Your grilling secrets?

[ohiosmith]

When I grill baby back ribs I cover them with strips of apple wood smoked bacon.

Keeps them super moist and adds additional layers of flavor.

[Kali]

1. real wood

[ohiosmith]

2. Absolutely!

[GoCubsGo]

12. If not that, then lump charcoal.

None of that briquettes stuff. And, start it with a charcoal chimney, rather than lighter fluid.

[ohiosmith]

20. Indeed!

[panader0]

51. Mesquite is the only way to go.

I have tons of it-yeah!

[In_The_Wind]

52. I agree!

You are lucky to have it when you want.

[Kali]

60. catclaw is even better, believe it or not

but yeah, spoiled westerner here

the Harris family in Willcox used to sell real mesquite smoked bacon - not this chemical stuff you occasionally can find. it was thick, meaty and chewy - the total opposite of paper-thin all chemical bacon you get from a grocery store.

haven't had it in years, wonder if they still make it (it was pretty pricey back then even)

[onestepforward]

61. I love mesquite!

How do you use it?

I soak mine in water and toss on the coal right before I start cooking. I've tried making a foil packet, but it didn't seem to work as well.

[Kali]

65. not sure if panaderO was talking about gas or charcoal

but I know I meant build a fire out of real wood and mesquite is one of the best. light it, and when it burns down to coals throw some good steaks on

[onestepforward]

68. Sounds yummy!

I use mesquite chunks with a charcoal grill. The instructions say to put them in a foil pouch and throw on the fire, but this hasn't worked well for me, so I just soak them in water then throw them directly on the coals before cooking. I was wondering if there was a better way.

[Kali]

69. yeah that will work if you can't get actual mesquite charcoal or wood

if you are in mesquite country you can soak and use the dry beans the same way

[HarveyDarkey]

3. Don't grill, especially ribs

indirect heat only, with charcoal or wood. I just keep them moistened by misting with apple juice.

[ohiosmith]

5. Apple juice a good idea! I do mine on the upper rack with indirect low heat for about three hours.

[In_The_Wind]

4. My grilling secret is in the marinade.

The bacon is a very nice touch. I'll try that next time.

[ohiosmith]

21. Cool!

[Moondog]

6. For baby backs, I smoke them for several hours in

a thermostatically controlled electric smoker (Yes, HERESY!!!! But I do it anyway) at 225. Have used apple, or cherry, but generally use hickory. They are always very moist done this way. Sometimes I finish them on gas grill (Yes, another HERESY, but I do that too) at 550 or so for about a minute on each side. Obviously, I am a slug and not a purist. But they turn out pretty well.

[ohiosmith]

22. The test is in the taste!

[RevStPatrick]

7. Beer.

I pour beer on everything, and the steam makes everything taste like beer.
I like beer...

[MiddleFingerMom]

13. I pour beer on myself.

.
.
.
I thrill me.
You know... I thrill me.
Darlin', I thrill me.
Honest, I do. Honest, I do. Honest, I do. Whoa-oa-oa-oa-oa-oa.
.
.
.

[ohiosmith]

24. Two words dude: yeast infection!

[Trajan]

32. Hmmm ... similar language ....

"I was a model of virtue. I kept my hands off women, worked hours every day teaching students, many of them for free, sitting on endless committees to help poor musicians - work and work and work, that was all my life. And it was wonderful! Everybody liked me. I liked myself. I was the most successful musician in Vienna. And the happiest. Till he came. Mozart."

Name the movie and I'll buy you a delicious Portland hand crafted ale ....

[ohiosmith]

59. AMADEUS

[Trajan]

73. K ...

Pickup the HUB Organic IPA on my windowsill .... You win ....

[ohiosmith]

23. YES!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. bourbon, molasses and brown sugar ... in the marinade.

[ohiosmith]

25. Oh god! Outstanding!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

27. that is not all but, you only asked for the "secrets"

finger looking good, baby

[ohiosmith]

39. Playing coy now are we!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

41. a lady is entitled to some secrets, no?

