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Topic: CFB 51 Cookbook, equipment discussion, techniques

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MaximumSam

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No, it's easy to get really good tortillas down here.
I don't hate the quality of those I can buy, though I'm not sure exactly what type I'm going for in an enchilada. 

utee94

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Sounds awesome!

MarqHusker

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I'm down to the final proteins I found in our deep freeze when my wife went on a furious Costco run in March.  A pair of st. Louis spare rib racks.  Thinking about going really slow with this.  I think 225 ish will be my target.

utee94

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I'm down to the final proteins I found in our deep freeze when my wife went on a furious Costco run in March.  A pair of st. Louis spare rib racks.  Thinking about going really slow with this.  I think 225 ish will be my target.

That's the ONLY temperature I ever cook pork spare ribs at. :)

3-2-1, bingo.

betarhoalphadelta

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250-275 is plenty safe for ribs. But I usually shoot for 225 as well.

MarqHusker

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Alright utee, what's your 3 2 1.  Its funny there are about three, 3 2 1s I've heard people talk about.  

utee94

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225 is fool-proof which is why I use it.  Going hotter works fine but requires a little more interaction from me, on most of the offsets I've ever used.

3-2-1  method for pork spare ribs:

3 hours on the smoke at 225

2 hours wrapped in heavy duty aluminum foil at 225.  You can keep it on the smoker, but since now it's just a heat source, you can also just move it to the oven for this step.  They should be fall-off-the-bone at this point, which is actually a little loose for my taste (and for most BBQ competitions if you're into that stuff)

1 hour with the wrapping open, to firm them back up.  However, the 1 hour is actually a little too long for me, you'll have to experiment on this step.  For my it's typically closer to 30 minutes for this step.

So my 3-2-1 is really 3-2-0.5 but that doesn't sound as good :)


betarhoalphadelta

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Yep. Some people put stuff in the "wrap" step too... I've heard of apple cider, additional rub, honey, etc. Usually they go on for the first 3 hours with the bones facing down, then during the wrap you put them meat-down, and back to bone-down for the final unwrapped step.

But the idea is that the first 3 hours give you the smoke flavor and a little bit of bark. The next two hours is effectively a braise to get them tender, and the final hour is to reset the bark and dry out the surface so it's not mushy. Also that final bit (20-30 minutes), if you sauce your ribs, is a good time to get some sauce on them and let it warm up and get sticky. 

Baby back ribs are often suggested that you go from a 3-2-1 to a 2-2-1, but I find myself preferring 3-1.5-0.5 with baby backs... I rarely cook spares, actually, primarily baby back. Although I probably need to start increasing my times to maybe 3-2-0.5 because I usually buy really meaty racks from Costco that take a little longer. 

utee94

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I also used to smoke brisket at 225, for the same reason.  It's REALLY tough to screw up and overcook a brisket that low, and my offsets typically dial in really well at 225.

However, for the past few years I've been perfecting brisket at 285-300.  I have to work a little harder dialing in the temperature on my pit, but I've pretty much got it down now.  The advantages are a faster cook on a large hunk of cow, and I haven't noticed any disadvantages in texture of flavor, so that's my new normal.  It's also where I do beef ribs, in that same 285-300 range, so if I'm doing them at the same time, it works out well.


utee94

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Yep. Some people put stuff in the "wrap" step too... I've heard of apple cider, additional rub, honey, etc. Usually they go on for the first 3 hours with the bones facing down, then during the wrap you put them meat-down, and back to bone-down for the final unwrapped step.

But the idea is that the first 3 hours give you the smoke flavor and a little bit of bark. The next two hours is effectively a braise to get them tender, and the final hour is to reset the bark and dry out the surface so it's not mushy. Also that final bit (20-30 minutes), if you sauce your ribs, is a good time to get some sauce on them and let it warm up and get sticky.

Baby back ribs are often suggested that you go from a 3-2-1 to a 2-2-1, but I find myself preferring 3-1.5-0.5 with baby backs... I rarely cook spares, actually, primarily baby back. Although I probably need to start increasing my times to maybe 3-2-0.5 because I usually buy really meaty racks from Costco that take a little longer.

Yeah, and lots of folks will spritz their ribs with ACV throughout the cooking process as well, but I'm firmly in the "leave the door closed and let smoke and time do its thing" camp.  That's another benefit to 225 over hotter temps, you're not going to get any burning that would require a spritz anyway.

I don't sauce my ribs and in general don't like "wet" preparations for BBQ.  Dry rubs are the Central Texas thing, and it's the way I like it, but there are plenty of ways to skin that cat.

For pork spares, my dry rub is 1:1 with Bolner's Fiesta Pork Rub, and Montreal Steak seasoning.  Apply liberally.  I also slather on yeller mustard first, so it's not COMPLETELY a dry rub preparation.  But if you don't want to bother with those seasonings, straight salt and pepper works great, too.  Down here in Texico we call that "dalmatian rub."


betarhoalphadelta

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I've been reading that competition cooks are almost universally 275 these days for brisket. At that temp you're not in danger of burning, but it'll help you power through the stall a little faster and reduce the cook time. Like you, I don't see any problem with the end product.

I'll actually do pork butt at 350. The big thing there is to watch out for sugar in the rub, because sugar will burn at 350. But other than that, pork butt is so forgiving that it takes the temp well, and because you're shredding it anyway you don't need to worry about the texture the same way you would with brisket. It comes out great.

I haven't done beef ribs smoked in a while... Need to do that again. Do you do individual ribs or do you just buy the 3-bone slab and smoke it whole, then cut? I usually go with the slab...

utee94

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Definitely do a full slab of beef short ribs.  And get the short ribs off the plate, if at all possible, those are bigger and meatier than chuck ribs.  Don't get me wrong, chuck ribs are tasty, but plate ribs are the really big bronto bones. 

285 for for as long as it takes to probe like buttah, usually something like 7-8 hours.





utee94

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(the above beef ribs are not mine, someone on surlyhorns recently posted them.  But they got a really good cook on them, you can tell how moist they are, with very good fat-rendering, and smoke ring to boot.

I love beef ribs, they're probably my favorite BBQ in the world to cook, and eat, but a little goes a LONG way, they're so rich.  I might be able to eat maybe 1/2 of one of those ribs and I'd feel stuffed at that.

betarhoalphadelta

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We're doing the coca-cola braised short ribs in the instant pot for the eldest who is about to become a teenager for his birthday. 

My good butcher is the place to go for whole slabs of short ribs... But sometimes $70+ for 6 lbs of meat requires a special occasion... Particularly when I can buy brisket for $3.29/lb at Costco.

 

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