Brined Pork Spare Ribs Food

SMOKED SPARERIBS

Steps:

• Brine: In a 1-gallon container, combine water, salt, and sugar. Seal and shake to dissolve salt and sugar, about 30 seconds. Lay ribs in large container; add the brine, making sure the ribs are fully submerged. Cover and refrigerate 15-24 hours, optimally 20 hours.
• Smoke ribs: Light smoker and heat on 250 degrees F. (For smokier ribs with a pronounced internal "smoke ring," Pitmaster Jones suggest adding wood chips on top of the charcoal during the first hour of cooking.) Remove brined ribs and place on a flat surface. Par dry with paper towels on both sides. Sprinkle BBQ Spice Rub all over ribs on both sides; use your hands to work the rub in, making sure all of the ribs are covered.
• Place ribs bone-side down onto the grill. Cover and cook undisturbed for 3-3 1/2 hours. Check smoker temperature hourly; add charcoal and use vents as needed to maintain a temperature of 250 degrees F through the duration of cooking.
• Stack 2 large sheets of aluminum foil on a flat work surface. After 3-3 1/3 hours, remove ribs from smoker and place on foil, bone-side down. Spread a small amount of Sweet BBQ Pit Sauce evenly over the meat. Wrap and place back in the grill, bone-side down, 30 minutes.
• Remove ribs from smoker and remove foil. Place back on smoker grates and cook another 10-15 minutes. Remove, cut into individual ribs, and serve.
• BBQ Spice Rub: In a bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mix well to break up any lumps. (Optional: Use a food processor.) Makes about 4 cups. It will keep in a covered container at room temperature for several months. Before each use, stir the rub or shake well to re-distribute all the ingredients evenly.
• Sweet BBQ Pit Sauce, part 1: In a saucepan, combine the dry ingredients and mix well to break up any lumps. Add ketchup, melted butter, water, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring sauce to a simmer over low heat. Continue to simmer, stirring the entire time until the sauce has reduced and thickened, about 15 minutes. (Keeping the heat low helps prevent the butter from separating and the sugar from burning.)
• Sweet BBQ Pit Sauce, part 2: Sauce is done when it thinly coats a spoon and has reduced by about ⅓. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick to the bottom. Makes about 3 cups of Sweet BBQ Pit Sauce. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator. (It will keep for months, thanks to the vinegar.)

VINEGAR BRINED BABY BACK RIBS

Steps:

• Preheat an indoor or outdoor grill to high.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a large resealable bag or nonreactive container; combine the vinegar, water, 1 tablespoon of the salt and 1 tablespoon of the pepper, 4 of the garlic cloves and the ribs. Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes only.
• Remove the ribs from the brine and season both sides with the remaining salt and pepper. Sear the ribs on an indoor grill or outdoor if available, until lightly browned.
• In a large roasting pan, fitted with a rack, arrange the ribs on the rack and pour in half of the beer. Drink or discard the remaining beer. Add the onion and remaining garlic cloves. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and put into the hot oven. Reduce the heat to 300 and roast for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the foil and baste the ribs with the BBQ Sauce. Roast for 7 minutes, then turn the ribs over, baste again and roast for another 7 minutes.
• Remove the ribs from the oven to a cutting board and slice between the ribs. Arrange on a serving platter and serve.
• In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion and serrano and cook until the onion is translucent. Stir in the garlic and the ginger and cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer, being cautious not to burn the mixture. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar and then add the raspberries, jam and molasses. Stir to combine, then lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender, then strain through a sieve into a bowl or jar, to remove the seeds, pushing the sauce through as much as possible. Can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to a week.

SMOKED SALT-BRINED BARBECUED PORK RIBS

Steps:

• To make a brine for the ribs, mix the cider, salt, and pepper in a large (two-gallon) zipper-lock bag until the salt dissolves. Cut the racks of ribs in half and add to the brine. Seal the zipper, leaving about an inch open; push on the bag to release any trapped air through the opening, and close the zipper completely. Massage the liquid gently into the meat and refrigerate for 6 to 12 hours. If you brine the ribs overnight and won't be cooking them until evening, remove the ribs from the brine in the morning to keep them from overbrining; store them, wrapped in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook them.
• Preheat a grill for indirect medium heat (about 325°F). If you are using a charcoal grill, this means banking your coal bed to one side or at opposite ends of the fire box, leaving open an area large enough to hold the racks of ribs. If you have a two-burner gas grill, turn one side on to medium and leave the other side off. If you have a three- or more-burner grill turn the outside burners on to medium and leave the center burner(s) off.
• Brush the grill grate thoroughly with a wire brush to clean it and coat it lightly with oil. Remove the ribs from the brine, discard the brine, and pat the ribs dry with a clean cloth or paper towel. Put the ribs on the grill, bone side down, away from the heat. Cover the grill and cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the ribs registers about 155°F, about 1 hour.
• While the ribs are cooking, bring the ingredients for the barbecue sauce to a simmer in a small saucepan, stirring as needed. Reserve one-third of the sauce for dipping at the table. Set the remaining sauce aside.
• When the ribs are almost cooked, brush them with half of the remaining sauce, turn them sauce side down, cover the grill, and cook for 3 minutes. Brush the unglazed surfaces with the remaining sauce, turn he ribs sauce side down, cover, and cook for another 3 minutes.
• Remove the ribs to a cutting board and cut into one-or two-rib sections. Place the ribs on a large serving platter and serve with the reserved sauce poured over the top or in a bowl for dipping.

BEER BRINED BABY BACK RIBS WITH HONEY BBQ SAUCE

Steps:

• Prepare your ribs by rinsing them off and removing the membrane on the back (slide a sharp knife under there to loosen it, then grab it with something dry like a paper towel and pull it off).
• You may cut your ribs into sections before brining, if desired.
• Mix together beer, salt, brown sugar, celery seed, cayenne pepper, black pepper and liquid smoke in a saucepan.
• Heat over low heat, stirring gently until all the salt dissolves; allow to cool.
• Place rib sections in a large ziplock or resealable bag and pour the cooled brine over; squeeze out as much air as possible and seal the bag.
• Allow the ribs to brine in this mixture, for 6 hours or overnight, rotating bag occasionally.
• Prior to cooking, remove ribs from brine and pat dry; discard used brine.
• Using a drip pan, prepare a grill for indirect cooking.
• Place the ribs over the drip pan and grill using indirect medium heat (test by placing your hand over the heat- you should be able to keep it there for about 3 seconds).
• Cover grill and cook for 1 1/2- 1 3/4 hours or until the ribs are tender, and the meat has pulled back from the edges of the bone slightly.
• Add additional coals during cooking if needed.
• Baste with honey bbq sauce during the last minutes of cooking, allowing the sauce to set.
• To make the sauce, cook onion and garlic in oil in a small saucepan until the onions become tender.
• Add the chili sauce, beer, honey, Worcestershire sauce and mustard to the pan, stirring to mix well.
• Bring sauce to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until it is as thick as you like it.
• Use sauce on ribs as a baste; sauce can be prepared ahead.

BARBEQUE RIB BRINE

Steps:

• Put water into a large pot; add brown sugar, pork seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, and curing salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cook and stir until the seasonings are completely dissolved, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Cool brine completely before adding meat.

HERB-BRINED PORK PRIME RIB ROAST

Steps:

• For brine:
• Combine 1 quart water and all remaining ingredients in medium saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar and salt dissolve. Pour brine into wide pot or container large enough to hold pork (3- to 4-gallon capacity). Add remaining 5 quarts cold water; stir to blend. Let stand until brine is cool to touch, about 1 hour.
• For pork:
• Place pork on work surface. Trim off all but 1/4-inch layer of fat from roast. Turn roast over so that rib bones point up. Using boning knife and starting where meat meets rib bones, gradually cut loin away from rack of bones, leaving 2 inches of meat attached to bones (do not cut meat off bones completely). Tie meat back onto bones with kitchen string at 2-inch intervals. Place roast in brine, submerging pork completely and weighing down with heavy pot if necessary. Cover and refrigerate 5 days.
• Remove pork from brine; discard brine. Rinse pork under cold running water for 5 minutes to reduce saltiness; pat dry with paper towels. Place pork on rack set over sheet of foil; let stand at room temperature 2 hours.
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F. Place pork on rack in large roasting pan. Mix thyme and crushed peppercorns in small bowl; sprinkle mixture over pork. Roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 140°F, about 1 hour. Remove from oven. Let roast rest 30 minutes (internal temperature of roast will increase 5 to 10 degrees).
• Remove kitchen string from roast. Cut meat into slices and serve.
• *Available in the spice section of most supermarkets.