Grilling and Smoking Association's online newsletter for July 2018
MEAT Insider
July 2018
PORK RIBS Challenge
3-2-1 Method for Smoking Ribs A Tried - and - True Method for You
1. Lastly, it’s time to go back to the grates for 1 hour of smoke at 225 F. If you want to add a sauce, go ahead during this hour. Or, if you want dry ribs, you can do that, too! It’s all up to your preferences. I like the flavor and texture of a sauced rib, myself. The true beauty of the 3-2-1 method is that you can flavor your ribs with the wood, rub, brine, sauce, and juice of your choice and the method still works great. Another great thing about this method is that you can use it to cook other pork rib cuts. It comes down to heat control. A good example is baby back ribs. Because they cook faster, some Pitmasters choose to use a 2-2-1 method for baby backs, but all you really need to do is drop the heat down to 190–200 F (from 225–230 F for spare ribs) and everything else is the same 3-2-1. Note that with baby backs, if you don’t drop the heat or change the timing, the ribs will get a little char. When all you’re doing is managing the heat, you don’t have to worry about anything else. It makes things pretty simple when you’re at the grill. Now, not everyone goes for ribs that are falling off the bone. But, again, play with the heat and experiment with your ribs. It might take a few tries to get it“just right,”but you will get to a result that you love. And that’s the 3-2-1 method in a nutshell. Another really great thing about the 3-2-1 method is how easy it is. Never smoked or grilled before? That’s okay! Follow each step and you’ll end up with some great ribs. There’s a lot you can do to get to your end result. Don’t want to use fruit juice? No problem! Add a can of
here are a lot of ways to grill up ribs, but there is one way I really love. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s called the 3-2-1 method . It’s easy and the results are delicious. Typically, you use the 3-2-1 method on pork spare ribs, but we’ll talk more about how to use it for baby backs as you continue to read on. Here’s what 3-2-1 looks like: 3. You start out with a 3-hour - long smoke at 225 F with your ribs directly on the grates. You really want the smoke to penetrate the ribs. You can use whatever wood flavor you like best. My favorites include pecan wood, as well as hickory. Others like the light sweetness of fruit woods such as apple and cherry on their pork. It’s all about bringing together your favorite flavors. 2. After smoking the ribs, you wrap them for 2 hours. Most people use foil for this step, but people have done it with butcher paper as well. When you place the ribs in foil, you want to be sure to keep the meaty side of your rack down and add some juice to the mix. The juice mixes with the rendered fat and creates a steam for unbeatable results. Sometimes I add cherry juice, sometimes it’s apple. I may even throw some peaches into a blender, mix the juice with a cup of vinegar, and add it to the foil. Find a fruit juice you love and give it a try. Some people add brown sugar, squeeze butter, and even different flavors of soda pop to their foil mixture. Here’s an inside secret I don’t share often: try on some sassafras wood for your smoke and pop a root beer soda in your foil as your juice for a real nice treat. T
Coke to each foil. Or, as I mentioned earlier, add root beer and sassafras wood for a Cajun touch.
Growing up, my dad always tried to get the ribs to his standard. He had his ways and I learned a lot. But I will tell you, the very first time I tried ribs using the 3-2-1 method, it was outstanding. I’ve found it hard to go back to the ways I grew up with. The meat was juicy and falling off the bone. For me, it doesn’t get any better than that. That’s how our family likes our ribs. I’ll leave you with this, and I can’t say it enough: Don’t be afraid to experiment. Take little steps and as you get used to it, the next thing you know, you’ll be working with all kinds of flavors, leaving your family and friends with nothing but smiles on their faces—andmaybe a little barbecue sauce.
–Danny McTurnan 1 grillingandsmokingassociation.org
with a possible subheader right underneath This American Grub HOW HOT DOGS AND HAMBURGERS BECAME NATIONAL TREASURES
The Burger
If your plans for this Independence Day involve firing up the barbecue, you’ll probably be cooking two American classics: hot dogs and hamburgers. Come the Fourth of July, families will be grilling up burgers and dogs from sea to shining sea, but it wasn’t always this way. The story of how beef patties and sausages became culinary symbols of our nation will give you plenty of food for thought. It was German immigrants who brought the “frankfurter”and the“wienerwurst”to American soil in the 1800s. There is much debate over who first decided to place one of these franks in a bun, but by the opening of the 20th century, hot dog stands had popped up all over the Eastern Seaboard. We do know the identity of the man who took the hot dog’s popularity to a national level: Nathan Handwerker. A Jewish immigrant from Poland, Nathan sliced buns for a hot dog stand on Coney Island. After scraping together enoughmoney, he GRILL Giveaway The Hot Dog
Like the hot dog, the exact origin of the beef patty’s eventual“sandwiching”is lost to history. Once again, it was German immigrants who brought their recipes for“Hamburg steak”with them across the Atlantic, but reports vary as to who first sold the meat patty inside a bun. Multiple diners and fairgrounds across America claim to be the home of the first hamburger. All of these claims date to the turn of the 20th century, a time when our nation was faced with feeding a growing working class quickly and cheaply. By the 1950s, the burger had become a symbol of the American everyman. Both the hot dog and hamburger embody the history of our nation. Immigrant traditions merged with blue-collar needs to create two uniquely American foods. It’s fitting that we celebrate America’s birthday with the grub that has grown along with it.
quit his job and opened a stand of his own, undercutting his former employer’s prices by half. Not only did Nathan’s hot dogs outsell the competition, the Great Depressionmade them the perfect food for a nation suddenly living on a tight budget. By the 1930s, hot dogs had become so unquestionably American that Franklin Roosevelt famously served them to King George VI during his royal visit in 1939. PORK RIBS Challenge Are you ready to put your grilling and smoking skills to the test? Take the 3-2-1 Challenge and you could WIN up to $500 in grilling and meat-smoking prizes! Wanna knowmore? Head over to gsa.life/2018july for all the details on how to enter. Good luck, and we look forward to seeing what you cook up!
