It has been awhile since I last posted about ribs. I think it was back in September. Well, it’s high time I posted again about them as you can never have too many rib, rub, or barbecue sauce recipes as far as I’m concerned. Besides, it gives me a chance to play with my smoker yet again. Man, I love that thing! While have have gotten quite adept at barbecuing on my Weber kettle grill, life has become so much easier with my smoker. Now, instead of having to babysit my barbecue all day, I can load it up and let it go, checking it once an hour or so. The downside to that is I can’t use barbecuing as an excuse not to do things around the house. It won’t be long before my wife catches on, and the days of “tending the grill” all day, while sucking down copious amounts of beer will be at an end. If she hasn’t already caught on, I’m SOL now, as she reads this blog. Don’t worry though, I’ll find another excuse to waste away the day drinking beer and cocktails (if anyone has any good suggestions for such an excuse let me know).

Of course, if you have read this blog for any amount of time you are well aware of my love affair with all things pork – aka, god’s gift to all mankind. Grilled, roasted, braised, stuffed into sausage casings, cured, and/or smoked, there is nothing that can compare with a piece of well cooked pork. I feel for my friends who, because of religious or other reasons, are forbidden to consume the flesh of the pig. If they only knew what they are missing! While I think this nation as gone a little “bacon crazy” in the last few years, I am fully of the opinion that “everything is better with bacon,” a phrase I have uttered here numerous times, because if pork if delightful by itself, once you pair it with long, slow cooking in a smoke filled chamber it becomes absolutely divine!

In my personal heirarchy of pork, bacon reigns supreme, followed closely by pulled pork – slowly cooked over wood for hours on end. In close third comes ribs, the subject of today’s post. Today I’m just going to focus on a great rub and simple barbecue sauce to go with the ribs. I am going to assume you already know how to barbecue them. If you are not familiar with barbecuing then check out my earlier posts on pulled pork or barbecued ribs and it will walk you through how to barbecue on a kettle style grill. The most important thing when cooking in this style is to use an indirect method of cooking and making sure that your grill doesn’t get too hot. I like to barbecue between 225°F and 250°F. Depending on their size, baby back ribs will take you 2 1/2-3 hours to cook properly. Any shorter length of time and you will end up with dry or tough ribs. Talking about tough ribs, there is a misconception, here in the north, that ribs should be falling off the bone tender. I’ve got news for you, if they are then chances are they are dry, and that’s why so many places in the north end up drenching their ribs in sauce. Properly done ribs should still cling to the bone, yet yield easily when pulled, with just the slightly resistance before coming free.

Let your ribs rest for 2 hours to overnight after applying your rub

Depending on the thickness of your ribs, your should apply your rub anywhere from 2 hours to overnight before you commence cooking. This will help to ensure the development of the “bark,” or crust. As far a sauce goes, many regions of the US consider sauce to sacrilegious, but if you like sauce, like I do, wait until the last 20 30 minutes of cooking before brushing it on. If you brush it on too soon, chances are the sugars in the sauce will end up burning, creating an unpleasant bitter, burnt flavor to your ribs.

Rib Rub
enough for 4 racks of baby back ribs

1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. dried thyme, crushed
1/2 tsp. granulated garlic
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Combine all ingredients until well mixed. Place in an air tight container and store for up to 3 weeks. To use, sprinkle liberally on both sides of the ribs and gently rub it in. Allow to rest for at least 2 hours or overnight before cooking.

Bourbon Molasses BBQ Sauce
enough for 4 racks of baby back ribs

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup bourbon or whiskey
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 oz. yellow mustard
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan and simmer over medium heat until onions are tender, about 15 minutes. Blend then cook until thickened and reduced by about 1/3. Brush onto ribs about 20 minutes before ribs are done. Brush again with about 10 minutes. Serve any left on the side for people to add more. Store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

For many of my friends, Labor Day weekend signals the end of summer, and with that, the end of many summery pasttimes. For some of them that means closing up the cabin, winterizing the boat, emptying the pool, and for some that even means contemplating the end of BBQ’ing for the season. Me, I’m just getting started. While I grill throughout the summer, I look forward to cooler temperatures, when I can enjoy sitting outside, tending a slow fire, without having to worry about passing out from heat stroke. Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but I really do prefer BBQ’ing in the cooler weather when I can enjoy being outside, not when it is 90+ degrees and all I want to do is jump in a pool. For me, summertime is a time for quick grilling of burgers, steaks, chicken wings, etc. while spring and fall are when I enjoy spending hours nurturing the long slow fires required by true barbecue and smoking. This weekend I was hungry for some ribs and it being Labor Day weekend, it just seemed right to spend a part of it outside tending a grill. I the rub and the sauce I present to you today are just 1 of the many I have in my arsenal of rubs and sauces, many of which I hope so share with you in the future. When it comes to sauces, I have many that I make completely from scratch and others that start with a base of BBQ sauce that I then modifiy beyond the point of recognition. This sauce is one of those. Don’t be put off by its start as a bottled product. The end result is damn good.

Barbecued Ribs with Bourbon BBQ Sauce

Dry Rub
3/4 cup Sugar, granulated
3 Tbsp. Kosher Salt
2 Tbsp. Paprika
1 Tbsp. Black Pepper
1 tsp. Ground Cumin
1 tsp. Curry Powder
2 Tbsp. Chili Powder
1/2 tsp. Dried Thyme
1 tsp. Dried Mustard

4 racks Baby Back Ribs

Mix all ingredients together and set aside. Flip the ribs so that the bone side is facing up. Using a paring knife, start to peel the thin, tough membrane from the bones. Once you have it started you can just grab it with your hands and pull it off. Generously rub half the dry rub into the ribs. Flip them over and use the rest of the rub on the tops of the ribs. Place in the fridge and allow to marinate for 3 hours for more.

Meanwhile make the sauce.

Bourbon BBQ Sauce
1 Onion, peeled and thickly sliced
1 Jalapenos (1 to 2)
1 cup Bourbon
1 qt. BBQ Sauce (your favorite store brand)
1 1/2 cups Coke
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup Yellow Mustard
2 Tbsp. Bourbon

Grill the onion slices until lightly charred. Grill the jalapenos until the skin is blackened, then using a paper towel remove as much of the skin as possible. Don’t worry about removing it all. Roughly chop the jalapeno and onion, removing the jalapeno seeds first if you want a milder BBQ sauce. Place in a nonreactive saucepan with a little vegetable oil and cook over medium heat until the onions have wilted. Carefully add the bourbon, using extreme caution as it might flame up. Add the coke and the remaining ingredients. Simmer over medium low heat for 20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened again. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining 2 Tbsp. of Bourbon.

20 minutes before you are ready to start cooking. Light 20 charcoal briquettes or the equivalent amount of lump charcoal and allow to burn until coated with a light layer of grey ash. Set the grill up for indirect cooking by placing the charcoal along 2 sides of a kettle style grill. Place the ribs in the center, between the the charcoal. Add about 1/4 cup of soaked wood chips to the coals, and cover, adjusting both top and bottom vents to maintain temperature and good airflow so that the smoke doesn’t sit in the chamber too long. As the heat starts to wane add 20 more briquettes that have been burnt like the first, until covered in a light layer of grey ash. Continue adding charcoal as necessary to maintain a temperature of approximately 220-225 degrees, the optimal temperature for BBQ’ing. Add fresh wood chips every 15 minutes for the first hour and then whenever you add more charcoal. Flip the ribs occasionally. At this temperature the ribs will take approximately 2-2 1/2 hours.During the last 20 minutes brush the ribs with the sauce, glazing both sides of the ribs.