The Perfect Baby Back Ribs : Part One

I'm going to show you how to make the perfect baby back ribs.

I'm going to share my recipe for the perfect Baby Back ribs. This is going to be a two part picture instruction series, the second, giving a full meal recipe of my Baby Back Ribs.  You'll have to wait for part two to get the recipe for the sides of Summer Maple Squash, and Angus Mac-n-Cheese.  Yum.   I have to tell you, the key to perfect ribs is cooking them LOW and SLOW.  Sort of why I chose to cook them on my vacation, I'm not in a hurry. I have no where to go.  So let's get started.


Step One:  Marinate the Night Before.

For this project, I cut the ribs into small racks and marinated them overnight in one of those aluminum turkey pans you get in the grocery store. I find they are long and low and can fit a bunch of baby backs in your fridge for overnight marination. Be careful not to puncture it or you will have a bloody mess to say the least.  For this recipe, I marinated with a blend of:

• Dry Rub Seasoning  or throw your own dry spice together. (Make sure to include  Season Salt, Parsley, Garlic Salt, Paprika, Basil)
  
• Thin white onion slices
• Add Crushed Garlic to Suit

 
Step Two:  The Next Day: It's Cooking Time. Get in the Lo-N-Slow Cooking Zone.

Cooking the perfect ribs takes time, so you should get yourself into the mood where you have all the time in the world.

Step Three:  Choosing the Right Grill and Smoking Wood

For this project I am using a vintage Weber full size vintage grill. It's something my wife's family cooked on when she was a child. I think it's circa 1977. Whatever the case, it's in great shape even though it's been sitting outside all these years. For this I am using planked hickory wood. It has been split and dried out. I should add that I spritzed it down with apple juice repeatedly until the juice soaked into the wood and dried.  I also am using some charcoal, but the plank wood will give it a nice flavor. Covered, with hood vent 3/4 open.

Step Four:  Get 'em On.

This is what they look like when they first go on. Note I've cut them into six or eight bones,  my dry rub is spread out and the onions all over.  The plank wood is atop the slow burning charcoal to give a smoke. The key here is that your ribs should cook about five hours. Low and Slow, maybe temping the grill about 225 degrees.  Low and slow. 

Step Five:  Be Patient and Check Often. Flip Occasionally.

You are going to have to have some patience as it will take some time cooking this low and slow to really see things happen. I often temp my grill as this is an older model and I want to make sure I'm at least 225-250 degrees. Don't want any little critters getting in my intestines from undercooked pork !  While these were cooking I fed some ducks, broke out the four wheeler and drank some Natty Boh's.

Step Six:  Refurbishing Your Fire. Plank This.

It is important when cooking for such a long time that you have a way to remove the ribs, and stoke up your fire. If you can see, the planks will sometimes smother out the charcoal if not placed properly.  In addition, the charcoal itself isn't really designed to last a full five hours, so you will have to stir, stoke and add fresh about half way thorough. Oh yeah, love me some ribs.


Step Seven:  The Debate.

Now at this point the ribs are temping well over 165 degrees.  Most people would take 'em off at this point and chow down,  and that is just fine if you want to do this.  If you'll notice the plank wood has well been burnt up into smithereens, and the charcoal is down to only a low heat. 

 If you break into them, you will see the meat is fully cooked, there is a bit of a pink smoke ring around the outside (that's flavor folks!)I like to keep them on a bit longer, until when I touch the with my tongs, they want to fall apart. To me ribs should melt in your mouth and you shouldn't have to pull them apart.  It has been five hours in.  I stoked up the coals and let 'em ride another 20 minutes, but that's just me.

Step Eight: The Lather Up and Throwdown. 

Do I really have to explain this? I smother mine in BBQ sauce right before eating, and throw them down with some great smokin' sides. In Part Two I will show you my actual meal and give you my top secret recipe.   For now I have to go suck some sauce off my fingers.  For this meal, I used Sweet Baby Ray's.  Even though I have my own sauce I use for everything, I still love eating everyone else's. 

GO TO PART TWO


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Italian Sausage Ferrante Wins

My wife is super picky about our sausage.  She is Italian so she makes me buy the best stuff around. Unlike some food vendors I don't serve slop.  We have tested and sampled tons of sausage.  Just recently we were given a sample from Roma Foods who made a rope just for us.  The taste was out of this world but the amount of grease and fat coming from it would have surely been heart attack in a bun.  So, we nixed it.

Here is a photo of us testing two different links. On the left is original Nick's Sausage Ferrante' Brothers brand, now made by Hatfield. On the right is Hatfield's own brand called Prima Porter.   As you can tell, the Prima Porter is bigger, but in this case bigger is not necessarily better.  My wife pointed out the Prima Porter was more fatty, had more gristle, and less fennel flavor.  Nick's won hands down. Looks like we are sticking with this sausage again this year folks!

Nick's Sausage was proudly made in Baltimore where I was born and bred, and we've been using this exclusively for many years now.  They have sold out and it is now made by Hatfield.  I wanted to make sure the taste was the same, because sometimes once a big conglomerate gets their hands on it, the recipe changes.  Believe it or not, we are extremely happy with it still.

Yum Yum.

Big Fat Daddy's Big-Ass Texas Angus Burgers

We just like saying the word Big-Ass. Hell Yeah we do.  Like our Big Ass Angus burgers. See our love for them in our YouTube videos! Angus beef is a high quality beef originating from Angus-influenced cattle. It is certified by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Grading Service to meet quality standards, which exceed those of USDA Choice graded beef.  That's what our Big-Ass burgers are made of.  They are 8 ounces of Angus prior to grilling, and as you can tell they don't shrivel up that much like fatty-laden cheaper grades do.  Smothered with onions and peppers...enough to make your lips slap your brain. Go on, slather it up with some BBQ Sauce and you have a meal from Heaven........

Sweet Ass Grill Award Big Fat Daddy's

A photo a customer took of our "sweet ass grill." 

We suck at blogging. That's because we're busy working like a blue tick hound in hot pursuit of a rabbit--or something like that. Preparing and serving our bbq at fairs and festivals like mad. The economy is slow so we're working as much as we can!  Sometimes we do things other than our beef rump, bbq brisket or ribs. So here's a shot of a very messy but functional grill serving our bigass angus burgers, hot dogs, sausage and cheesesteak. A customer came up and told us he was giving us "A Sweet Ass Grill Award."  I thought that was funny as hell. We do whatever we can to "Get 'r done."  See you soon - Wayne.

Big Fat Daddy's Riblets : Big Fat Taste in a Little Popper Package

These are Riblets.  

They break all my rules.  You see, here at Big Fat Daddy's it's all about Big Fat sandwiches or subs, but in this case, these wee little poppers make a sweet exception. They are gourmet mini pork rib poppers with a great big ass taste. Grilled to perfection on my hickory smoke pit while basking in my dry rub seasoning, then add my top secret BBQ sauce blend, when you stick these little puppies in your mouth they melt like butter. 

Four95 Blog shows pork in it's entirety.

All that's left is tiny little bone, which makes for less waste if you ask me.   I serve these with fries, and they are a special item. If you are on the East Coast, go to your fair board and ask if Big Fat Daddy's is at your fair.  If so, come over to my stand to see if I have these succulent items.  If not, shouldn't I be?