MEMPHIS CHAMPIONSHIP BARBEQUE RIBS AS EASY AS 3-2-1

By: David Merritt, Memphis, TN

I wasn’t born knowing how to make the best BBQ on the planet, but fortunately I was born in a part of the world that makes arguably the very best BBQ found anywhere.  Since I had a desire to make great food, and a penchant for learning, I was part of a BBQ team for 12 years. We competed all around the southeast part of the United States. We won lots of trophies for all kinds of dishes. 

In the South, Barbeque means PORK. Well, except in Texas, that is where they like their meat to have horns! We competed in Beef, Seafood, Exotic, Hot Wings, Poultry, deserts, even Bloody Mary’s and Margaritas! In short, my knowledge of food preparation in general, skyrocketed! 

I was fortunate to work, play and study with some of the best on the circuit kicking around all kinds of ideas to elevate whatever dish we were developing for competition. Then through a tremendous amount of time, money, blood, sweat and tears, we just continued to win and win. 

So, after many years, my wife Carole and I decided it had become just too much like work. So, we did the natural thing, and became Certified Barbeque Judges. We had the honor of judging many of the judges and contestants you see regularly on food network and other shows. We even had people calling us professionals and were on TV ourselves from time to time!

During this time, we tasted outstanding presentations and learned a lot more! Of course we also tasted some things that should have just stayed on the grill instead of embarrassing the competitor and ruining an otherwise tasty adventure!

It is for these reasons and more, that I make the following offering. I hope you will take this, play with it, and make it your own. Have fun with your own Barbeque culinary journey. You will enjoy your achievements and learn from your mistakes. It will be a GREAT experience if you let it!

Process for Competition Quality BBQ Ribs:

Always look for ribs with lots of meat and small diameter rib bones. Pick up the package, turn it on the side and pick the slabs with the smallest bones. This gives you more of the meat per serving. 

Type of ribs:

There are many cuts of ribs. St Louis style ribs are very common; however they have a slab of meat and gristle at the top that is mainly nothing you really want to eat. I always used to cut it off, and toss it. Baby Backs are the best, as that part of the slab has been removed and you only get the meat and the rib bones themselves. There are more details which could be discussed here, but if you get Baby Back ribs you can’t go wrong.

Rib preparation:

Examine the slab. Make sure it doesn’t smell bad, or it isn’t extremely slippery. If it is, it is likely bad.   Next flip it over to see if the membrane has been removed. Some think that keeping the membrane on aids in keeping the bones together in case you over cook them; but I believe removal is preferable, as too little of the seasoning and smoke get into the ribs.

Membrane removal:

Take an oyster knife (dinner knife will work) and work it between the membrane and meat in the middle of the slab on the side, pulling the membrane away from the slab, until you can get a finger all the way to the other side of the slab. Then holding the slab, pull the membrane up and away from the slab of ribs. If it should tear, use a paper towel to grab the offending membrane, and pull it off.

Binder:

Most professional BBQ competitors will tell you that you should have a binder to keep the seasonings on the meat as it is being smoked. Have you ever put your seasonings on a steak only to have the fall off right away as you grill it? A binder will assist with the seasonings adhering to the meat. Some will fall off anyway, but not near as much.

A binder is some kind of oil. We used to make chili oil as our binder, but that is the subject for another writing. Suffice to say most any food grade oil will do. I prefer peanut oil for its flavor and high burn temperature. Olive oil has some of the same properties, but I don’t think the flavor goes well with traditional barbeque. Canola, corn, or most any type of oil will work also.

Pat dry the rack of ribs. Rub the meat with the oil on both sides. It doesn’t have to swim in oil, just make sure all areas are covered. Then cover the slab with whatever type of rub you wish to use. We have some that is of our own making that could be provided, but there are many out there that are extremely good. RUBBING, is actually kind of a misnomer, as you really are spreading the rub on the meat and PATTING it down. Some rubbing may be appropriate however.

Allow the meat to come to about room temperature. Most any meat you grill or smoke works best when brought to room temperature first. This time also allows the rub to more adequately adhere to the meat, and can add to tenderness.

Smoker:

There are many types of smokers that work well. For the back yard, I prefer a tower smoker with an offset firebox. This allows me to do steaks on the firebox side, and smoke many different kinds of meats in the smoking tower. Our completion rig is 8 feet wide, 24 feet long, and double decker, but you don’t need anything like that to turn out GREAT barbeque for all your friends. One note: Whenever possible, use any grill that has an offset firebox so the heat is indirect. If you don’t have one, move the meat to a side of the grill and the charcoal or other heat source to the other.

Temperature:

No matter what you use, one of the keys to great barbeque is smoke, low and slow. The temperature should be 225 degrees for the whole process. If it varies a bit, it isn’t an issue, unless it gets way too hot. If it should, you need to work rapidly to reduce the temperature. Opening the door helps, and even dousing the charcoal with water can help as well. Again, details on this will be covered in our “Smokers and Grills” publication. This doesn’t mean you should have to hover over the grill all the time. Occasionally checking the temperature should be fine.

Putting the ribs on:

Once your grill is the desired temperature, you are ready to put the ribs on. This is the time where smoke is your friend. Many different types of wood chips are found in all kinds of stores. Hickory is the standard in the south, and Mesquite in the west. I find starting with Hickory and finishing with Apple works very well.  The wood chips should be soaked for several hours, or even overnight. This allows them to smoke slowly and reduces the rapid burn up factor.

Smoke: THREE

Just like the pores of your skin, the meat opens up to the smoke as it first begins to smoke on the grill. THIS is where the THREE comes in. For approximately three hours make sure you have some smoke going most of the time. This is the time when the smoke REALLY gets into the meat. With ribs, what is called the “smoke ring” should go all the way to the bone turning the meat pink in color when done, and providing exceptional flavor.

WRAP: TWO

After about three hours, you should pull the ribs off and wrap them in foil. You may see the meat pulling slightly up the rib bones at this time. Wrapping the ribs allows them to cook in the seasonings and their own juices, while assuring they don’t turn into jerky! This would also be a good time to move any ribs that are close to the heat source and swap them with ribs that are far away from the heat source in order to achieve more uniform cooking.

GLAZE: ONE

After about two hours in foil, pull them off and unwrap them. You should defiantly see the meat pulling up from the bones at this time, and some of them may be starting to fall apart. Do your best to keep them together, and brush whatever glaze you choose to use. This can be a commercial BBQ sauce or anything you have you want to flavor the ribs with. This last glaze will likely be a prominent flavor with the finished ribs, so experiment;  but you may want to glaze sparingly. Then put them back on the smoker to finish for one hour.   This allows any ribs that are falling apart to tighten up a bit, and the glaze to adhere to the rib more fully.

THEN…..well THEN, you are ready to serve some of the BEST ribs you or anyone has ever eaten!



Side notes…….The amounts of timing will vary with type of grill/smoker you are using, ambient temperature, size of slabs, and other factors. Play with it. You will find the perfect process for you and your backyard rig. AMAZE your friends. Follow this guide and you WILL!