Jon
As far as making ribs, there's nothing wrong with cutting them in half to fit
your grate. Webber sells a rack that will fit on a kettle grill even, that will
allow you to to make five racks of ribs. It is a rack that has slots so the
ribs can stand upright instead of lying flat. The only thing you will want to
do is make sure you rotate them every hour or so so that the racks closer to
the heat source are changed out.
Of course make sure that the meat is not facing the cols for the first hour or
so in order that it doesn't dry out. Keep your water pan full, and the fire
even. You know the usual stuff.
For the best ribs I find the KISS principle holds best. I make a basic rub out
of garlic powder, chili powder, black and white pepper, brown sugar and paprika
for color. Some cayenne pepper for heat, some cumin for earthiness.
The trick is to use mustard or water on the ribs so the rub adheres to the meat
before you put it in the smoker. And, obviously, the type of wood chunks or
chips you use makes a diference too. Do not soak the wood chunks. That is so
common among barbecuists and it just makes a mess on the fire (it makes it
smolder, drops the temperature in the firebox and makes htings take longer.)
Just drop two to 4 wood chunks on your initial fire, then add another one every
hour or so, depending on how smoky you like things. Take all the bark off the
chunks too. That's where fungus and impurities live, in the bark.
The oven ribs smoked over tea leaves was in the book
"The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001-2013"
and probably in subsequent editions. It's titled
"RAINY DAY BARBECUED RIBS"
I made it a few times and it is very good, though I use my own rubs instead of
there's.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jonathan Rawlings" <twosocks76@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blindcooks@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2017 07:42:55 -0800
Subject: [blindcooks] Re: What have you been cooking lately?
Rob:
Where do you find the ATK recipe where ribs are cooked over tea leaves
in the oven? I haven't come across that one yet. I tried the rib recipe I
mentioned because it seemed a good starting point in my quest to make
perfect ribs. I was wondering if I could cook the ribs much the same way on
my smoker, but begin smoking them heavily once they come out of the foil.
My concern is that the top cooking grate on my smoker is just a little under
two feet in diameter, which is shorter than a slab of ribs. If I am able to
get two slabs of ribs on there at all, I'd have to cut them in half at least
to get them to fit. My ultimate goal is to get all the cooking done
outside, so this recipe seemed a good place to start. The fried chicken
recipe you mentioned, is that ATK as well? I have a similar recipe from
them that is my standard recipe for fried chicken. The chicken pieces are
marinated in a seasoned buttermilk mixture, then coated in seasoned flour,
fried in a skillet long enough to form the crust, then finished in a hot
oven. I love it, but I also want to try making deep fried chicken with the
hot sauce coating that has been so popular the past 10 years or so out of
Nashville. The skirt steak also sounds great. I love marinating it in lime
juice and seasonings before grilling or searing it. Great stuff!
Jon
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rob" <captinlogic@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <blindcooks@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2017 6:54 AM
Subject: [blindcooks] Re: What have you been cooking lately?
I saw that recipe in that ATK book. I'm not sure I'd ever make ribs that
way. The one where they smoke the ribs over tea leaves in the oven is much
better.
Let's see. As far as stuff I've been making. Oil to oven fried chicken is on
the list. You brine the chicken pieces batter them, then fry the pieces in a
little oil for a few minutes to get the crust started, and then finish them
in the oven. The chicken comes out pretty damn good, and you don't have as
much of a mess to clean up as you do with regular.
Indoor steak fajitas. Since it's been super windy up here I'm hesitant to
use my charcoal grill and have the flames flicker so much. So I got a piece
of skirt steak, and I will preheat my cast iron skillet in the oven for a
while before popping it on the stove burner. This will hopefully replicate
the direct heat of the grill and give the steak a nice char.
Today I picked up some spicy italian sausas from the meat market and I will
be trying those in a spaghetti sauce with mushroom, onion and a tiny bit of
sugar as the base. Dried oregano to begin with and some fresh oregano from
my herb pots will finish it up, along with some italian parsley, red pepper
flakes and Parmesan cheese to give the sauce some tang.
