Damn what bar do you hang out at. The French Laundry is spendy. good call on SRF. I look forward to the end. When is the contest.
It's a local dive bar, pool hall in Martinez, CA called Que & Brew.
I didn't take any pictures, I was smoked. I was up at 3:00 AM prepping things.
My cook was very trying to say the least, My stoker unit died, I was chasing temp swings the whole 5 hour cook. I ended up buying ribs at the restaurant supply store instead of S.R. Farms. I completely winged it, stepping way out of the box from my normal rib cooks in the past.
Friday, the day before the contest, I was at the Mexican store picking up a few things that I needed. As I walked by their meat counter, I saw them putting out quarts of fresh lard, and a light bulb went off in my head. I thought heck I use tallow on my briskets, why not try lard as a binder on my ribs. A few hours before the cook, I slathered my ribs with the lard and Blue Hogs pork rub then wrapped them in plastic wrap until I was ready to toss them on the smoker.
I chased temps the whole cook, my saving grace was a small handheld computer keyboard duster, which I taped to the air inlet on my smoker. With the fan running, I was able to get my temps up to 250*, I went through 12 AA batteries. LOL!!!
When my ribs reached 155* internal temp I pulled them off and wrapped them in pink butcher paper. I slathered the paper with more lard, Kosmos peach Jap pepper glaze, some more Blue Hog rub a touch of Accent and sprayed the ribs with 30/50 mix of peach/ apple juice, then back to the smoker until they reached an I.T. of 190*. At 190* I took them out of the pink paper and glazed them with some Blue Hog original BBQ sauce that I added some Ancho chili power to add a little heat. Then, I thinned down the sauce with a little Shiner Bock beer. Before the turn in, I was completely pissed about my smoke, everything that could go wrong in a smoke went wrong. My ribs had hardly any pull back, but they felt tender, and had great color. Turn in was an undressed foil pan, and you had to turn in two full racks, I cooked three, to send one home with my Mother, so I never even tasted my ribs before the turn in thinking that I completely screwed the pooch. To my surprise, shock really my name was called out as the winner out of 11 teams. I scored a 69 out of 75 total points, all three judges said my ribs were some ribs they ever ate. The lady Judge that worked at the French Laundry came over to sit down with me to ask about my recipe and smoking method, she said my ribs were the best she has ever tasted, and that the looks, taste and texture were 100% spot on.
I was dumbfounded, to say the least, and I still hadn't tasted my ribs, then the bar owner asked me what I thought about the taste and texture. I told her that I figure I wasn't going to make the call, so I never tasted them. She walks away and comes back carrying a foil pan with my number on it and say here, eat these. There were only three ribs missing out of two racks I turned in, I gave one to my Nephew, little Brother, Father and I ate one and handed the rest out to spectators. I have to say, the ribs were as close to perfect as I have ever tasted or made. The pull was perfect, and they were a cross between sweet, savory with a touch of heat at the end. I couldn't believe it with all the troubles that I had with my temp control.
I used B&B competition char logs, they burned super clean and lasted the whole smoke with only burning through 1/2 of my coal basket, I used two plum sized chunks of hickory, and two chunks of cherry wood.
This was my first solo contest, and man it was a sh!t ton of work for one old broke down guy. All and all I had fun, and I'm looking forward to my next contest.
I think the larded wrapping really helped hold in the moisture, and added a little flavor to my ribs. I'm buying a new stoker unit with my earnings, unless BBQ Guru wants to send me a new one to support me in my contests.
I'll post a picture of the trophy, since I didn't have time to take any pictures of my ribs. I know, I know I need to snap some pictures next time.
I'm smoking up a few racks for my family this week.
Thanks for taking the time to read this long a$$, rambling post.
Dan.
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on Cimarron Doc's. It's been a favorite on the competition trail for years. It does lean sweet, in fact sugar is ahead of salt on the list of ingredients. If you grill salmon, try a light coat on it. It's also really good on winter squash, and as a seasoning for baked beans.
