Willie's BBQ Ribs!

YOU can now reproduce Willie's special BBQ smoked ribs recipe!

We have TWO versions for you. Willie has created a 4+page, step-by-step, detailed and humorous set of instructions to make his ribs. BUT, if you are a seasoned smoker and BBQ'er, we've created a shorter version at the end of this blog.


Willie’s Barbecue Pork Spare Ribs
Successfully barbecuing tender, juicy pork spare ribs is a day-long affair requiring multiple steps. The first few times you do it you might not think it’s worth the effort, but once you’ve got it down, like anything, it gets easier. Here’s the high-level view, then I’ll get into detail:
1. Set aside a day
2. Make your dry rub mixture
3. Decide on what wood you use for smoking the meat
4. Tenderize the ribs (as needed)
5. Prepare the ribs
6. Prepare your grill
7. Barbecue!
I. Set aside a day
Because barbecuing ribs the right way (slow cooked at a low temperature) takes a long time, you should plan on taking a day to cook them. (It can be done faster, but never with the same delicious results!) The first time you try making these ribs you may think that you can just stick them on the grill and look at them occasionally, turning them over when you want to. Not so!!. Once the meat is on the grill, it should be turned every 30 minutes or so for as long as six hours. This is necessary to keep the juices in the meat from dripping out and drying the meat – and thereby losing a lot of its tenderness and flavor. Barbecuing this way makes for an excellent day for reading a good book, or doing a chore that needs frequent breaks! Be careful, though! I found out the hard way that lengthening the time between flipping the ribs can result in disastrously dry results! (Now I have a portable timer that I keep with me set to go off after 30 minutes.)
II. Make your dry rub mixture
This step is easy and can be done in advance. It makes enough for several racks of ribs, depending on how much you like your meat seasoned.
Mix together the following ingredients:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup paprika
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon group coriander
Simple addition tells you this makes almost a cup of rub. So find a container big enough to hold it all, since you won’t use it all on a single rack of ribs (or even on several racks). I’ve also found it helpful to put a portion of the in an empty spice jar that has a shaker top on it. That way I can easily shake the rub evenly onto the ribs (or other meat) when needed. You can make your rub weeks in advance; just don’t wait until the last minute. I usually check the amount of rub mixture the night before I plan to barbecue to make sure I have enough, and if not, make more if I need it.
III. Decide on what wood you use for smoking the meat and prepare it
I strongly believe in smoking the meat as it is being cooked. Ideally, one would have a smoker specially built just for smoking. (But if you happen to own a smoker then you probably don’t need to be reading this recipe!) Smoking the meat adds a special flavor to it that can’t be matched by sauces added during or after cooking the meat. The meat gets permeated it with the smoky flavor of the wood that often hallmarks the best barbecue. There are a variety of woods used in barbecuing, but pork barbecue tends to be flavored by hickory or mesquite wood, depending on the part of the country you live in. I like hickory for pork and mesquite for other meats, especially poultry, but you can choose what you like or experiment with both (just not at the same time!).
You can get wood for smoking at just about any grocery store. About an hour before you are going to start cooking the meat, put two to three cups of the wood into a bowl and cover it with water to add some moisture back into the wood. This will keep it from flaming up quickly and burning out; thus prolonging the smoking effect on the meat.
IV. Tenderize the ribs (as needed)
If you buy your ribs at a general supermarket (Lucky’s, Safeway, etc.) or a discount warehouse (Costco, Sam’s, etc.) the quality of the meat will not be all that great. It will likely need some tenderizing. However, don’t fall for the meat tenderizers that you can also get at such places! These mixtures don’t really tenderize all that much, plus they add a flavor of their own and lots of other worthless (and possibly even unhealthy!) chemicals that you don’t need! The simple solution for tougher cuts of ribs is to brine the meat in a highly salinated pot of water for about two hours. (About ??? cups of salt for every ?? quarts of water.)
The best solution, of course, is to buy your ribs from a butcher or a specialty grocery store (like Draeger’s or Andronico’s, although they don’t always have pork spare ribs in inventory, so call ahead!). Even then your meat may need brining and knowing when to brine and when not to only comes with experience and frequent handling of the meat to know when you’ve got a tender set of ribs or not. I suggest you brine the meat until you get an understanding of what a good set of tender ribs feels like.

