Cooking barbecue ribs is not difficult if you keep a few basics in mind. Barbecue refers to the cooking method, and using seasoned wood or charcoal is essential. Slow cooking over low heat is key, and adding wood chips or using a sauce can enhance flavor.
Barbecue ribs are one of the most popular meats to cook on the barbecue. Some cooks, however, hesitate to try making them because they feel that making good ribs is too difficult. Making good barbecue ribs isn’t actually difficult, and keeping a few basics in mind can ensure your ribs come out tender and flavorful.
For many people, the word barbecue has more to do with the sauce used with many barbecue dishes, but the term actually refers to the cooking method. Barbecue is simply grilling food over an open fire – traditionally, hot coals. Today, charcoal or gas grills are used for barbecuing, although many cooks insist that real wood offers the best flavor. For barbecue ribs, one of these heat sources is required.
If you’re cooking with wood, seasoned wood, such as walnut, apple, maple, or cherry, is a must. Oak and mesquite are also possible choices, but they can give the ribs an overpowering smoky flavor, so be careful if using these woods. Too much smoke can ruin the flavor of the ribs.
With wood or charcoal, you’ll need a good bed of hot coals. Be prepared to add more wood or charcoal while cooking to keep the heat in. If using a gas grill, set the heat to low enough. Ribs should cook slowly and for a long time for tenderness. Hot coals and charcoal lack the mechanism for accurate heat control, so if you use one of these heat sources, you will most likely need to cook your ribs a little higher than the coals.
The most popular type of ribs and the type most people think of when someone mentions barbecue ribs are pork chops, although other cuts of pork and beef ribs are good for barbecue. Ribs can be seasoned but they don’t have to be. Many cooks like to rub their ribs with a spice rub before cooking, and while many of these are made at home, good commercial rubs can be found at any supermarket. Some cooks also like to marinate ribs overnight before cooking.
To cook the ribs, place them on the grill. The key is to cook them slowly over low heat or they will burn. If necessary, push the coals to one side of the grill or turn off half of a gas grill and cook the ribs, indirectly, on the other side of the grill. Many cooks like the smoky flavor for their ribs, so water-soaked hardwood chops can be added to the coals occasionally, a handful at a time, while cooking. For gas grills, place wood chips in a foil pan on the grill.
Cook the ribs with the grill lid on, turning them gently every 30 minutes or so. The ribs will take about four hours to cook and maybe longer to get tenderness off the bone. Add additional charcoal or wood chunks as needed to maintain cooking heat.
Some cooks like to cook ribs without a sauce, but many like to use a sauce to baste their ribs. If you want sauce on your barbecue ribs, bag them during the last half hour of cooking. Apply the sauce with a basting brush, clean rag or sauce mop.
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