BBQ Brethren Masters Cut #2 - Spareribs (Closes tomorrow night!)

[R2Egg2Q]

Thanks Gore! After the discovery of Marty's calorie free spares, I took a look at the label on mine to see if I could be as lucky and only found this:

Rest assured, I did not follow the :crazy: label...

 

[---k---]

I'm not trying to be difficult. I kind-of like the no sides rule, but don't really have a strong opinion on the rules or want to fight over them. That said, I agree with Gore. :shock: the clarification above confused me.

Work in progress, so it is all good.

BTW, my ribs were falling off the bone, tore in 1/2 as I took them off the smoker, which I initially thought ruined my opportunity to get a good photo, but I posted them as my entry anyway. I'm having fun. BRING ON THE ZERO! :thumb:

 

[Gore]

Well Ryan, I had hope for you, but if you agree with Gore, then you've lost all credibility with me. At least you can cook though :thumb:

 

[landarc]

dangit, who left the door open, now John has wandered in with those incredible ribs.

 

[gtr]

dangit, who left the door open, now John has wandered in with those incredible ribs.

My sentiments exactly! I opened up that post and thought "uh oh, maybe I won't get a vote this time either". Good thing I like to look at awesome pron though. :thumb:

 

[bigabyte]

I don't think a dish of pulled pork with sauce stirred into it would be a problem. What I would not want to see for example is a pasta salad with bits of pulled pork mixed in with it, or potato salad with smoked bacon mixed in.

Is it still too confusing?

 

[Gore]

I don't think a dish of pulled pork with sauce stirred into it would be a problem. What I would not want to see for example is a pasta salad with bits of pulled pork mixed in with it, or potato salad with smoked bacon mixed in.

Is it still too confusing?

Uh, yeah, fundamentally I can't really see a difference. Is it quantity of ingredients, or certain ingredients? In both cases you're mixing things into the meat. Let's step back to marinara sauce as an example. You said that is ok covering the top, but not mixed in. But BBQ sauce is ok mixed in. What is the real difference between the two?

In the example you gave with pasta salad, I can see that there are solids. What if the BBQ sauce has chunks in it, like diced tomato or green chile? Or are you saying it is quantity, that >95% of the ingredients must be pulled pork.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but we all know from experience that it's best to be as clear as possible or else you will be inundated with PMs asking if things are ok. And not everyone likes to be DQ'ed as much as I do. :becky:

 

[R2Egg2Q]

dangit, who left the door open, now John has wandered in with those incredible ribs.

Thanks Bob but the door is still open and I have a feeling that this guy...

Any more room to get in on this?

may be walking in with something incredible still...

 

[bigabyte]

Uh, yeah, fundamentally I can't really see a difference. Is it quantity of ingredients, or certain ingredients? In both cases you're mixing things into the meat. Let's step back to marinara sauce as an example. You said that is ok covering the top, but not mixed in. But BBQ sauce is ok mixed in. What is the real difference between the two?

You're splitting hairs where there aren't any (just my opinion). What I said was a dish where the pasta, meat and sauce were all mixed together would not count. However, by pouring the sauce over, it is also mixing into the meat really in a natural way. In that case the meat was dressed with something, but still stands on it's own the same as a glazed rack of ribs, and could still be atop a bed of something. In the case of mixing it all together through, that is not OK.

In the example you gave with pasta salad, I can see that there are solids. What if the BBQ sauce has chunks in it, like diced tomato or green chile? Or are you saying it is quantity, that >95% of the ingredients must be pulled pork.

I never said the stuff on top had to be sauce. Chunky sauce would be fine. Chunky old Pico would also be fine. What I want is meat, pure and simple. If you want to have your meat resting atop something, that is fine. If you want to dress, glaze or sauce your meat or otherwise top it with something, that is also fine. If you want to do both, that is also fine, but by mixing together the bed, meat and topping, it is no longer the same, there is no bed of anything any more.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but we all know from experience that it's best to be as clear as possible or else you will be inundated with PMs asking if things are ok. And not everyone likes to be DQ'ed as much as I do. :becky:

You know me better than to think I would be upset by questions. I think it's a good discussion. At this point, I'm still not clear why it's confusing, other than for the sake of wanting it to be confusing. But, I am wrong sometimes. OK, most times. Well, according to my wife I am always wrong.

