Here’s another installment from Arthur Aguirre.  The guy has some serious BBQ (and photography) skills.  In this post Arthur attacks one of the rising phenomenons of BBQing – The MOINK ball.  Not only does he show you how to do it, but he also explains the origins of the mighty MOINK.  These little nuggets of deliciousness are always a huge hit.  From here, I’ll hand it over to Arthur to show you how they’re done…

If you love Atomic Buffalo Turds (ABT’s), you will love MOINK balls. A simple description of MOINK balls are BBQ bacon wrapped meatballs. Without a doubt these tiny tender treats are the biggest thing to hit the grilling scene since ABT’s. The world wide craze of the MOINK ball is credited to a Larry Gaian author of the BBQ Grail.

***Editor’s Note ~ BBQ Grail is an excellent blog/website very similar to what we do here at GrillinFools.com.  I highly recommend Larry’s site***

Since the MOINK balls introduction into the BBQ world, it has earned positive reviews from people all over the world fortunate enough to taste the mighty morsels of smokiness.

The name MOINK is not an acronym, it is the combination of the two main ingredients: beef and pork. When referencing these ingredients, we know they come respectively from a cow and a pig. Hence, the sounds they make are moo and oink. Therefore, the creation was aptly named MOINK ball.

To understand how the MOINK ball was conceived, we need to understand its purpose. First, it was designed to feed the masses. Second, it utilizes two ingredients used often by families – bacon and frozen meatballs. Third, it must be grilled or smoked outdoors. And finally, MOINK balls are aerodynamically shaped for fast consumption.

End of summary.

So, when the 4^th of July came charging upon us, the parties were a plenty. I made a batch of MOINK balls each for two different parties. Unquestionably, MOINK balls are a tasty and an inexpensive way to impress people.

There are five major items needed for MOINK balls:

1. Pre-made, all-beef meatballs
2. Bacon
3. Rub
4. BBQ sauce
5. Smoke wood

When I made a batch of MOINK balls for the first party, I took a conservative approach. This party always had a ton of food and there are plenty of leftovers. Also, early estimates were close to about 60 people attending the party. With that in mind, I bought just a bag of frozen meatballs because I didn’t want to take leftovers home with me, especially when they sit out too long. When I had an idea on how many MOINK balls I’ll be making, I drew up my game plan.

Ingredients:

1 bag of frozen meatballs [approx. 50]
2lb of bacon (2 packages)
John Henry’s Pecan Rub
Blues Hog Tennessee Red Sauce
Hickory wood chunks
Toothpicks

Pre-made, all-beef meatballs are the official meatballs of MOINK balls. BBQ Grail set up guidelines which do not allow fresh meatballs. However, one can definitely make fresh meatballs, just call them meatballs wrapped in bacon. The only exceptions are for international grillers where fresh meatballs are perfectly acceptable.

***Editor’s Note ~ That’s right.  These things are so popular there are purists out there and guidelines that are different for international grillers***

Moving on with our MOINK balls, the first batch is being set up for indirect heat on the grill manufacturer that shall not be named. I’m going with lump charcoal here, so by the time it gets hot enough the MOINK balls will be ready.

First, I have to assemble the meats. The meatballs are thawed but still firm enough to handle without falling apart:

The bacon is a 1lb package of strips, 2 may be needed. Each strip is way too long for one meatball, so cut the bacon in half. It’s easier to cut the bacon when it is semi frozen. The bacon is too much like rubber at room temperature:

I suggest buying the thin cheap bacon rather than the thick cut bacon because it cooks faster and it’s crispier when it’s done.

Use one half piece of bacon and wrap it around the meatball, then stick it with a toothpick to keep it together:

Assembling the bacon and meatballs may take a while. This is a good opportunity to get the kids involved in some BBQ activity:

***Editor’s Note ~ Love the Abita Turbo Dog in the background!!***

Next, I poured the rub all over the meat:

At this point, the grill will be ready to go. I banked the charcoal to one side of the kettle. In addition, I placed the MOINK balls on the grill opposite of the coals so I could indirect grill the MOINKS and keep the temperatures down:

Then, I added some hickory wood chunks. Also, I made sure the lid was placed with the vent over the meat so the smoke would have to travel across the meat before leaving through the vent. I leave the bottom vents open all the way too. The temp range will be somewhere between 350 and 375. Cooking time will be about 1 to 1 ½ hours.

