BEEF (w/ a side of BEEF) and BBQ.... what are your grill & BBQ favorites?

[MagnusEunson]

It's BBQ season boys and girls..... pork, chicken, beer... traditional, Texan, Carolinas, .. whatever your flavor, BBQ is there for you.

So, what is your favorite grill or BBQ item/technique/trick? Spice? Fluid to go along with the meal? Summer beer? Side?

I'm a huge fan of seven/eight hour beef rib smokes with maple-chipotle rub. Pan prepared steak burgers. Sam Adam's Summer or any good IPA. And lightly oiled and seasoned asparagus for a minute or three in the same pan as the steaks. Pork ribs have become such a routine bit that they don't excite me anymore. Perhaps a sign of my BBQ malaise...

Now I'm going to have to go get fresh rub ready. -Magnus

 

[Debian Dog]

I like my beef on a grill but I will BBQ me some pig! Mostly ribs and pork butts.

I have a Kansas City rub I like to think I perfected over the years and I make Jack Daniels based Pork candy glaze for them if I am feeling sporty

Side loader for the hard wood

 

[Debian Dog]

I would like to hear more details of your beef rib procedure. I failed miserably by my "high standards" a few years ago but am willing to give it another go. Maple chipotle sound good.

 

[thomas_mikel]

It is one culinary delight that I tend to immerse myself in when the opportunity avails itself. I live in a condo and am not able to own the required equipment to make it the way it should be made. But I prefer different types of BBQ from different regions of the country and I am big on pork. The fattiness of the meat coupled with the texture make it the perfect fare for the low and slow treatment. I like slaw, potato salad, baked beans and home cut fries as my traditional sides. I like my ribs dry with sauce on the side, I like the sauce to be slightly vinegary with some kick, the best places to find sauce like this is in Memphis TN and most of North Carolina, and NC is the best region for whole pig, pig pickin' parties.

 

[MagnusEunson]

When I'm stationary w/o toddler tonight I'll write it all out with the quirks I've hit and all. On it! -Magnus

 

[Shizzle]

i'm too lazy to BBQ, but i LOVE ribs, so i finally figured out a way to get the taste all the way through the meat, very BBQ'd on the outside, and fall-off-the-bone tender, without having to do hardly a dang thing:

Shizzle's Lazybones Ribs

throw ribs in crock-pot on low for 7 hours along with whatever sauce you want, then throw them on the grill for 10 mins. on each side...DONE and YUM!!

 

[MagnusEunson]

Screw that, I don't want to wait.. I'll make due w/ this chaos for the first post.

I don't know what you did before so here are a few ground rules I follow after screwing up a few times. Always ~short~ ribs, use a butcher you know supplies tailgating BBQ business if you can find it, make sure the membrane areas are removed so you can get the rub deeper in, and use hickory, cherry, or some fruit wood.

If you have a wet-pan, plan on using it, .. if you don't then plan on wrapping the beef ribs at the last one or two hours of the slow smoke.

My rub for six to eight racks is usually this with a variant or two each time:

1/3 cup Sugar in the Raw or a DARK brown sugar is even better
1/4 cup chipotle powder
1/4 cup coarse sea salt
4 tblsp fresh ground pepper
2 tblsp fresh mortar/pestle garlic

To this I vary by replacing 1/2 the sugar (so 1/6 cup) with ~maple~ sugar. And also adding a bit of sweet paprika.

I like the lower 225 range for my temperature and with thick short ribs I go seven hours. At five to six getting them wrapped tight if I don't have a wet-pan. Actually, even when I do I usually wrap them for the last hour at least..

That's the quick version until I can get to a sane area and re-join the discussion. Cheers! -Magnus

 

[Debian Dog]

Shizzle's Lazybones Ribs

throw ribs in crock-pot on low for 7 hours along with whatever sauce you want, then throw them on the grill for 10 mins. on each side...DONE and YUM!!

Not that I have never done it that way before but I would never equate the two ribs tasting the same (or even near the same for particular palettes)

That being said... I would eat your ribs over a salad any day!

 

[MagnusEunson]

I forgot to mention the mistakes I've made that ended with the worst results...

- Used the wrong butcher so the ribs weren't meaty enough anyway. Short meat ribs by a butcher who has done the tailgating circuit was good advice I received.

- Did not remove the membrane-like areas before the rub. This is a rookie mistake that you probably haven't made in forever but I made it with beef ribs and screwed myself.

- Started at 250 for the temp and went eight hours based on the visual. 225 and seven is almost always the upper range. If I'm wrapping them and they're really thick I'll go for eight hours. MOST people get good results on five/six though so try that first.. I just ask my butcher for THICK cuts.

- The results w/ cherry and fruit woods were always good but I stubbornly insisted on oak at first because it worked so well for me with pork. I was an idiot.

I'm a bloody immigrant mind you so I should've listened to the good ol' boy in Texas and Florida more closely. -Magnus

 

[Debian Dog]

I like the lower 225 range for my temperature and with thick short ribs I go seven hours. At five to six getting them wrapped tight if I don't have a wet-pan. Actually, even when I do I usually wrap them for the last hour at least.. -Magnus

Yes I do the Texas cheat 3-2-1 method for my pork ribs too. (3 hours smoked - 2 hours wrapped - 1 hour unwrapped) Do you wrap them with anything or just let it sit in the rub/juice)

 

[Shizzle]

Not that I have never done it that way before but I would never equate the two ribs tasting the same (or even near the same for particular palettes)

That being said... I would eat your ribs over a salad any day!

LOL...they are very good, seriously! especially for work days.

(yeah, ok, i'd rather eat genuine BBQ Ribs made by someone else...but someone else never knocks on my door with the delivery...dang)

 

[Debian Dog]

LOL...they are very good, seriously! especially for work days.

(yeah, ok, i'd rather eat genuine BBQ Ribs made by someone else...but someone else never knocks on my door with the delivery...dang)

My neighbor loves me for that since I am the only meet eater in the house. I will run a pack of ribs or part of a .... over.

On another plus side when I first moved here. I made a bunch off ribs and 2 butts for a 4th of July block party. Now I get invited to all the local parties in the hopes I bring some goodies

Best compliment I ever got was from some 80+ year old country "boy" he said in a heavy southern drawl, "Boy... you know your pig" (at the block party)

 

[Shizzle]

My neighbor loves me for that since I am the only meet eater in the house. I will run a pack of ribs or part of a .... over.

On another plus side when I first moved here. I made a bunch off ribs and 2 butts for a 4th of July block party. Now I get invited to all the local parties in the hopes I bring some goodies

Best compliment I ever got was from some 80+ year old country "boy" he said in a heavy southern drawl, "Boy... you know your pig" (at the block party)

you are very lucky! and what a precious compliment.