Baby Back Brine?

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qman

Newbie
Original poster
Nov 20, 2007
27
10
Hey good folks! Q man here!

I read a little about BRINING Baby Backs. Anyone ever done that before? I have brined both Chicken and Turkey (I swear by it) but never a slab of baby backs.

I am going to smoke 4 slabs this friday.

I was going to marinate them overnight in the fridge first.
Here is my mixture:
4 slabs
covered in:
coca cola
Apple cider
Apple sauce

Then, take em out the next morning, Let them get to room temp, then coat them in my rub right before the smoke.

Then I was going to keep em "moist" with a water pan in the smoker, and spray them every hour or so with a 50/50 Apple Juice, Apple Cider mixture.

Any suggestions?
thanks!
q
 
I personally, have never brined ribs, but I don't see why you could'nt
try it. I have heard of people using soda to marinate with before with good results. Have you tried this on anything before?
 
Yup I have heard give it a try and let us know-I have heard of DR pepper.
 
I would be worried that between the soda and the cider it would start "cooking" the ribs and likely make them mushy....
Try maybe 2 just for the heck of it but to ruin 4 slabs of BB's would be tragic!!
 
My only thought was that to do a traditional brine, Water, Salt, brown sugar, would enfuse too much salt. Im not a fan of over salty ribs.

For a marinade, I have used just coke before. I tradionally use Apple Cider and Apple sauce. I thought I woiuld mix it up on this batch.
I let you know how they come out.
q
 
As I mentioned below, I normally marinade my ribs in Apple Cider and Apple Sauce over night. I also have used just Coke. I just thought Id mix it up a bit.

I see what you are saying about combining them though. Any idea for a different marinade you like to use?
thanks
q
 
Well my BBQ friend, I always assumed that marinading the meat would tenderize and add flavor to the meat. However, I have also seen many a chef NOT use a marinade. What is your approach to the perfect rib?
Thanks for all your guidance.
q
 
Low n slow is your tenderizer and smoke is your flavorizer!!
IMO ribs, well any meat for that matter need nothing more than some simple seasoning and some good smoke and the flavor and tenderness come automatically!!
Try a rack of BB's with just salt n pepper and some nice apple smoke and you will be blown away!! If theyr'e not tender enough, spend more time on your cooking style than trying to cover the taste of the meat!
Good luck and let's see some pics!
PDT_Armataz_01_29.gif
 
I agree with Bubba on this one. Coke will probably make the ribs sorta mushy. If coke will eat ground beef when soaked, will do the same for pork. Enough fat in ribs to make tender when done, as Bubba said, "low & slow".
 
I'll third that, no need to mess with the ribs like that, but by all means don't let that stop you, it may turn out to be exactly what you are looking for........who knows. I know for me, I have to try things atleast once.....all about expanding your knowledge.
 
Guess the rationale escapes me. For ribs all you need is rub and smoke, and maybe an occasional spritz of some sort of juice while smoking. Last backs I did had a good coat of rub that developed into a fine bark after a few spritzes of apple juice with "a bit" of Jack in it. Last hour I basted with Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ Sauce. Killer ribs.
 
Ok, wow you folks got me thinking! When you guys say low and slow, I guess we are talking 225 for 6 or so hours? How long and at what temp do you guys like to use?

I cant buy hunks of apple wood, only the apple wood shavings. I also like to use a combination of hickey wood and misquite.

I have a Char-Grill DUO with a SFB and use hard wood charcoal as my base heat and the wood chunks (soaked in water) for the smoke. I am having a few friends over tomorrow and now Im doing 5 racks of ribs. So any more suggestions for that perfect rib would be awesome!

I am using the rub recipe I got from the owner of this board, and that seems to be ok. Any other rub recipes you would suggest? I plan on using an apple juice spray during the rib process to keep em moist.

Thanks to all for your suggestions. Ill do this batch without the usual marinade and Ill get some pic as well!

Looking forward to your replys!
Thanks!
q
 
Never tried a wet brine but last weekend I used some Tender Quick in Jeff's rub to see if it would add a ham/ bacon taste to the spares. It did a little but I can't say I liked it that much. The idea sounds better than the taste. I might try a full on bacon dry cure for a few days dwell time and see what that would be like, but just to try it, not for guests.
Jimbo
 
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