 

[---k---]

Sorry Chris, I'm a bit dense sometimes. The thing that was confusing me was your initial example was if someone ground up a porterhouse and made a sausage out of it, that was okay. I took that to mean you could do whatever you want with the meat as long as it was a single dish... I maybe was reading into it too much. I now think I totally understand what you want. The problem is that it is difficult to put into words. I think your last statement described what you want best. "You want meat. Pure and Simple"

Everyone is meeting the rules in this one, so it probably isn't as confusing as we like to talk about.

 

[bigabyte]

Sorry Chris, I'm a bit dense sometimes. The thing that was confusing me was your initial example was if someone ground up a porterhouse and made a sausage out of it, that was okay. I took that to mean you could do whatever you want with the meat as long as it was a single dish... I maybe was reading into it too much. I now think I totally understand what you want. The problem is that it is difficult to put into words. I think your last statement described what you want best. "You want meat. Pure and Simple"

Everyone is meeting the rules in this one, so it probably isn't as confusing as we like to talk about.

I'm sure if someone wanted, they could try and push the boundaries...but I think the boundaries are reasonable for the average person to figure out, especially if they ask (like what is going on here).

Take a Bratwurst for example. You could grind up a Pork Butt (it that was the category), make bratwurst sausage, put it on a bed composing of a bun, and top it with onions, peppers and mustard, or sauerkraut and mustard. In the same category, someone could make pulled pork and could sauce the meat, which to me includes saucing the pulled meat. If you wanted big chunky things, like the kind of strips of onions and peppers you would find on that bratwurst example, they would reside on top, and not stirred in because they are different than a sauce. I think that is the grey area Gore might be trying to get at.

Here's why I see a difference, and I think it should be pretty clear. You can glaze a rack of ribs, and it covers it on both sides, completely covering the meat. That would be OK. If you had the strips of onions and peppers I have been mentioning so far, you could make a bed for your ribs with those, or top your ribs with those, but if you took pulled pork and mixed it all up with onions and peppers, that's a different story and I think is pretty clearly different than saucing.

If you take a pile of pulled pork and put it on a plate, with or without a bed of anything underneath it, and pour BBQ sauce over it (even Blues Hog), it is going to seep down into that pulled pork and not be a lot different than mixing it in to sauce the meat. Making a mixed salad of the meat and other large things is different though which is another point Gore was trying to clarify...how chunky can your sauce be?

Well, I have yet to see a BBQ sauce that is primarily composed of strips of onion and peppers (for the sake of keeping with the example). In the case of something like Pico, or chunky salsa's, where it is not going to naturally seep down into the meat, then don't mix it in, just top the meat with it. At that point you are making something different than the meat or sauced/glazed meat.

I'm sure more examples to confuse things can be given...but for now, maybe this following breakdown works?

If you use a bed to rest your meat upon, the meat must rest upon that bed, and not be mixed in with the bed. If it is mixed together, there is no bed anymore, it is now one thing.

If you use a sauce, dressing, topping, garnish or whatever else you decide to put upon your meat, if it can not naturally blend in with the meat (BBQ sauce on a pile of pulled pork for example), then just top the meat with it and don't mix it in.

Sauces and glazes and stuff like that can completely cover the meat...glazed ribs are a good example of this. There's nothing wrong with that.

Does that sort of breakdown help? Or is there too much wiggle room still?

 

[bluetang]

Spares. A bit of tune-ige.
YouTube - LOAN ME A DIME - ORIGINAL VERSION

Coated generously with Simply Marvelous sweet and spicy. Smoked in the UDS @ 235* with mulberry wood. Glazed with Big Butz x-tra hot.
No sides were harmed in this cook:wink:

Thanks for looking!