After an hour I check on the MOINK balls:

They look just about done so I brush some BBQ sauce over them. I leave them in a little longer, just enough to crisp up the bacon. As a result, the bacon turned out very dark, almost black:

It isn’t that they are burnt, it’s just the rub and BBQ sauce has lots of sugar in it. It’s almost like bark on a pork shoulder or brisket.

At the time, I thought I really screwed up. I ate a couple of them and they didn’t taste burnt. I put them in a foil pan, brushed more Tennessee Red on them and covered them until they got to the party. Meanwhile, I thought to myself, nobody is going to like these.

So we arrive at the party and I put the MOINK balls on the table and I jump in the pool for a swim. After a while of being in the pool, some brave soul must have tried a MOINK ball because I heard people talking about how others should try these little meatballs. They were a huge hit and the talk of the party. In fact, they were all gone before the main course was served!

The following week, I made a second batch for a family reunion party:

This time, I smoked them for 2 ½ hours at 225 degrees on the smoker with hickory wood:

For me, these were much better than the first batch. Although, the bacon could have been crispier, but I didn’t have time to do it. However, a few people at the reunion who were also at the pool party said they preferred the first batch of MOINK balls.

I used a different rub and sauce for the second batch and I made twice as many for roughly the same amount of people. They too went over really well, but they were not all gone. I love these little succulent samples, I look forward to making more. And so do a bunch of people who loved them at the party.

If you have any questions about the MOINK balls, feel free to leave a comment below or shoot me an email and I will forward it to Arthur.  Although, if he keeps kicking ass like this I might have to give him his own Grillin Fools email address!!

If you are interested in other appetizers and sides click here.

And you can follow the Grillin Fools on our Facebook page and post your own grillin pics just like Arthur did.

I didn’t intend on going all mango, all the time with this.  I wanted to try out a few different things on wings.  Something, I’m almost embarrassed to say, I have ever done on the grill.  I’ve done chickens both whole and in parts, but I’ve never done chicken wings exclusively before.  So I thought I would give it a go and try out a couple different sauces and a rub…

I started with a jumbo pack of wings from Sam’s that had 28 wings which was plenty to try a few different combos.  This can be done with chicken legs as well.

First, let’s prep the wings.  For 16 of the wings I doused them with salt, black pepper and Bear Claw Honey Butt Rub:

It’s a rub designed for pulled pork but it can be used on just about anything so I thought I would give it a shot.

First, I put the wings “upside down” on a cookie tray.  I’ll explain the upside down part in a minute.  I put on some coarse salt and fresh black pepper and the rub:

Now I flip them over so that the shape of the wing keeps a lot of the meat from touching the cookie sheet:

If you add the rub to this side first, then flip them over a lot of the rub is going to stick to the cookie sheet or cutting board.  By doing the other side first, the shape of the wing keeps the majority of the meat (and the rub) from touching the cutting board or cookie sheet and thus more rub sticks to the meat.

Once rubbed on both sides, it’s time to get the fire going.  Using my Father in Law’s Brinkman Offset Smoker, I went with indirect grilling here right in the chamber rather than using the smoker box as I will need to do some direct grilling later on.  Coals on the left and nothing on the right where the wings will eventually go:

As you can see, I left the grill grate off the coals on the left side this is so I can add more coals and smoke wood.  The smoke wood for this was hickory.  The pile of coals is pretty good size as I wanted to get to the 250-275 range in terms of temps.

I put my 16 wings on with the rub:

Since the rub has some sugar in it, I put these as far way from the heat as possible.  Then went the wings that had only salt and black pepper that I use for a baseline to do my comparisons:

Drop in a couple chunks of smoke wood and close the lid.  Getting some good smoke:

The goal is to get the good smoke flavor infused into the meat before putting on the glaze.  Basically a reverse sear method like the one I did with these pork steaks that is now my go to method for pork steaks.