[ohiosmith]

42. Indeed they are!

[hack89]

62. Bourbon in the cook works for me. nt

[Tuesday Afternoon]

63. but, of course. a cup for the marinade and a shot for the cook! ta-da!

[hack89]

64. I belong to the Julia Child school of cooking. nt

[Tuesday Afternoon]

66. miss her so much.

she was fabulous.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

9. Partly pre-cook the ribs with the sous vide method.

[ohiosmith]

26. That is interesting!

[sir pball]

43. Strictly speaking that's low-temperature cooking

Since you don't need to actually ROP (sous vide) the ribs. Putting them in a gallon ziploc bag and sucking the air out, or even tightly wrapping in plastic. Or if you have the more or less unlimited resources, you can stick the circulator in a vat of lard or duck fat and cook the ribs directly in that...it was how we did steaks at the FCI, it's incomparable.

[pipi_k]

10. My best grilling secret...

Get someone else to do it.

[In_The_Wind]

11. I'll grill something special for you if you are ever in my neighborhood.

[ohiosmith]

29. Oh you kid!

[OriginalGeek]

14. This is relative to my interests

I was literally talking to my wife yesterday about getting some baby backs and taking them up to my grandpa's.

I have a Char-griller dual grill - one side charcoal and one side gas. I don't have the side smoke box yet but that's a future want.

All the recipes I saw said wrap them in foil and bake in the oven and then finish on the grill for a few minutes to crisp up the outside but I'm not sure about times...everyone seems to say something different -from 1 and a half hours to all damn day! lol what do I doooooooooo?

[ohiosmith]

30. What to do? Use Alton Browns rub. Bacon on top. Slow cook at 250/300 for three or so hours.

Last ninety minutes mop with sauce, I use raspberry chipotle, turning every twenty minutes.

You can't go wrong with pork!

[OriginalGeek]

48. Schweeeeeeeeet

raspberry and chipotle are two of my favorite flavors!

[ohiosmith]

50. Most excellent!

[LeftofObama]

15. Grilling is the one thing I have never learned to do.

I can cook almost anything on the stove top or in the oven, but put it on a grill and I might as well try to eat the tongue of my shoe!

[ohiosmith]

31. Hahahaha!

[lindysalsagal]

16. white wine vinegar, olive oil, marjoram, parsley, thyme, sugar, salt pepper

Especially on veggies: sliced zucchini, tomatoes, green peppers, vidalia onions. I even brush it on whole romaine leaves and grill them for a few seconds. Awesome.

[ohiosmith]

33. Outstanding!

[lindysalsagal]

38. Seriously.

[ohiosmith]

40. Yes! I love it!

[hack89]

17. Get my guests drunk - everything tastes great! nt

[ohiosmith]

34. Bwahahahaha!

[Helen Reddy]

18. My secret is....

taking second chair to my beautiful bride.

She is a mad cook. Depending on the style of ribs, the pork ribs specifically marinated overnight in oil, Tiger sauce, cracked black pepper. Short ribs are another recipe equally-magically-delicious!

Her advice? Put stuff on you like. Be creative.

All with a good port I might add.

[ohiosmith]

35. Brilliant on all counts!

[Mr.Bill]

19. When you run the self-cleaning cycle on your oven

place your BBQ grill racks inside. They come out perfectly clean.

[ohiosmith]

36. Dude! That is brilliant!

[onecent]

49. great idea thanks.

[cyberswede]

28. We grill Iowa chops standing on end (on the bone).

They stay super moist that way.

[ohiosmith]

37. Yum!

[union_maid]

44. Mine would be to come to your house

Those ribs sound incredible.

[ohiosmith]

45. They're off in forty five! Bring beer!

[union_maid]

46. Sounds like a great deal to me. n/t

[ohiosmith]

47. Lotsa beer!

And tequila!

