Memphis BBQ - The Night Before

Jan

11th

2008

BBQ takes preparation. This is my Readers-Digest version of the process of cooking ribs. I’m cooking for a small family gig tomorrow night…nothing real fancy, but it’s a great opportunity to practice.

I prepare the ribs the night before the cook. The preparation includes pulling the “backstrap” and rubbing the ribs down with the dry rub.

These ribs were purchased at the local grocery store. Sam’s Club has a good product. They’re IBP brand, come in a sealed 3-pack, and are relatively cheap (~$22 for the 3 slabs). The team uses Curly Tail brand meat for competition…the slabs are consistent in size (and the backstraps are already pulled - BONUS).

The ones shown above are right out of the package. Things you’ll need include a sharp knife to get them out of the plastic, a butter knife and paper towels to remove the backstrap, dry rub, and a cold beer.

The backstrap is a natural membrane that is found on the underside of the ribs. Some like to keep it on, some remove it. I remove it because I think it tastes like crispy wax paper after cooking, and it looks like a long red snot-drip before cooking. To remove it, simply turn the ribs over, slide the butter knife along one of the smaller rib bones underneath the membrane. Once you can get a finger underneath the backstrap, use the paper towel to grab it, and pull. With a little practice, it will come off in one swift pull.

Next, I rub the ribs down (both top and bottom side) with my favorite dry rub. You’ll want to be careful not to put too much rub on them so that it gets caked on, but you don’t want to be shy with it. After all, the flavor is what differentiates your cooking from others’. If it’s good, use it!

My ribs after rubbing are shown here. I went a little light on the rub because there’s a lot of sugar, and it will caramelize during the cooking process.

Finally, you’ll want to find a way to refrigerate them overnight.

I use a plastic container that’s intended for picture/CD storage. It seems to fit the ribs (and the fridge) nicely.

Total time for all this was probably about 30 minutes (or 1 beer). It can go longer or shorter depending on how much help you have, or how many beers you’ve had prior to starting the process.

Tomorrow I’ll get to the more technical stuff….