After 40 minutes the wings are browning nicely:

At one hour I moved the grill grate over the coals and put the wings right over the heat to crisp up the skin:

Make sure to keep a constant eye on these and have a water bottle or beer ready to put out flare ups.

Don’t stress a little blackening, particularly with the wings with a sweet rub on them.  It’s standard with cooking over high heat like this and is not a problem.  A little blackening is good, a lot can be bad, but don’t stress out if you get some blackness.

At this point you’re wondering where’s the mango?  Well, now that I have the hour of smoke infused into the meat and then got a flavor crust from the searing over direct heat it’s time to slather with the sauce.  The two sauces I used were this mango garlic sauce from Lollipop Tree:

I bought it at a local farmer’s market.  Those of you in the St. Louis area can find it at the Kirkwood Farmer’s market for $6.

The other sauce I used was also a Bear Claw product like the rub:

Both of which I purchased at Saucehut.com.

Once I have the smoke and the sear I brushed the sauces on the meat and put them back on the side with no heat and closed the lid:

I did two different brushings of each sauce over 30 minutes and closed the lid to allow it to caramelize on the wings.  Some I didn’t sauce to get a feel for the taste of the rub.

How were the sauces and the rubs? The mango garlic sauce was sweet and amazing.  My in laws really enjoyed these as did a couple coworkers who got to sample them the next day.

The Bear Claw Honey Butt Rub was really good.  For those of you who don’t want to go through the process of making your own rub and want to keep one on hand that is versatile and will be enjoyed by everyone then this is the way to go.

As for the Bear Claw Mango Chipotle sauce, well, I’m a sucker for the sweet and spicy stuff. The combination of the sweet mango and the smoky/spicy chipotle is really well done.  It’s got some kick to it in terms of heat but it’s not over the top, taste bud numbing, like habanero peppers.  That’s why I love the chipotle stuff so much.  The sweet/smoky flavor is just as evident as the heat from the spices making it well balanced.  I think I might try this on some ribs soon.

A quick note, neither Lollipop Tree nor Bear Claw paid me to make these recommendations or gave me their products to test.  I bought them and am glad I did.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to shoot me an email or simply leave a comment below.

If you like this dish, click here for other poultry done on the grill.

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With the success of the Reverse Seared Pork Steaks I decided to try the method with country style ribs.  These meaty hunks lend themselves nicely to this process as they are not as thin as pork steaks and can handle extensive periods of smoke without drying out.  The process is fairly simple but extremely satisfying…

I started with nine country style ribs that I marinaded overnight in Cherry Coke Zero.  It’s kind of a long story as to why I had Cherry Coke Zero and would’ve preferred just Cherry Coke for this but I was going for the cherry more than the coke.  And both are very acidic so they act as great tenderizers.  After an all night bath in the Coke I patted them dry with paper towels and placed them on a large cutting board:

I then applied some smoked salt and granulated garlic from Penzey’s before adding Dad’s go to rub which is essentially Raichken’s KC Sweet and Smoky Rub.  The reason for the salt is Dad told me he went light on the salt in the last batch he made for me.

Rub Ingredients:

2/3 cup light brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup paprika
¼ cup seasoned salt
¼ cup smoked salt or hickory-smoked salt
¼ cup onion salt
¼ cup celery salt
2 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp cayenne pepper

This recipe makes enough rub for about 100 country style ribs.  We always make extra to keep it on hand.

Now with country style ribs you can’t just hit the top and the bottom with rub.  You have to hit it on all four sides:

What I recommend is hitting it on top and two sides on the cutting board and then putting it top side down on the grill and hitting the bottom.  You will save a ton of rub that way.  If you do all four sides on the cutting board the bottom side will leave a bunch of rub stuck to the board and you will have to reapply.

I set up the grill for indirect grilling.  Coals on the right, and ribs on the left underneath the chimney on my offset smoker.  Why put the ribs under the chimney?  Because of the coals and smoke wood are under the chimney the smoke will go straight out rather than across your meat and impart that amazing flavor and smoke ring:

Since I used the Cherry Coke Zero for the marinade, I went with that theme and used cherry wood chunks for my smoke.  If you don’t have access to cherry wood, check this extensive list of woods and what they are best with and find something you have locally and go with what you have available.

