Damn True
Full Fledged Farker
Let me preface this by saying that I in no way, shape or form am comparing myself or my cooking to Mr. Mueller. I live in California, we have minimal BBQ heritage to draw on. I'm self taught by way of reading and viewing online material regarding BBQ. In the course of doing so, I stumbled on the legend that is Mr Muellers beef ribs and became very interested in trying to make them. This post outlines my exploration toward that.
The POV here is that of a novice speaking to those with even LESS experience so it may seem a bit elementary to some of you....so here goes.
As I've become more interested in BBQ I find myself seeking the unique. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and truly good BBQ is somewhere between rare and non-existent. Even excluding the rubbish served by the National chain restaurants most of what one does find trends toward the Kansas City style. The sweet/spicy, sticky, tomato & molasses based sauce is what most people associate with "BBQ" hence that is what most purveyors produce...especially in an area such as this where BBQ is scarce.
I tend to prefer Carolina style or my own Caribbean spice profile for pork and Texas style for beef. Until recently, my experiments with beef have all been with Brisket and I was avoiding what Ive really been after - beef ribs - because I'd yet to experience good ones to try to emulate. By good ones, I mean John Muellers.
It sounds silly, but they are the stuff of legend in BBQ circles. "Nobody does beef ribs like John Mueller" has been heard nearly as many times as "Yellow Rose of Texas". But I live in California, not Texas and I'd never had them nor could I justify time off and travel expenses to Texas to eat some ribs so I committed to suss them out on my own.
Researching reviews, video and the BBQ blogosphere guided me to a collection of descriptions of the flavor profile and aided me in assembling a framework from which to start my experimentation. There is a massive gap between that which is simple and that which is easy. Mueller's ribs are simple in that the rub contains very few ingredients (two by what I've been able to determine) and they are smoked to achieve the appropriate texture. But, achieving the right balance in the rub and getting the cooking spot-on are far from easy.
Read more here if you like: http://thedamntrueexperiment.blogspot.com/2013/07/in-search-of-john-mueller.html
I've still got some work to do on them, but for a first attempt....not bad.
The POV here is that of a novice speaking to those with even LESS experience so it may seem a bit elementary to some of you....so here goes.
As I've become more interested in BBQ I find myself seeking the unique. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and truly good BBQ is somewhere between rare and non-existent. Even excluding the rubbish served by the National chain restaurants most of what one does find trends toward the Kansas City style. The sweet/spicy, sticky, tomato & molasses based sauce is what most people associate with "BBQ" hence that is what most purveyors produce...especially in an area such as this where BBQ is scarce.
I tend to prefer Carolina style or my own Caribbean spice profile for pork and Texas style for beef. Until recently, my experiments with beef have all been with Brisket and I was avoiding what Ive really been after - beef ribs - because I'd yet to experience good ones to try to emulate. By good ones, I mean John Muellers.
It sounds silly, but they are the stuff of legend in BBQ circles. "Nobody does beef ribs like John Mueller" has been heard nearly as many times as "Yellow Rose of Texas". But I live in California, not Texas and I'd never had them nor could I justify time off and travel expenses to Texas to eat some ribs so I committed to suss them out on my own.
Researching reviews, video and the BBQ blogosphere guided me to a collection of descriptions of the flavor profile and aided me in assembling a framework from which to start my experimentation. There is a massive gap between that which is simple and that which is easy. Mueller's ribs are simple in that the rub contains very few ingredients (two by what I've been able to determine) and they are smoked to achieve the appropriate texture. But, achieving the right balance in the rub and getting the cooking spot-on are far from easy.
Read more here if you like: http://thedamntrueexperiment.blogspot.com/2013/07/in-search-of-john-mueller.html
I've still got some work to do on them, but for a first attempt....not bad.
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