V. Prepare the ribs
Once you think you have tender ribs, don’t think the preparation work is done. They will probably need some trimming, in addition to adding the rub. First, you need to remove the white sheathing that is on the back (or underside) of the rib. This is a layer of light creamy colored gristle-type of substance that runs almost the length of the ribs, flat against the bones. It’s fairly easy to remove by first running a sharp knife under one edge of the gristle to lift it off the bones by a quarter inch or so, then, using a paper towel to get a good grip, grabbing it between your fingers and thumb and pulling it up and away from the bone. With a little practice, and a firm grip, you can remove it all in one pull. (Sometimes it will tear, or break, and you’ll have to pull again on what’s left.) If you cook the ribs without removing this you will end up with a flavorless piece of chewy gristle on the back side of your ribs. Not desirable!
Sandi and I differ on any further trimming. She likes to trim off everything except the row of straight ribs that dominate the slab, cooking and serving the rest of the meat separately. IMHO, cooking that part separately often ends up with meat that can easily get overcooked when separated into individual pieces and not cooked with the reset of the ribs.
Spread the rub mixture onto the slabs, both sides.
VI. Prepare the grill
I use a gas grill. I prefer gas over charcoal because of a couple of things: (1) gas provides an even and controlled temperature that is easy to maintain for the long period of time without much fuss and bother, and (2) I’m lazy – it’s just plain easier! I understand that there are those who believe they need to use charcoal, or even wood, to be truly authentic to the long tradition of barbecue. I’m not one of those. I think I can get ribs that are just as tender, juicy, and good tasting with gas as with a more traditional approach. And (can I say it again?) it’s just easier!
That said, you need to make sure your grill is properly prepared for cooking ribs. First, make sure you have enough propane in your tank. Even though your gas grill could be on for almost six hours, it won’t use much gas because you’ll only use one burner set to it’s lowest setting (or somewhere thereabouts). So you don’t have to use only a full tank. However, nothing is worse than starting a barbecue and running out of fuel part way through the process. If your tank is low make sure you’ve got another full one standing by. I always have a full tank for just such occasions. (It’s not much fun to run out of gas when you’re cooking anything, whether its ribs or burgers. Besides, we live in earthquake country. It’s comforting to know that I can always cook meals at home if a disaster should happen!)
Second, clean your grill thoroughly. On the morning I plan to grill (or even better, on the day before) I usually turn on the grill to full heat and close the lid for about 15 minutes to burn off any extra drippings and other gunk (that’s a highly sophisticated barbecuing term!) that may be on the grill racks from a previous cooking. And then, while the grill is still on high I scrape the racks with a good metal brush to clean off and ashes or other gunk still stuck on the racks. I do this well before I plan to put the ribs on the grill so that the temperature has subsided to a good slow-cooking temperature. (Nothing’s worse then putting ribs on a hot grill and searing them before they start smoking. The smoky flavor doesn’t penetrate the meat as well if it’s already been seared.)
Place an aluminum pan underneath the grill racks and above the burners. Use one that is big enough to catch all of the drippings off the rib. If you can’t find one that large make one from heavy-duty aluminum foil. (That’s what I usually do.) Putting a drip tray under your ribs serves three purposes, (1) it protects the meat from any direct flames, (2) it catches the juices from your meat, thus preventing flare ups that may singe your meat, thus making it tough and chewy, and (3) it helps keep the flavor of the meat by cooking the juices in the pan.
Some gas grills have accessories you can buy. One that will prove useful if you plan to do a lot of grilling is a “smoker” that can hold the wood chips you will use to smoke your ribs with. My grill has just such a container that fits on the burners of the grill. It works well and sure beats the alternative of making my own by wrapping the soaked wood in aluminum foil and punching holes in it to let the heat in and the smoke out. I could never the right balance of number of holes in the foil and the size of the holes to got the wood hot enough to smoke without getting it too hot to flame up. The accessory smoker that comes with the grill works just fine. So before you start cooking the ribs make sure your “smoker” is filled with the soaked wood chips and is place in the grill.
VII. Barbecue!
When I have the grill all prepared and I’m ready to start cooking I turn the flames up all the way until the chips are afire and the wood is smoking (lots of smoke is filling the grill and flowing out through the cracks between the lid and the grill basin). When the smoke is full I turn down the grill all the way (with only one burner on at its lowest setting) and wait until the grill temperature gets back down to about 350° before putting the meat on the grill. I make sure that it is placed fully over the aluminum pan/foil with no exposure to the direct heat of the grill burner.
It is ideal if your grill has a built-in thermometer. That way you can maintain a steady temperature for the meat. When I barbecue ribs I only have one burner on as low as it can go. On warm days the thermometer registers about 250°, which I find to be just about perfect, as long as I make sure the meat is never directly over the flame. If it’s a cooler day I usually have to have the burner turned up higher to maintain that temperature, but then I have to be extra careful about keeping the meat away from the direct flame.
From here on it gets a lot easier. Turn on your timer to 30 minutes and every time it goes off, flip the meat over. About 3 ½ to 4 hours later, you can test the meat (press firmly on a meaty section) to see how it’s coming along. If it’s still soft to the touch, then it’s just about done – you don’t want it to get crusty and firm to the touch. If the bones can be easily twisted inside the meat then you know it is done. (I prefer my ribs to be at the point where the bones just turn a little in the meat because I’m still going to cook it a little longer.) About this time (sorry I’m not more precise, but the variables in grill temperature can make a big difference in how long you have the meat on the grill) I take the meat off the grill, put a large piece (large enough to wrap the entire rack of ribs) of heavy-duty aluminum foil on the grill rack and place the meat back on it. You then heavily coat it with your favorite barbecue sauce and then loosely wrap the foil around the ribs and cook for about another hour or so at the same temperature. I say “loosely wrap the foil” because I want the meat to simmer in the sauce so that it gains the flavor of the sauce and remains moist and juicy, but at the same time the sauce evaporates and thickens up. It’s good to leave the foil open at the top so this can occur.
After about an hour much of the sauce should have cooked off. If you’ve timed this well, there will be about another hour before dinner is served. If so, take the meat off the grill, wrap it tightly in the foil so no air or sauce can leak out and put it in a paper bag. I know this part may sound silly, but it’s crucial to making good ribs. Storing it this way causes the meat to reabsorb the juices and will make it very tender and flavorful, as well as keep it warm. (If it’s going to be longer until dinner then leave it on the grill a little longer or keep it wrapped tightly in the foil in a warming oven, but still plan to pull it out an hour early so the meat can rest and reabsorb the juices.)
When ready to serve, take the meat out of the foil, put it on a cutting board and cut each rib portion between the bones. The meat should be so tender that you can cut it easily; some will just fall off the bone.
It can be served with a warm barbecue sauce of your choice on the side.
Note:
I don’t specify the sauce for this recipe because everyone has his or her own preferences (usually depending on where they’re from because barbecued pork ribs are highly regionalized, from Texas to Kansas City to the Carolinas). I’ve tried a number of recipes but keep coming back to a commercial sauce – a mixture of Armadillo Willy’s Jalapeno Recipe and their Original Recipe. Obviously, I like my sauce spicy, with a hint of sweetness.