The grill was set at 250 for what I expected to be a two hour smoke before searing:

It was a beautiful day.  The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the flowers next to my grill were doing great:

I went inside and was talking to some people online about what a wonderful day to grill I was experiencing when I looked out the window and saw everything had changed in less than 20 minutes:

The sky was dark, the wind was howling and I had to scramble.  But all is good.  What’s a garage for other than storing cars and crap?  Why grilling of course:

At one hour I checked the ribs and added another chunk of cherry:

As you can see in the background on the left it was raining.  After sitting on the porch with my 2 year old for a little while watching it pour he started singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider.  I explained what a water spout was and pointed to one of ours.  So of course he wanted to go play with the spout.  His mom wasn’t home so I said, “go for it.”  For the first time in his life he played in the rain.  Do you think he enjoyed himself?

Back to the ribs.  One hour and 45 minutes total on the grill and they were close to being ready for the sear but not quite.  I used the thumb test to check for doneness which can be used on more than steaks.  They were still a little spongy, so I left them on, but they were looking good, and as you can see the sun was back out:

After two hours they were ready for a sear:

All I did was get a quick char directly over the flames on all sides to form a flavor crust.  But for some reason I didn’t get a pic of that.  Sorry.

After the quick sear they got a slathering of sauce by dunking them into a pot of sauce one at a time:

The sauce was what I had on hand, Sweet Baby Rays, doctored with some brown sugar, honey, minced garlic, chili powder and a little dried mustard.  Use whatever sauce you prefer.  I put the ribs back on the side with no heat and closed the lid to caramelize the sauce.  After 15 minutes I gave them another bath and another 15 minutes in the grill.  Here is the final product, what do you think?

Juicy with a nice smoke ring.  Layers of flavor from the marinade, to the smoke ring, to the flavor crust, to the sauce.  Awesome.

If you have any questions about the the country style ribs above, simply leave a comment below or email me.

Click here If you are interested in other pork recipes and here if you want other rib recipes.

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This will be my new method of making pork steaks from now on.  I had multiple people asking me for specifics on how to make them after dinner.  I’ll try to get the rest of the pictures and the write up done in the next couple of days…

***Now for the write up***

First, if you don’t know what a pork steak in, and if you aren’t from the heart of the Midwest, then you probably have never heard of them so click here to see exactly what they are and, more importantly, how to go to your local butcher or grocer and order them.  Now back to the write up.

So, I lost the chip that had the pics of the rest of the process of making reverse seared pork steaks.  In order to show you how this is done I had to bite the bullet and make pork steaks again.  The things I subject myself to in order to help my fellow grillin’ fools make great BBQ!!! Read on and find out if I recreated the magic from my first attempt at the reverse sear method.

I started with two fairly thick pork steaks.  I don’t recommend trying this method with thin pork steaks as you can dry them out.  I also don’t recommend using this method if you are cooking for a crowd as it takes about three hours. But, if you follow my instructions here you will make the best pork steaks you have ever made.

Here are the bad boys ready for the grill:

If you have no idea what pork steaks are, click here for an explanation.  And don’t worry, if you aren’t from the Midwest you probably have never heard of them.

I forgot a step above.  All I did was add coarse salt, black pepper and white pepper.  I forgot the granulated garlic in this second round so remember to dust with granulated garlic or garlic powder or use whatever rub you prefer here as it will make a great flavor crust later.

Then put them on the grill for an indirect smoke – coals and hickory on the right, pork steaks on the left.  I went with hickory over my usual favorites of pear, peach or apple as I will be saucing the pork steaks and going with a milder fruit wood would get overpowered by the sauce so I went with a more robust smoke wood.  Click here for a lengthy list of different things you can use to smoke  and what they pair the best with

While there are a million ways to make pork steaks, many people put them right over the coals and get a sear on them before they put them off to the side to smoke them.  The problem with that is that the once the outside of the meat reaches a certain temp it no longer takes on any smoke.  That’s why I am going with this method from now on.  I want that smoke flavor in the meat before I give it a sear and add a nice flavor crust.  So, put the meat off to the side and let it stay there between 200-225.  As you can see here, the temp is a little high, but once I lock down the vents the temp will get down to where I want it to be:

After just one hour look at how they are turning a nice golden color:

I realize that in this next pic you are seeing the pork steaks on a different grill.  I needed the grill space on the larger grill for some ribs so I transferred these guys to my grill manufacturer that shall not be named.  Here they are after 2 hours cooking indirect between 200-225:

And here they are after 2.5 hours.  Look at how golden brown they are from all the smoke they have taken on:

Now it’s time for that sear.  I added a few more coals to the small pile of coals in order to have enough heat to put a nice sear.  Put the pork steaks right over the hot coals and sear on each side for only a couple minutes on each side:

After you sear each side of the pork steaks slather with your favorite sauce.  This is a new sauce dad picked up in Dauphin Island called Richee’s which can be ordered here.  It’s a tweener between a tomato based and mustard based sauce.  It’s pretty original and really good:

Here are the pork steaks slathered on each side with Richee’s:

I slathered them a couple more times over the next 30 minutes and allowed the sauce to thicken up and caramelize before I plated one of them:

Let’s see if I recreated the magic of the first time I tried this method:

Smoke ring?  Check.
Juicy?  Check.
Tender?  Check.
Multiple levels of flavor from the seared flavor crust, the penetrated smoke flavor and the barbecue sauce?  Check.

As a coworker said who tried the first batch said, “the flavors just keep going and going.”

This is now my go to method for making pork steaks.  Try it and I bet it becomes yours too.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to shoot me an email or simply leave a comment below.

If you like this dish, click here for other pork done on the grill.

Also, you can follow the Grillin Fools on Facebook and post your own grillin pictures.

Barbecued Chicken with…White Sauce??  That’s right!  I had to do a double-take myself when I came across this recipe by author Chris Lilly in Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ Book.  Big Bob’s Alabama BBQ joint was famous for his chicken dipped in White Sauce.  Chris Lilly is a world-champion pitmaster who learned the trade at Big Bob’s place.  They have won more awards than I could possibly take the time to list so I’ll just say that they’ve won Memphis in May 7 or 8 times and have many more championships to their credit.  The notion of the White Sauce was something a GrillinFool just had to try.

I picked up a couple  4-lb. birds at a local market and sped home to begin the process.  The birds had to be “butterflied” or “spatchcocked” (there’s that term again).  A pair of cooking sheers really helps here.  Don’t forget to remove the giblets, etc. first:

Begin with the drumsticks facing you on the cutting board, grab the tail, and cut along the backbone—staying as close to the bone as possible, then repeat on the other side:

Remove the backbone then and spread open.  With a knife, cut through the white spot of cartilage shown in the pic:

Next, run your finger down each side of the breastbone as shown then simply remove the bone:

This will allow the bird to lay flat, cook evenly and more quickly as well as simplify the carving:

The chicken can be cooked whole or simply run a knife through the skin at the middle and you’ll have halves that are much easier to work with:

For the sake of illustration I’m doing it both ways as shown.  The one on the right has been split:

The chicken is dusted with salt on both sides and is now ready for the grill.  A half cup of olive oil and 2 teaspoons of black pepper are reserved to apply mid-way through the grilling process:

My old Charbroil was set up for the indirect method with coals on the left and the birds on the right:

We highly recommend when grilling whole birds to always position the legs of the bird toward the heat thus keeping the leaner breast meat from cooking too quickly and drying out.

***Editor’s note ~ Even if you are cooking chicken pieces use this same theory.  Put the thighs closest to the fire as they are the fattiest and biggest of the dark meat, then the legs followed breasts and wings.  The breasts may be the largest cut but they dry out the fastest***

A large chunk of apple wood was added to the coals, the lid closed on the firebox, a cool beverage was opened and it was time to do a little chillin’ prior to preparing the White Sauce.  If you don’t have access to apple wood, any light fruit wood would do, but I would avoid cherry as it will really darken the skin making it look unappetizing.

Here’s the recipe for the White Sauce which makes 4 cups.

