Although this is not a Cookshack project,we have had some threads recently about cooking ribs on a Weber kettle.
Many of us use, or have used, Webers and woodburner has a small herd o' them.
Qsis[Lee],sometimes cooks sides and desserts with drbbq[ as Bonesmoker's].
She is a fine all around cook and graciuosly shares her experiments and recipes.
Excellent ribs on a Weber kettle
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Posted by QSis on July 06, 2003 at 21:16:43:
Just for the heck of it, Q.N.E. tyme and I decided to try America's Test Kitchen's recipe for ribs on a kettle. We both did spares, cut down to St. Louis style, brined and rubbed the night before. Dylan's slabs were smaller, so they took less time than mine.
Mine took 5 and 1/2 to 6 hours, at a much higher temp than I normally cook ribs. I put a polder through the top vent, out of curiosity, and the kettle was running from 275-350 most of the time. They came out great!!
I sauced one slab and left the other dry - I liked the sauced one better (Head Country sauce). Held both slabs in foil in a cooler for an hour.
This technique works very well, even if it is much more labor intensive than a WSM. If all you have is a kettle, you can still cook award-winning ribs this way.
The rub was okay, but not as good as Bonesmokers or Head Country.
If I can ever figure out where to post my photos so that I can link them here, I will!
Lee
Barbecued Baby Back Ribs on a Charcoal Grill (America's Test Kitchen)
Serves 4
For a potent spice flavor, brine and dry the ribs as directed, then coat them with the spice rub, wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate overnight before grilling. You will need two wood chunks, each about the size of a lemon, for this recipe.
Brine
1 cup kosher salt or 1/2 cup table salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 racks (about 2 pounds each) baby back or loin back ribs
Spice rub
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 3/4 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt or 3?4 teaspoon table salt
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1. To brine ribs: Dissolve salt and sugar in 4 quarts cold water in stockpot or large plastic container. Submerge ribs in brine and refrigerate 1 hour until fully seasoned. Remove ribs from brine and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels.
2. While ribs are brining, cover two 3-inch wood chunks with water in medium bowl; soak wood chunks for 1 hour, then drain and set aside. Combine spice rub ingredients in small bowl. When ribs are out of brine and dried, rub each side of racks with 1 tablespoon spice rub; refrigerate racks 30 minutes.
3. To barbecue ribs: Open bottom vents on grill. Ignite large chimney starter filled three-quarters with charcoal briquettes (about 41?2 quarts, or 65 briquettes) and burn until covered with thin coating of light gray ash. Empty coals into one side of grill, piling them up in mound two or three briquettes high. Place wood chunks on top of charcoal. Put cooking grate in place and cover grill with lid. Let grate heat for 5 minutes, then scrape clean with wire brush.
4. Arrange ribs on cool side of grill parallel to fire; cover, positioning lid so vents are opposite wood chunks to draw smoke through grill (grill temperature should register about 350 degrees on grill thermometer, but will soon start dropping). Cook for 2 hours, until grill temperature drops to about 250 degrees, flipping rib racks, switching their position so that rack that was nearest fire is on outside, and turning racks 180 degrees every 30 minutes; add 10 fresh briquettes to pile of coals. Continue to cook (grill temperature should register 275 to 300 degrees on grill thermometer), flipping, switching, and rotating ribs every 30 minutes, until meat easily pulls away from bone, 1 1/2 to 2 hours longer. Transfer ribs to cutting board, then cut between bones to separate ribs; serve.
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