Too much information? Here's the short cut version.


Willie’s Barbecue Pork Spare Ribs – abbreviated version

If you have never smoked ribs, do not use this version…

1. Set aside a day – you will need to turn the meat every 30 minutes for about 4 hours (give or take 30 min.)
   
2. Make your dry rub mixture
   
   
   
   • 1/4 cup brown sugar
     
   • 1/4 cup salt
     
   • 1/4 cup paprika
     
   • 1 tablespoon black pepper
     
   • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
     
   • 1 tablespoon onion powder
     
   • 1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
     
   • 1/2 teaspoon crushed fennel seed
     
   • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
     
   
   
3. Decide on what wood you use for smoking the meat - I like hickory for pork and mesquite for other meats, especially poultry. Soak chips in water for 1 hour before grilling.
   
4. Tenderize the meat - for tougher cuts of ribs is to brine the meat in a pot of salt water for about two hours. (About ??? cups of salt for every ?? quarts of water.) OR buy higher quality ribs from a butcher or a specialty grocery store (like Draeger’s or Andronico’s).
   
5. Prepare the ribs - remove the white sheathing that is on the back (or underside) of the rib. Trim fat, etc. to your preference. Sprinkle or spread dry rub over ribs, both sides.
   
6. Prepare your grill -
   
   
   
   • Make sure you have enough propane.
     
   • Clean your grill thoroughly.
     
   • Place an aluminum pan underneath the grill racks and above the burners to catch drippings.
     
   • Put wood chips into grill’s smoker tray or in heavy aluminum foil that has had several holes punched into it.
     
   
   
7. Barbecue!
   
   
   
   • Turn grill on to a high temperature until the chips are afire and the wood is smoking and fills the grill.
     
   • When the smoke is full I turn down the grill all the way (with only one burner on at its lowest setting) and wait until the grill temperature gets back down to about 350° before putting the meat on the grill.
     
   • Once the meat is on the grill, lower temp. to 250º.
     
   • Turn ribs every 30 minutes for about 4 hours (give or take 30 min.)
     
   
   
8. Sauce the ribs.
   
   
   
   • Take the meat off the grill
     
   • Put a large of heavy-duty aluminum foil on the grill rack and place the meat back on it.
     
   • Heavily coat ribs with your favorite barbecue sauce and then loosely wrap the foil around the ribs and Remember to leave foil open at top to thicken sauce.
     
   • Grill for another hour at same temperature.
     
   
   
9. You’re not done yet! One more step:
   
   
   
   • Remove the ribs & foil from the grill.
     
   • Tightly wrap in the foil and then place foiled ribs in paper bag for hour.
     
   • After another hour, remove from bag and foil and cut each rib portion.
     
   • Serve with your favorite BBQ sauce on the side.