BBQ'd Short Ribs and Pork Roast

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Well I tried it and learned some things. Yesterday, I cooked short ribs and a boneless pork roast on the Webber, for about 5 hours, using apple wood for smoke. The results were extrememly tender and juicy ribs and pork. The pork was suitable for either pulling, or slicing and serving as is. The technique was simple, a small charcoal fire on one side of the kettle, cover with 1 1/2 inch thick pieces of apple wood on top of the fire, and place the meat on the opposite side, using the wood to insulate the meat from the direct heat, and create smoke. I used a clean spray bottle filled with 2 cups water, 4 tbs. apple cider vinegar, and 4 tbs. honey, all dissolved in the water. Spray every fifteen minutes.

My only problem with this method was that the meat came out a little too smokey for my personal taste. Everyone else raved about both the ribs and pork. And I coated the ribs for the last ten minutes with home-made BBQ sauce.

I think in hte future, the spray will have to have more honey in it to ballance the pungeant smoke flavor.

The purpose of this post, to show that you learn something new every time you try something new. If you aren't trying to improve your skills with each meal, then you're just not a foodie

The BBQ was good, but I will settle for nothing less than great.

Now the key lime pie, the baked beans, and the cole slaw, I'm not sure that I could make them any better than I did yesterday. Some success, some failure.

Oh, and something I did try, I took the bones from the ribs (they fell off of the meat while I was putting them on the platter) and placed it in the corn pot. I used just enough water to cover both the bones and corn and cooked jsut the bones for about ten minutes. Add the corn and cook for another five. Remove and spread with butter and a bit of salt. The flavor of the corn was really enhanced by the smoky flavor. That was a real successful experiment. I'd recomend that to anyone.

Seeeeeya; Godoweed of the North

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I need to add to this a bit. The advise given in previous posts was derived from experience with short applications of smoke while grilling with and without the cover on. The smoke enhanced without overpowering the meat in those instances. But three hours (actually a bit more) of smoke with a twenty pound turkey was perfect. And I used maple with the turkey.

So above, when I said new technique, I was talking about smoking ribs and a roast for an extended period, not until they came up to temperature (155 for the pork, 130 for the beef), but in true BBQ fashion, i.e. slow, low, and moist. This was supposed to make the smoke ring, soemthing I'd never tried before.

Just wanted to clear that up if anyone had any questions .

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Raine]

Just try cutting back the amount of time exposed to the smoke, or possiblilly a cooler fire? What temp where you cooking them at?

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Rainee; I maintained the temperature between 250 and 300 degrees. The addition of a bit of honey mixed with my homemade BBQ sauce added imensely to the flavor of the pork. I pulled it and mixed in the honey/BBQ sauce. It was great then. I just needed to ballance the pungancy of the smoke with something sweet.

My problem is that my wife has a super-sensitive tongue and any chili powder, or peppers (including black or white pepper) is not possible during the cooking time. Also, being diabetic limits the amount of brown sugar and such that I can use.

I have managed to create a ppretty good sauce with Splenda, mollases, tomato, and a bit of Tandori paste (omit the Tandori paste until my wife's portion is removed).

I just need to fine-tune the recipe.

Rainee; I was hoping you would chime in on this one. Your expertise with BBQ is well known and appreciated. I will indeed reduce the number of coals to reduce the temperature. I do that when I'm making jerky, and my jerky really turns out nice.

If you have any really exceptional recipes for a non-acidic marinade for either the pork, or beef, or both, and a great basting sauce that won't clog up a spray bottle, please share. The spray mixture I used kept things nice and moist, but added little flavor, if any.

All in all, the low/slow/moist barbeque technique works very well. The meat is very tender, and still juicy.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Raine]

A good number of folks cook at those temps, so you could be fine there. Maybe try less time in the smoking first and see what results you get.


I'll look back through the marinade recipes and see if something shows up. If not I'll keep an eye out for one.

Will ask around about the basting sauce. We don't baste or mop, so can't truthfully recommend any.

Also, you have to take into consideration, that with basting/mopping to allow more time for cooking. It probably adds 15 to 20 minutes cooking time everytime you open the cooker.

As one of my bbq buddies like to say, "if you're looking, you ain't cooking!"

One of the most common complaint I hear from folks who do baste/mop/inject, is finding sprayers/nnedles, etc that don't clog up.

 

[AllenOK]

I spray my pork butts with apple juice, from a common garden mister, at the same time I'm feeding the fire. I have the lid open anyway, I might as well. I don't add anything other than apple juice, so I don't have a problem with clogging.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Rainee & Allen; Great info. Just what I was looking for. I love this network. I think that between us, there are few cooking questions or problems we can't field.

And many of us are accomplished cooks, but each with their own special expertise and way of doing things. I certainly can't know everything. And neither can anyone else. But with the collective knowledge available, we're a dangerous bunch.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Raine]

That's why I love this place! So much to share & learn from each other. Everyone brings different intrests and skills.

 

[AllenOK]

That's why I love the internet! If you don't know it, look it up!

 

[crmos8]

In reference to sprayers/injectors clogging, I've heard of people adding their spices to whatever liquid they're using and bringing it to a boil, simmering for a few minutes and then filtering it through a coffee filter to get any solid pieces out. I have never actually tried this, but it seems like it should work. Just my $.02..........