[Ptah]

53. The classic combination works for me; Gold and Diamonds!

[ohiosmith]

54. Brilliant!

[opiate69]

55. Not sure how much of a secret it is, but for steaks at least...

I tend to follow the rule: Buy the best you can afford, bring to room temp before grilling, and a good steak only needs 3 things added to it: Salt, pepper, and heat. Of course, I'll also sometimes make a flavored butter to put on it when resting, using shallots, garlic and red wine.

[ohiosmith]

56. Perfect! I occasionally crust mine with bleu cheeses.

[opiate69]

57. You know, I've yet to try that, but I don't know why.. I love bleu cheeses...

I've been known to make a bleu cheese burger every now and then.. now I'm thinking, if we actually get nice weather next weekend, I may have to make some bleu cheese steaks.

[ohiosmith]

58. Cool! Enjoy!

[sakabatou]

67. I have my own dry rub.

[ohiosmith]

70. Gonna share?

[sakabatou]

71. I don't remember the ingredients off hand.

Last edited Sun Apr 7, 2013, 10:10 PM - Edit history (1)

But I wouldn't share anyway

[Robb]

72. If you flip it more than once, you've failed already.

Caveat: I like to rotate meats a minute or two after they hit the grill, keep on the same side but spin it.

More/better grill marks, more of a juice seal. And turn it once onto the other side, remove when done and let it sit before you slice it. Chicken breasts especially.

[ohiosmith]

75. Excellent!

[Generic Brad]

74. Well, there's my famous Soylent Green burgers

(It's made of people....Shhh)

[ohiosmith]

76. I must've got one that was a clown!

It tasted funny!

[d_r]

77. ribs are one of those things

that if you are open to it, is wonderful because people can make them a lot of different ways and it is all good. Like pizza or chili or wings. The problem is, like those three things, a lot of folks get stuck in the idea that there is one "right" way to do it. All they do is miss out on other good things.

Here is how I like to do ribs.

I cut the membrane off the back. Some people like it on, and I've had them with it on that is OK, but I like to cut it out. I take my sharp knife and slice the membrane down one of the rib bones in the middle, then move over a bone and turn the knife sideways and slide it under the membrane along the bone, then pry it up and strip that half, then do the same thing with the bone on the other side of the cut.

I like to brine them. Let them set over night in a brine of water and salt and apple cider vinegar with some garlic floating in there for good measure.

I like to smoke them. I'm not a purist and will use store bought charcoal started in a chimney. I use an offset firebox smoker. In the main grill I put a metal tub with boiling hot water with some onions and herbs in it under the grill. I put the boiling water in when the fire is ready to stabilize the temp. and it catches the drippings to help clean up too. Then on the grill I have some standing racks.

I like to rub the ribs with a little store bought yellow mustard (it won't taste mustardy after a few hours of smoking) and rub a little brown sugar and some black pepper on there.

Smoke about 175-200 for about 4 hours. I soak wood and put on the charcoal, what you want is for the smoke to be real clear not thick or heavy.

ETA oh yeah I come back by in a couple of hours and pour beer on them. Summer wheat or hoppy ale depending on how I feel. But that is the only time I open them, if you are looking you ain't cooking.

Personally I like putting a little red sauce on their and grilling them for a couple of minutes over the fire box after they smoke. Not too long for the sugar to burn, just a little flavor on there.

Then you have bacon on a stick, which is my favorite kind of rib.

[ohiosmith]

78. Very nice! I used to take off the membrane but I found I liked the fatty acids it kept in the meat.

[d_r]

79. yeah. and it can get kind of crunchy and nice

I just like taking it off though, can't defend it.

[ohnoyoudidnt]

80. Rare

Last edited Sun Apr 7, 2013, 09:41 PM - Edit history (1)

If it's not red and cool in the middle, it's overcooked.

[ohiosmith]

81. Agree!