First Crack at BB Ribs in the CS20

I am in the burbs of Chicago, make sure you make extra & drop some off over here! Good luck!

Let us know how it goes.

Did you brine them? or was it a Marinade?

Interested to see what you think about your method.

Interesting....

Brine included salt, sugar, pepper, and onion. Went in the refrigerator at 10:30 last night and took them out this morning..

For the rub I did two things. Three of the half racks were covered in dijon mustard and then a rub that included a mixture of the CS Rib and Chicken rub. Other three racks I used the same rub without the mustard. Just wanted to see if there was a noticeable difference.

Ribs went on at noon (CST) and the smell at 1 p.m. is already fantastic. Plan to cook for about four hours, then foil them for an hour, then sauce and finish on the grill.

Will let everyone know how it turns out.

Why Brine ribs? Just curious. Brining is usually done to impart moisture to cuts of meat with little fat that dry out quickly like a Turkey Breast or boneless Pork Loin.

Brining Ribs just seems like extra work, and after a whole night in the refrigerator you are probably starting to cure them as well. Between the dijon mustard and the dry rub can you even taste the brine?

Those were some tasty BB's!
First off, thank you slmlc02 for the invite for your inaugural outing on your new Cookshack! They were quite tasty!
That sauce you said was spicy really kicked my butt!
As for the brine question by Bacchus2b, I have to say that I brine every rack of ribs and just about every piece of pork that I cook. The long cook times really call for it but even the quick grilled pork chops will always finish juicy and well seasoned, inside and out.
Here is a brine that I love for just about everything pork, especially ribs, shoulders and chops:

1Q water
1/4 Diamond Crystal kosher salt
2 Tbl Dark brown sugar
2 Tbl maple syrup or another 2 Tbl of brown sugar
2 Tbl ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic chopped
1/2 cup onion chopped (sweet)
2 Tbl bourbon
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried Rosemary
1 tsp Chipotle powder
1 tsp cumin seeds toasted
2 bay leaves

Put the onion, garlic, bourbon and a cup of the water in a blender and get it well mixed. Add this to a pot with the remaining water and the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring until all of the salt and sugar are completely dissolved. Then turn it down to a simmer with a lid on and let it go for about a half hour. If it's cold enough outside, you can move the pot out there to cool but do not put it in your refrigerator hot, as it will warm it up too much for the safty of your other foods! If I'm in a time crunch, I'll put the pot in an ice bath made with ice and salt, lower temp then just ice, and stir the brine to cool.
You want it no warmer than the meat your putting in, so usually chilled.
I then use a foodsaver/vacuum sealing bag and put the ribs in and put in just enough brine to cover, then seal and brine for about 10hrs.
Then do your rub and let that sit overnight and then bring them to the smoker!! Always do the applewood/hickory mix.

It might be a little more planning and a little extra work, but not only are the ribs killer, but they are always juicy even as leftovers!

Let me know if you try it and how you like 'em!

For the BB ribs we had last night, I pulled the membrane, applied a little mustard, and covered with homemade Memphis rub. Smoked at 235* with hickory for a little longer than 4 hrs, and they turned out scrumptious. A little simpler, less work, but they were delicious.

Yep,when we have one piece of meat to do,we think about ALL we can do to them.

Think about the guy at the picnic that is doing 100 slabs,or 50 butts and they turn out great.

Do we think he is doing so much to every one,or maybe keeping it simple and letting the cooker do its job?

Maybe,many products have their own ,individual great flavors?

Just a thought.

Glad it works for you guys, but I never brine ribs. I don't like soaking ribs in salt, just gives a taste I don't like. I do brine tenderloins and pork chops, I don't brine pork butts (too dense). I'm the guy who wrote brining so obviously I brine a LOT, but I just don't like doing that to ribs.

To each his one, that's the fun thing about this hobby, there's no right way for everyone. I'm sure you're methods will help others who want to try that. Oh, I don't don't use mustard... LOL.

MODERATOR NOTE: Just a note (for the newbies) when you're posting recipes for something you really love, post it in the recipe section. Think about it like this. Someone looking for rib success, may not find a brine recipe buried in a thread called "first crack". Just a little moderator advice. I like to see people with new ideas and the best way to get attention is to have a thread title that reflect it and recipes in that forum. We've lost recipes over the years this way

Like Smokin' says about separating recipes from cooking techniques.

Also,for those folks paying attention to the "old moderator",you might pick out that the nation's top comp ribs cooks have a few things in common.[he is one of the good ones!]

Strip skin off the back side.

Apply rub evenly on both sides of your untreated/unsmeared slabs,while waiting on the cooker to warm up.

Learn to COOK the product correctly.

Never one to discourage experimenting,as that is fun-but there may be a reason why the best are the best.

Just a couple of thoughts.

Ninety percent of the time, I smoke my ribs untreated with plain rub. A nice sauce on the side for those that like it. But I just got to change it up once in awhile.

Nothing wrong with that,as long as we know how we get the good cooked product,fine tuning for our diners' taste can be a good thing.

Well. You, Smokin, Todd and others have certainly helped me with that. Thanks.

Wow, lots of conversation since I last posted. I'm just getting around to commenting on my baby backs.

Overall, I was very pleased with the end result. They were perfectly moist and the flavor was good. I know my methods raised some eyebrows, but I think everything worked. In the end, I'm not sure the mustard made that much of a difference, but it certainly didn't harm the process. I was also surprised by how much I liked the Cookshack barbecue sauce that came with it. I thought it worked really well with the smoky taste of the ribs.

This weekend I'm moving on to brisket and possibly some almonds. I've been checking out the forum for advice on these two things and there's plenty of advice out there. If anyone has more, feel free to message me.

Steve