Three Layer Cake - The Cooks' Ribs

Food - Recipes

Friday, 12 May 2006

The Cooks’ Ribs

These smoky, tender, sweet pork ribs blew me away the first time I tasted them. Besides the meat melting-off-the-bone, each rib had a deeply caramelized crust that reminded me of the coveted burnt ends from pork shoulder or beef brisket. I had to find out what made them so special. My good friend Gary Pantlik created this recipe with fellow Swine and Dine barbecue circuit team member, James Prescott for a local Memphis rib competition and—no surprise, it won top honors. Their secret is in the basting “bath” that the ribs are dipped in no fewer than 5 times during the barbecuing process. Since Swine and Dine competes in shoulders, the boys have time to prepare some of these special ribs for the cooks—thus the name. It requires a grill with a lot of “real estate” and some extra effort, but these ribs are worth it!

Grilling Method: Indirect/ Low Heat

8-24 racks of back loin or baby back ribs
½ gallon Wicker’s (vinegar-based marinade) or Lexington-style Vinegar Sauce (below)
4 cups (2 bottles) Italian dressing, any brand
1 ½ cups Willingham’s WHAM dry rub or favorite rub, divided
1 8-ounce squeeze-jar of clover honey

Special Equipment:

Rib Racks(s)
Smoker Box and Hickory or Oak Chips or Pellets
Large aluminum loaf pan, 13 x 5 x 3 ½

The night before you want to serve them…

Prepare the Ribs:

Remove the membrane on the back (if desired) and generously sprinkle them with rub. Once rubbed, take each rack and cut in half. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

When you are ready to cook, remove ribs from refrigerator and allow them to reach room temperature. Pre-heat the grill and bring the temperature down to 250ºF degrees.

Prepare The Bath:

This recipe replaces basting with bathing. In a large disposable aluminum loaf pan, mix the Wicker’s or 2 recipes of the Lexington Vinegar Sauce, Italian dressing and about ¼ cup of rub. Place the pan on the grill to keep warm.

Once the grill is at 250ºF degrees, place all the ribs on the grill and let the smokin’ begin. The temperature will drop a bit, but that’s OK. Maintain a temperature of 225ºF degrees.

After an hour has passed, the ribs will be ready for their first bath. Using a sturdy pair of locking chef tongs, submerge each slab in the bath pan. Give them all a good dousing and return them to the heat. Repeat this process each hour until the ribs have been on the grill for 3-4 hours.

Finish the ribs:

Take each slab and give it one last “bath”. Place on two-layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil for wrapping. Drizzle honey on slab and finish off with one last dash of dry rub. Repeat process for each slab. Stack 2 to 3 slabs on top of each other per foil package and wrap tightly. After all the ribs have been wrapped, place them back on the grill for 1 ½ more hours. Let them continue to slowly cook in the foil packages on indirect low heat, about 225º F. These ribs will take a total of 4 ½- 5 ½ hours to cook.

Remove foil packages from grill as needed and serve. Enjoy the Bliss!

Serves between 8 and 48, depending on appetite and number of racks cooked.

Lexington-Style Vinegar Sauce

Double this recipe if using instead of Wicker’s for The Cooks’ Ribs

2 cups cider vinegar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon ground white pepper
½-1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (the more flakes, the hotter the sauce*)
2 tablespoons white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ cup ketchup

Mix all ingredients together and let sit at least 10 minutes or almost indefinitely in the refrigerator.

Makes 2 ½ cups

(*Note, the longer the sauce sits, the hotter it gets since the heat from the red pepper flakes is brought out by the vinegar. Start with ½ tablespoon red pepper flakes and then add more to taste. )

Recipe adapted from Taming the Flame: Secrets to Hot-and-Quick Grilling and Low-and-Slow BBQ written by Elizabeth Karmel and published by John Wiley & Sons

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