My offer still stands...
They tasted fine... I actually did 3 types for our church group to test out - a regular dry rub, a sauced version and a sweet Asian chili version. Overall it would have been fine, except for the texture. There are really 3 textures of ribs:
- bite through - taking a bite from the side leaves a "shark bite" kind of arc in the meat. These are pretty firm. The trick is getting them just tender enough to melt the collagen and make them tender, but not cook them to the next stage. This is typically what they are looking for in competition-style ribs, at least from my understanding. I don't compete, and this weekend is a good reminder lesson why.
- pull off the bone - pretty self explanatory, and this is where my family prefers them. The meat is soft and tender, and pulls pretty easily off the bone, leaving the bone pretty clean
- fall apart - this is what I had on Sunday. Like I said, the meat literally shredding when I tried to cut them into individual ribs. The meat is still good, still tasty, very very tender, and no one else complained, but, as usual, I am way harder on myself. I am pretty much done with wrapping ribs, I think. I've heard over and over about people wrapping, and I've tried it a few times and I essentially always find them way too soft. I've used the 3-2-1 method, as well as several variations. The only exception is I MIGHT try a 2-1-1 method, as I have gotten some decent ribs this way at times. But honestly, just plain old unwrapped all the time on my pellet cookers usually leads to my best results.
I’m not sold on wrapping either. I’ve done it with pork shoulder & brisket but not with ribs.
I did a set on the smoker over about 6 hours and they turned out great.
I’m a big fan of the “bite through” ribs.
“Crying is for babies, little girls, and men who just had their ears ripped off.”
- Oobedoob Benubi
Those look quite good. Strong work.
I've not seen a vertical skewered round of ribs in a cooker before. The results certainly speak for an effective method plus opening up the space for the ABTs.
Perfected it! I made a 6" for testing but the recipe can be doubled for a 10" cake. This one is blueberry.
No Sugar Added, Low Carb Cake with Fruit
Ingredients
3 large pastured eggs separated
1 tsp cream of tartar
5 tbsp butter melted and allowed to cool
3 tbsp baking mix Stevia.
1/4 cup coconut flour sifted
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
Strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, sliced peaches, etc about 3oz or half a container of blueberries. Berries are lower carb.
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl combine the egg whites and cream of tartar. Whip with mixer until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, just lightly whip the butter with the mixer, then add in the egg yolks and vanilla, whip together until combined. Add in the Stevia along with the flour and other dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
Fold the egg whites into the batter starting with a little bit at a time. Combine until the batter is completely mixed. Mix in your fruit.
Coconut flour bakes up dry so some juice might help too if you prefer a moister cake. Not to much you do not want it soggy.
Spray a 6 inch cake pan or cast iron skillet with Bakers Joy. Pour the batter in.
Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.
No Sugar Added, Low Carb Cake with Fruit
Ingredients
3 large pastured eggs separated
1 tsp cream of tartar
5 tbsp butter melted and allowed to cool
3 tbsp baking mix Stevia.
1/4 cup coconut flour sifted
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
Strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, sliced peaches, etc about 3oz or half a container of blueberries. Berries are lower carb.
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl combine the egg whites and cream of tartar. Whip with mixer until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, just lightly whip the butter with the mixer, then add in the egg yolks and vanilla, whip together until combined. Add in the Stevia along with the flour and other dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
Fold the egg whites into the batter starting with a little bit at a time. Combine until the batter is completely mixed. Mix in your fruit.
Coconut flour bakes up dry so some juice might help too if you prefer a moister cake. Not to much you do not want it soggy.
Spray a 6 inch cake pan or cast iron skillet with Bakers Joy. Pour the batter in.
Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.
Last edited:
My smoker is small - only 14” diameter. I can’t lay a rack flat and I didn’t want to split it. I had seen somewhere on the interwebs that a guy did 3 racks in his larger bullet smoker by rolling & skewering each rack.
Not big on saucy wet ribs - I like them dry with just a rub. All indirect cooking. Water pan sitting over coals. Managed temp at 225-250 with spritzing every 45-60 min. When I got close to the internal temp I jacked the heat up around 275-300 to finish.
Got another rack in the freezer that I’m going to try and duplicate the same results.
“Crying is for babies, little girls, and men who just had their ears ripped off.”
- Oobedoob Benubi
@RickN
Nice work. Looks real good.
Help me out here.....
Why cream of tartar?
Are you just a fan of coconut flour or will this work with plain old AP flour?
“Crying is for babies, little girls, and men who just had their ears ripped off.”
- Oobedoob Benubi
The creme of tartar helps stiffen the egg whites and adds a tiny bit of flavor. The coconut flour is low carb for those of us trying to watch our figure, or in my case, get it under control. Also helps with blood sugar levels. Not sure how the recipe would work with AP flour. Might need to cut down the moisture.
Great breakdown of textures.
I’m in the competition bite through as we did bbq comps for a couple of years. If they get fall off the bone tender you wont be in the upper percentile of those even considered.
We never wrap. 250 degrees for 3 hours and have a smoking hot grill ready at the end.
Put the ribs on the grill two ways. With Dry rub until they get a tad crispy externally.
Or coat with BBQ sauce, let caramelize and eat.
Jmike314’s method to roll is a great idea!