Upcoming Ask A Pro Sessions
• Sunday 7/15/18, 5 p.m .
Central time - 3-2-1 Method for Smoking Ribs • Sunday 7/22/18, 5 p.m. Central - Different Cuts of Pork Ribs Go to gsa.life/2018july for instructions on how to access these LIVE sessions.
Win a FREE Char-Broil Offset Smoker. Details at gsa.life/2018july .
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A Taste of the Islands Right at Home Hawaiian - Style Finger Ribs
In July, we take a break and relax in celebration of the birth of this great nation as well as the freedoms we have to cook and eat what we want, when we want, with whomever we want. With that in mind, what better way to relax than with the flavor combinations of the Hawaiian Islands. This pork rib cook is sweet and savory — a delicious way to relax in the island life right
from the comfort of your home with these delectable Hawaiian-Style Finger Ribs. It’s important to note that this cook does NOT use the 3-2-1 method mentioned previously. You could adapt this recipe to the 3-2-1 method, but since our mission is to help you make better BBQ, we want you to attempt a variety of different cooks.
Ingredients
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1 slab of pork spare ribs, sliced vertically down middle (ask your butcher to do this for you), membrane pulled off, and rib back knuckle removed
FOR THE RUB: •
2 teaspoons chopped garlic 1 teaspoon chopped parsley 1/2 teaspoon dried chili pepper flakes 2 tablespoons Maui raw sugar 2 tablespoons Hawaiian red alaea salt (sea salt) 1/2 cup shredded coconut
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FOR THE MARINADE: •
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2 cups diced pineapple 1/8 cup minced ginger
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1 cup coconut milk 1/2 cup rice wine 1/8 cup soy sauce 1/8 cup olive oil
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FOR THE SPRITZ: •
1 cup coconut milk 1/4 cup white vinegar
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Instructions 1. Place all marinade ingredients in pot and bring to boil. Then turn down the heat and simmer 10 minutes. Let cool, strain mixture, and pour into container that will hold your ribs. Place ribs in marinade and refrigerate for 12 hours. (If you need to divide the ribs in half to fit, that’s okay —make sure all ribs are covered with the marinade.) 2. After 12 hours, take out ribs and drain excess marinade. Next, apply the rub to the ribs. Now, the ribs are ready for the smoker.
3. Bring the smoker temperature up to 235 F. Place ribs in the smoker in indirect heat for 2 1/2 hours. As they smoke, spritz ribs with the coconut milk and vinegar mixture every 35 minutes. This is a very important step. 4. After smoking for 2 1/2 hours, head to the grill. Drop the ribs over direct heat for a quick sear on each side. Then move the ribs to indirect heat for another 1 1/2–2 hours. Keep the coconut milk and vinegar mixture close by because in this segment you need to spritz the ribs every 15–20 minutes.
5. Once the ribs are done, let them rest for 35 minutes and serve. I recommend pairing these dry-rub ribs with a ranch- style dressing to make them really pop. Enjoy!
Any support questions? Email us at members@grillingandsmokingassociation.org If you are not in the Facebook forum yet, go to gsa.life/2018july to learn how!
–Danny McTurnan
3 grillingandsmokingassociation.org
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3-2-1 Method for Smoking Ribs
The History of Hot Dogs and Burgers Are You Ready for a Challenge?
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Hawaiian-Style Finger Ribs
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Pork Ribs 101
Pork Ribs Identified Pork ribs come in many shapes and sizes. They can have slightly different flavors and can be cooked up in many different ways. Here are the four most popular cuts of ribs you’ll find in the world of BBQ. This article is intended to help you identify exactly what you’ll need for a specific cook. Take a look! Baby back ribs are far and away the most popular kind of rib. The baby back is cut from the top section of the rib cage. This cut usually has the most meat and it tends to cook faster on the grill than spare ribs. When you buy baby back ribs, look for a rack of 10–13 ribs — any less than 10 and you’ve found
yourself a cheater rack. Since they are smaller than spares, baby backs are often cooked using a 2-2-1 method (2 hours in smoke, 2 hours wrapped, 1 hour in smoke), rather than the 3-2-1 method. Country-style pork ribs are thick- cut and can be cut from either the loin or the shoulder. These aren’t considered ribs by everyone and have more in common with chops than the other rib cuts — but that doesn’t make them any less delicious. Another thing: Sometimes, if a pork butt doesn’t meet the grade of being called a butt, they may sell it as boneless country-style ribs.
Spare ribs are cut from the lower section of the ribs under the pig. They have a longer bone structure and a little less meat than baby back ribs. When you’re looking for spare ribs, they should consist of 11–13 ribs. Another thing to note: Spare ribs only come from pork, while short ribs, a similar cut, come from beef. St. Louis-style ribs are a variation of spare ribs. The difference is that St. Louis-style lacks the rib tips and brisket flaps. The sternum bone is also removed. This means less cartilage and it gives you a nice-looking, rectangular slab of rib, which can make for a great presentation when it comes out of the smoker or off the grill.
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