Also on the future list is another smoked brisket. I find that the little
briskets in the store have a really thin fat pack so it doesn't hold the rub
very well. I will have to order a whole brisket from the meat market and
make it that way. Maybe even do some burnt ends. The problem is distributing
the 10 or 12 pounds of smoked meat. Probably what i'll do is freeze some of
it and use it for sandwiches.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jonathan Rawlings" <twosocks76@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Blind Cooks List" <blindcooks@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2017 06:36:22 -0800
Subject: [blindcooks] What have you been cooking lately?
I have been making and eating some good food here over the past couple
weeks and was wondering what some of you cooks have been making that
turned out especially well, or that you at least made a good effort to
make. Yesterday, I finally, finally got around to making a huge package
of spareribs my Dad gave me a few months before he passed away. His hope
was that I'd smoke them on my smoker and share them with him. Last
Wednesday would have been his 76th birthday, so I finally decided to take
the plunge yesterday. I found the recipe in one of my cookbooks from
"America's Test Kitchens" titled "Steaks, Chops, Roasts, and Ribs". It's
a unique book in that each chapter is based on a certain cut of meat you
want to make, but may not know how. This chapter was called "I want to
make spareribs". The method was to apply the rub a day or so before and
refrigerate them to let the rub really work its magic. Then, the ribs
were set on cooling racks set inside rimmed baking sheets, covered tightly
with foil, then baked at 300 degrees for an hour. Then, the foil is
removed and the ribs are baked another hour. Then, you apply a
very-generous amount of barbecue sauce and put them back in for another
hour and a half. And then the quirky part, you wrap them in foil and
slide them into a large paper bag, close the bag, and let them stand for
an additional hour. The ribs were very tender, but I wish I had gone with
my gut to brush them with more sauce and run them under the broiler for a
couple minutes before serving, as I found the outside to be more dry than
I prefer. But, the rub formed a very good crust on the top, and as I
said, the ribs were so tender that you could almost seperate them by just
using your hands. It is definitely a recipe I'll make again. Other good
recipes I have made lately were the skillet pork chops with a honey and
soy glaze that I flavored heavily with garlic and ginger, served along
brown rice and a salad of fresh spinach, strawberries, and red onion and
dressed with a sweet and creamy poppy seed dressing. I also made some
excellent barbecue chicken sandwich filling in the slow cooker on a day
when Emily and I were especially busy, so that worked out very well for us
that day. I also tried a recipe for taco chili in the slow cooker, but
while it was good, I found it somewhat underwelming. I also made one of
my favorite recipes - Firehouse chicken. If I haven't mentioned that one
on list before, and you like chicken with a crispy skin and flavorful,
juicy meat, be sure to ask. We also had a picnic with some friends at the
park last week where we tried to replicate the Bonseye burger from Red
Robin. For those who aren't familiar with it, the burger is glazed with
teriyaki sauce and includes grilled pineapple along with all the other
usual burger toppings. Those burgers were outstanding, especially with
all the chips and baked beans our friends brought to share. Some recipes
in the works include a simple French toast casserole, an Asian chicken
noodle soup in the slow cooker, pizza buns, which are made much like
cinnamon rolls except you fill the inside with tomato sauce and cheese and
pepperoni before rolling, cutting, and baking. I'm also planning to make
chicken pot pie, a great recipe I came across for chicken thighs, chunks
of Italian sausage, potatoes, peppers, and onions all cooked together in a
large roasting pan, and Cobb Salad. OK, not everything I make every day
is necessarily gourmet, but those are the things that stand out. Not
every day lends itself to cooking for a couple hours in the kitchen what
with an adorable but demanding toddler in the house. We have our share
of nights with just plain BLTs, crunchy tacos, or humble wraps for dinner.
So, what are you all cooking or planning to cook?
Jon