 

[bigabyte]

And because I already see this sort of question coming...I'll answer it before it's asked I guess.

In the bratwurst example...could you add chunks of firm cheese to the sausage meat to make cheesy bratwurst?

My answer would be yes. You are preparing your meat component. You can cook it in it's natural form, or process it into another meat thing. Sausage, meatloaf what have you. I would not have a problem with chunks of onion and pepper mixed inside of ground meat and made into a meatloaf, with the meatloaf presented as the meat dish, and that could be upon a bed of something, and topped or sauced, whatever. Making meatloaf salad (in the vein of chicken salad) would not be OK though. A fatty stuffed with strips of onion and peppers (using the bratwurst example again), would be OK because it is a filling for your meat component, and I have made no statements/rules about fillings. However, the fatty is going to cook up as your meat dish, and afterwards you could take slices of it and make a sandwich, or top a salad with the slices...but making sausage gravy out of it would not be OK.

I want your prepared meat component to be able to stand on it's own...I am allowing some flexibility for those who love to prepare things by allowing beds and toppings. I hope this is helping...and is still not confusing.

 

[bigabyte]

Spares. A bit of tune-ige.
YouTube - LOAN ME A DIME - ORIGINAL VERSION

Coated generously with Simply Marvelous sweet and spicy. Smoked in the UDS @ 235* with mulberry wood. Glazed with Big Butz x-tra hot.
No sides were harmed in this cook:wink:

Thanks for looking!

:thumb:My thanks button is gone...so this will have to suffice!:thumb:

 

[goro25]

My entry reminds me of an old South Park episode

Phase 1

Prep Ribs

Trimmed and rubbed

Phase 2
???
My wife took the kids, and our camera, to a birthday party.

Phase 3

I know they don't qualify without the BBQ pic, but I went through the effort so I figured I'd post it anyway.

 

[Gore]

Beautiful ribs Bluey and Goro! I really feel sorry for the voters in this one!

 

[Will work for bbq]

I wanna play.............I did 4 racks of spares today trimmed to St. Louis style, 2 were prepped with a Portuguese inspired (Vinha d' Alhos) fusion marinade and rub, the other 2 were rubbed with simply Marvelous Cherry rub. I would like to enter the Portuguese fusion ribs not only because they are very good but also very different.

This pic is the trimmed spare.

Pic #2 is on the WSM over some stubbs and pecan chunks, the entry ribs are the front 2 racks.

Another grill shot before foiling.

Yet another grill shot, glazed with Blues Hog original (the center 1 is the Portuguese fusion rib).

The next 2 pics are of the ribs with out sauce.

And the final vote pic has some un-sauced ribs plated with a side of sauced ribs, I normally don't sauce these ribs but Blues Hog went really well with the ribs:thumb:.

Thanks for looking, sorry for the crappy pics.

 

[Groundhog66]

Not sure if you have your 10 entries yet, so I will enter purely for the sake of trying to make sure you do. Crushed some beers with Tim (Oakpit) today, and smoked some ribs in the process.

Hit one with SM Cherry, and the other with the Pecan...used the Santa Maria on the bone side of each. The John Henry's was for the spatchcock chicken I did on the pit, more on that later...

Waited till it was melted in nicely...

275 for 3.5 hrs, no spritz or sauce.

 

[Gore]

Absolutely beautiful Paul and Tim. You're just making this even harder. Tim, is that toothpick there for sneak sample attacks, so your wife doesn't catch you with something between your teeth when you come back inside?

Incidentally, there is no limit to number submitted. The 10 entries just determines the closing date.

 

[Groundhog66]

Tim, is that toothpick there for sneak sample attacks, so your wife doesn't catch you with something between your teeth when you come back inside?

Good eye :wink: Every time I try different rubs during the same cook, I always forget which is which. So today, with the addition of quite a few beers, I wanted to make sure I didn't forget. BTW, toothpic = Pecan :heh: