We're finally getting some nice weather here in Buffalo NY. I decided to bust out the smoker today and make a little Sunday barbecue!
This was my first attempt at smoked ribs. I started out with my traditional rib rub.
Rub
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
I mix the rub in a bowl until all the ingredients are mixed well then sprinkle over the ribs. Once the ribs are lightly coated with the rub I grind some fresh pepper over the top and sprinkle with a little sea salt.
Cooking
I used a 3 2 1 approach for cooking the ribs. The concept is cook for 3 hours at a low heat unwrapped. 2 hours wrapped in foil at low heat. 1 hour sauced at low heat unwrapped. I kept the smoker between 300 and 400 degrees for most of the time.
I woke up to rain, but it cleared up during most of the cook. The last hour it started raining pretty hard :(
I got the coals nice and hot and then added a couple pieces of firewood for heat and smoke. I went to three stores this morning looking for hickory or apple wood. Best I could find was a package of "firewood". So I made do with what was available.
Once the meat cooked for about 3 hours I cut them in halves and then wrapped them in foil. I added a few tablespoons of 50/50 solution of apple cider vinegar and water to each wrapped half rack.
You can see it was raining outside buy this point. Once wrapped they were cooked an additional two hours.
Once unwrapped they're cooked for an additional hour covered in barbecue sauce. I used a Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Barbecue. That's my favorite and I've never attempted to make my own... I may have to do that soon.
End Result
For the most part the ribs came out decent. This was my first attempt at smoked ribs and I think they came out a little overly smoked as far as flavor. I'm guessing that had to do with the wood I used too.
I'd like to take a second attempt at ribs on the smoker using different wood. The meat texture was perfect and the ribs were just at the point where they fell off the bone. These weren't the best ribs I've ever made, but they were far from the worst. I'd definitely attempt this again!
This is post 11 of 31 of this months #HiveBloPoMo