Barbequed Pork Ribs and Tennessee Whiskey
There is nothing better than a full platter of ribs with the meat so tender and juicy it's falling off the bone. Add to this, a toast to the chief with some classic Tennessee Whiskey.
Steps
Ribs, either pork or beef have an area of connective tissue known as silver skin for its silvery-white appearance. Insert a butter knife between the membrane and one of the rib bones. Grab and pull the membrane with paper towels to remove it completely.
Mix your spices in a bowl, combine the salt, brown sugar, paprika, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Season the ribs on both sides with the dry rub mixture.
In a saucepan, whisk together your sauce ingredients of ketchup, brown sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, molasses, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Boil for 5 minutes. Set aside for brushing the ribs after 3 to 5 hours.
How to make
Preheat your grill or smoker to medium heat, approximately 225-250 degrees F.
** If using your grill see the Notes Section below.
Place the ribs in your grill or smoker and toss 2 to 3 wood chunks onto hot coals for smoking. Close the lid and cook for 3 hours. Sample Wood Chips for Smoking
Note: you can use a wood chip smoker box in your grill
Remove the ribs from your smoker and wrap with butcher paper. Place the ribs back into your smoker and cook for another 2 hours. Sample Butcher Paper Roll
Note: Ribs can also be wrapped in heavy-duty aluminum foil.
Remove ribs from grill or smoker, unwrap, brush with barbecue sauce and place back in the smoker. Cook for another hour, brushing the ribs with barbecue sauce every 20 minutes.
The two easiest ways to check if your ribs are done are the Bend Test and Bone Show:
1 - The Bend test requires you to use tongs to lift one end of your rib rack. Lift the end off of the grates, straight up. The other end of the rack will remain on the grill and you should be able to see a nice bend in the ribs and a slight shredding to the rib meat on top of the rack.
2 -With the Bone Show test, the ribs are finished cooking when the meat draws back and exposes about three-quarters of an inch of the rib bone.
Remove the ribs from your grill or smoker and let rest at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.
Cut between the bones and serve with some classic Tennessee Whiskey and enjoy.
Notes:
Turning Your Propane Grill into a Smoker
Establish hot and cool zones by turning on (or leaving off) the burners. For example, if your propane grill is equipped with four burners, turn on burners one and two, or three and four. This will create a single heat source allowing you to place your meat on the cooler area of the grill.
If your propane cooker only has three burners, turn the burner closest to the left (or right) on high, and set the middle burner to medium, or low depending on the target temperature you’re trying to achieve. Leave the remaining burner off. Again, this will create a cool zone allowing you to land the meat over the burner that’s been left in the off position.
With your heat sources identified, continue set up. You’ll need a disposable aluminum pan filled with water to deliver moisture in the otherwise dry environment of the grill—and wood chunks to give your meat a sweet kiss of smoky flavor. A humid environment keeps the exterior of the meat tacky and better able to absorb smoke.
Ingredients
RIbs
2 slabs pork spare ribs
handful hickory wood chunks
Rub
3 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
Sauce
1 cup ketchup
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
5 1/4 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper