BBQ Ribs and Chicken (GETTING THERE)

September 1, 2008

BBQ Ribs and Chicken (GETTING THERE)

Perfecting BBQ in your own home is like searching for the Holy Grail ... it's pretty much a never-ending process. I've just about nailed chicken on the smoker, but my ribs haven't yet turned out the way I've wanted. That being said, this is the closest I've come so far.

My recipes online says you should be able to slow smoke a rack of ribs for about 4 hours and they'll be done. Based on my experience, I say that's a big fat lie. At the four hour mark the ribs are definitely cooked, but I have yet to see them be so tender that they're practically falling off the bone (which is of course what we're all looking for). That being said, leaving them on longer doesn't seem like much of an option, because they're almost sure to start drying out if they stay on the smoker much longer. Enter my tactic this time ... smoke 'em for a while, then finish them in the oven. This way you get the smoky taste and the pink smoke ring, but can also regulate the temperature toward the end and get them to be both tender and most.

So this time I approached both the chicken and ribs the same way ... rub 'em both down with my Four Chile Brown Sugar Rub that I've whipped up ... and then leave them on the smoker for just under 4 hours. At that point I took them both and finished them in the oven on 225 degrees for another hour.

The chicken was about 175-180 degrees when it came off the smoker (185 is ideal), so the hour was ideal. The ribs were good and crusted on the outside when coming off the smoker, but also definitely needed some more TLC to tender up. I wrapped them in foil, making a little pouch, and then put some apple juice in the bottom of the foil pouch to keep them moist. After an hour they were quite tender ... I threw some BBQ sauce on top (Stubb's this time ... I was too lazy to make my own) .. .and hit the broiler for a couple minutes to char.

Both the chicken and ribs were tender and juicy, though I think they could actually come off the smoker a little bit earlier (the ribs were smoked-pink all the way through, which isn't bad, but not ideal). Next time I think I'll try 3 hours (or maybe 3:15) on the smoker, then finish them in the over and see what I get.

Oh ... served the chicken with Black Sauce, which I love. Black Sauce is a blog rerun ... click here for the recipe