- Aug 27, 2008
- 5,170
- 409
I’ll be covering several aspects of my methods for ribs and a butt, with a few twists from the normal, as I’m looking to do a bit of tweeking on a few things today.
I’ve wanted to do a rib comparison for quite some time and hopefully put to rest the debate on which we like the most. Also, I wanted to pass along a new method (for me) on finishing a butt…let’s find out how this works out, shall we? So, this venture will be all about the quest for tender and juicy pork with a natural bark…no spraying of juices, no mopping and no added sugars.
For the novice rib smokers, I’ll be doing a side-by-side comparison, with approximate cook-time of 2.64lbs Baby Backs, 2.88lbs St Louis cut spares and 5.39lbs un-trimmed spares. I just happened to have a slab of each in my q-freezer, so what could be more convenient than that?
I also get to try my Red Bell Pepper Rub on a 8.4lb pork butt, which I’ve been curious about doing since my last several smokes with that rub.
For the ribs, I’ll use the same rub, smoke and braze liquid (water only) so I can do a side-by-side comparison of taste & texture of each with the rub. We’ve all agreed that we love this rub, now I want to find out which ribs are our favorites, if possible. The full-slab of spares will go into the smoke first, as they have a heavy cross-section with the rib tips intact. I figure about 2 hours more smoke time than for the St Louis & BB’s to get approximately the same finished texture. I’ll be looking for a light twist and pull of the bone to remove it from the slab, with a finish on the grate for a natural bark. This should be a nice combination of bite, chew and tenderness.
I’m smoking the butt to ~160* to pan/tent and hold @ 200* overnight to pull for Saturday’s lunch. This time, I’m going to be using an accessory rack for supporting the butt in the smoker and transferring to the pan/tent. This will give me a few extra tricks I can do: (1) avoid removing any bark by handling the meat with direct contact; (2) keep the butt elevated above the drippings while steaming; (3) allow me to place the butt back into the smoker if I want to firm up the bark, again without direct contact with the butt, and especially to reduce the risk of it falling apart before getting it onto or off of the grate, as temp-hold steaming will make it extremely tender. Once the meat hit’s the rack, it stays there until finished. Think of the entire method as the 8-12-2 for butts.
I’ve done the smoke, pan/tent & temp-hold method for two briskets in the past month, and I was rewarded with moist and tender pulled flat, so, I figure I can’t go wrong with this method for a butt.
Lets get started smokin’, shall we?
The butt, BB’s, St Louis and un-trimmed spares getting ready for their date with rub and mesquite:
Smoke today provided by the Smoke Vault 24 with mesquite @ ~225*
Butt on @ 11:20 am
Spares on @ 11:20 am
St Louis on @ 1:05 pm
BB’s on @ 1:05 pm
The butt on an accessory rack:
Butt @ 1.75 hours in, getting ready to add more ribs:
Spares @ 1.75 hours, just beginning to sweat:
St Louis up front, BB's in the back:
All loaded up for the day:
Thanks for peekin'! More to follow soon!
Eric
***EDIT*** Here's the dry rub recipe: http://smokingmeatforums.com/forums/...ad.php?t=92566
I’ve wanted to do a rib comparison for quite some time and hopefully put to rest the debate on which we like the most. Also, I wanted to pass along a new method (for me) on finishing a butt…let’s find out how this works out, shall we? So, this venture will be all about the quest for tender and juicy pork with a natural bark…no spraying of juices, no mopping and no added sugars.
For the novice rib smokers, I’ll be doing a side-by-side comparison, with approximate cook-time of 2.64lbs Baby Backs, 2.88lbs St Louis cut spares and 5.39lbs un-trimmed spares. I just happened to have a slab of each in my q-freezer, so what could be more convenient than that?
I also get to try my Red Bell Pepper Rub on a 8.4lb pork butt, which I’ve been curious about doing since my last several smokes with that rub.
For the ribs, I’ll use the same rub, smoke and braze liquid (water only) so I can do a side-by-side comparison of taste & texture of each with the rub. We’ve all agreed that we love this rub, now I want to find out which ribs are our favorites, if possible. The full-slab of spares will go into the smoke first, as they have a heavy cross-section with the rib tips intact. I figure about 2 hours more smoke time than for the St Louis & BB’s to get approximately the same finished texture. I’ll be looking for a light twist and pull of the bone to remove it from the slab, with a finish on the grate for a natural bark. This should be a nice combination of bite, chew and tenderness.
I’m smoking the butt to ~160* to pan/tent and hold @ 200* overnight to pull for Saturday’s lunch. This time, I’m going to be using an accessory rack for supporting the butt in the smoker and transferring to the pan/tent. This will give me a few extra tricks I can do: (1) avoid removing any bark by handling the meat with direct contact; (2) keep the butt elevated above the drippings while steaming; (3) allow me to place the butt back into the smoker if I want to firm up the bark, again without direct contact with the butt, and especially to reduce the risk of it falling apart before getting it onto or off of the grate, as temp-hold steaming will make it extremely tender. Once the meat hit’s the rack, it stays there until finished. Think of the entire method as the 8-12-2 for butts.
I’ve done the smoke, pan/tent & temp-hold method for two briskets in the past month, and I was rewarded with moist and tender pulled flat, so, I figure I can’t go wrong with this method for a butt.
Lets get started smokin’, shall we?
The butt, BB’s, St Louis and un-trimmed spares getting ready for their date with rub and mesquite:
Smoke today provided by the Smoke Vault 24 with mesquite @ ~225*
Butt on @ 11:20 am
Spares on @ 11:20 am
St Louis on @ 1:05 pm
BB’s on @ 1:05 pm
The butt on an accessory rack:
Butt @ 1.75 hours in, getting ready to add more ribs:
Spares @ 1.75 hours, just beginning to sweat:
St Louis up front, BB's in the back:
All loaded up for the day:
Thanks for peekin'! More to follow soon!
Eric
***EDIT*** Here's the dry rub recipe: http://smokingmeatforums.com/forums/...ad.php?t=92566