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hey guys... i have been using my model 55 for about 3 weeks, i have always used the cs ribrub on my babybacks. if i want to do wet ribs do i put bbq sauce on them before i put them in the cookshack or wait until the end any tips would be helpful. so far the ribs have been great all my friends can't believe i smoked them !!thanx sfent
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Well...it depends...

Getting down the perfect wet rib is not easy, but hey, that's why we're all learning all the time.

Depending on your sauce ingredients, if there are sugars and you put them on too early, it will burn and it will taste like ca-ca (that's the official term) LOL.

Ever grilled something and it burns really bad because you started basting it with sauce from the beginning?

Wet ribs have all the flavor in the sauce and you'll probably have a hard time tasting the smoky flavor (depending on how much sauce).

You can make them simple by putting the sauce on -- just -- before you pull them from the smoker. Do not put it on at the beginning (the sauce will get the smoky flavor, not the ribs).

I wouldn't put it on more than a hour before finish, but how are you going to know their finished? They'll be covered in sauce...

Simpler solution. Cook them with a very simple rub and sauce them before serving.

Smokin'okie
depending on how you want your sauce to look. If you put it on in the smoker, the temps will "cook" it a little and if there is any sugar, it will help the carmelization. If you put it on afterwards, it won't thicken up and will just be a sauce -- but that's okay.

Try some both ways. If you've got friends, run your experiments through them.

As for rub, when I'm saucing, I don't use as much rub, but you might try adding some of the rub to the sauce just as you put it on and let it cook for maybe 30 min.

You don't have to be from the South to know and cook good Q, just have a love for it and keep trying things until you get what you want.

Smokin'
Hi sfent!

Here is how I have served ribs for many years......

I ALWAYS cook them dry. Then I will serve 3-4 sauces at the table in squirt bottles. I ALWAYS insist they try without sauce first and it is amazing how many people will NOT use any sauce after that first taste.

This allows your guests to try different sauces. It also gives me an idea as to what people prefer and I will many times use that sauce at my next cook-off.

Just last night I cooked ribs for my daughter's softball team. Made up 12 racks for about 20 folks. I served 4 sauces, one of which was some Cookshack Spicy. It was the hands down winner! I will use that sauce on my pulled pork in Michigan and may even use to cook my chicken thighs.

Anyway, back to the topic. By serving the sauces on the side you can also experiment more until you hit just the right one. I have made hundreds of sauce over the years and the family, friends and neighbors were an integral part of finally choosing the best sauces.

Just my thoughts...

That's my biggest complaint is that many wet ribs just taste the sauce not the meat as much, why even smoke it if your a restaurant, they don't many boil them?

I agree completely Stogie, that's how the Smokin' House-hold does ribs. I put out a selection of sauces on the side (boy did they make a face first time they saw a mustard sauce -- not big here in Oklahoma)

...although if they want wet, I make the sit outside at the kiddie table. Just kidding.

Good luck in the event next week.
Actually, unless we're having a gathering, we serve ribs dry. Period. All in the family have pretty much come to prefering them that way.

However, on occassion, we will glaze them as we take them out of the smoker, or off the grill (yes, we love very slow grilled ribs, too).

Our glaze: equal parts of yellow mustard, cider vinegar, and brown sugar. Simmer for about 15 mins and then mop on the meat side of the slab. Wait about 5 mins, slice and serve.

Sounds horrible, but the applied glaze has little taste of it's own. We use it to enhance the rib flavor and to further "beautify" the ribs. They will turn a beautiful shade of mahogany.

Regards, Mike
I have been using Danny's glaze for many years and it is a great way to "shine-up" the slab. It will also give just a hint of sweetness to the rib. I have found the perfect match with the Sweet Heat Rub I use(sorry, NOT posting it!).

We used Danny's glaze in Minnesota for the first time and actually sent ribs in UN-sauced!! Took 6th Place!

Will do them again in Michigan this weekend the same way.

Stogie
Stogie says"
quote:
I ALWAYS cook them dry

Stogie, I understand that you don't sauce them, but do you mop them while cooking...at all? A spritz or a little something like that? That's what I've been doing. A simple mop every 30 min or so. Seems to make sense. But, the rub and the smoke are what do the trick.
Good luck in MI. Little too far for me. acarriii
Acarii...

Yes, I do mop but usually only a couple of times. I will not touch for the first 2-3 hours. Then a mop and then will mop once or twice more before foiling.

The risk in foiling is over cooking the ribs. This weekend, I did up 12 racks and foiled and they were too tender...for competition purposes. But, the VAST majority of folks like to see that bone fall right off...and they did!! These folks had no idea a rib could taste so good! LOL

My mop is pretty basic....2/3 parts juice(I have used them all including OJ this past weekend) and 1/3 part oil. The oil gives your mop some "staying" power. Otherwise, the juice will dry out immediately.

yo sfent: Try the cookshack spicy chicken rub on the ribs, the night before... then cook for several hours without opening the cooker, then lightly brush on your sauce of choice a couple of times near the end of the cook... but before the end (last 1/2 hour). They will finish not as dry as dry, with more moisture and flavor from the sauce, but not all sloppy wet. I'll also brush a litle on when they come off, and wrap in foil for 20 minutes or more.

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