• 2 cups mayonnaise

• 1 cup distilled white vinegar

• ½ cup apple juice

• 4 teaspoons sugar

• 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish

• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper

• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

• 1 teaspoon salt

• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Place the ingredients into a food processor or blender or simply whisk the ingredients together as I did:

Big Bob Gibson originated this recipe a long, long time ago and there are quite a few variations out there.  I made one change, at Mimi’s urging, and added 4 teaspoons of sugar to the mix.  Please note that this sauce is not cooked and it is not applied until the very end after the chicken is thoroughly cooked.  The sauce can be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for about 2 weeks.  Caution here!  If the sauce comes in contact with raw or undercooked chicken it should be disposed of.  I suggest keeping any sauce for future use totally separate from the dipping process.  Hey look, we’re dealing with mayonnaise and poultry here so be careful!

Here’s 30 minutes in:

The birds are beginning to brown and more wood is needed.  Cooking temperature should be 325 degrees for 90 minutes then the olive oil and pepper is applied, the birds turned, and grilled another 90 minutes or until the thigh registers between 165-175 and the breast 160-165 degrees.

I have set up the contraption (thermometer) and as luck would have it the darn thing malfunctioned! Temp reads 000.

I know the Charbroil tends to reach 350 with this method so the cooking time may be a bit less.

Here’s another pic 1 hour in:

I’ve decided to oil and flip the birds.  The pepper is then applied to the cavities of the chicken:

More coals and another chunk of apple wood are added

***Editor’s note ~ When you have to open the grill to check the progress of the meat or apply sauce and such make sure you do all the other maintenance you need at the same time such as adding more fuel or more smoke wood to help cut down on the amount of times you open the grill.  The more you open the grill the longer it will take to cook whatever it is you have on it***

The thermometer simply reads “H” at this time.  I’m assuming that means I have a hot fire!  Seriously, cooking time will vary by grill and fire.  You can always check chicken by cutting into a portion and see if the juices run clear or use an instant read thermometer.  I hate spearing or penetrating anything on the grill but you need to be sure poultry is thoroughly cooked.

Another pic at 90 minutes:

And flipped at 90 minutes.  shows the drummies shrinking, some cracks in the breast portion, and clear juices oozing.  I’m going another half hour and will check the doneness:

I pulled the birds at 2 hours and cut the whole one in half and dunked 2 halves in the White Sauce and kept 2 plain.  The Grandkids were here for dinner and I wasn’t sure how they’d like the sauce.  I poured some reserved sauce into a small bowl to be set on the table to add as desired:

The result was a flavor I wasn’t used to experiencing in this part of the country.  We enjoyed a Southern tangy taste totally different from anything we were accustomed to.  Mimi and I agreed we’d try this again.  We hope you enjoy it as well and would appreciate  feedback from your experience.  On another note, removing the backbone and breastbone made the birds really easy to carve and I’ll probably do any whole chicken in this manner going forward.  The halves were really easy to handle especially when submerging the chicken into the dipping sauce.

Nothing follows a great grilled meal like a pedal boat ride with the grand kids:

If you are looking for other poultry recipes, click here to see other birds we’ve done on the grill.

As usual, if you have any questions or comments about the recipe above, feel free to email me or simply leave a comment below.

Also, you can follow the Grillin Fools on Facebook and post your own grillin pictures.

Outside of full on family barbecues where we are feeding the masses all three Grillin Fools don’t get to grill together all that often.  But recently we decided to celebrate our new sponsor, Andria’s Steak Sauce, with the oh so appr0priate prime rib done with an Andria’s flare.  My dad did the grilling and will do the write up.   The guy has prime rib on the grill down to an absolute science.  Follow his advice and you can to…

Here’s a simple, delicious method of preparing Standing Rib Roast on the grill as a tribute to our new sponsor, Andria’s Steak Sauce.  On a recent Saturday evening all three Grillin Fools gathered to do some smokin’ on the water with a great hunk of beef.  This begins with a 6 ½ lb. bone-in Standing Rib Roast allowed to come to room temperature prior to hitting the grill but a little prep work was necessary but not much as you’ll see:

I decided to rub the roast first with roasted garlic.  A few large whole coves are sliced in half sideways then placed on a sheet of aluminum foil:

A bit of olive oil is drizzled into each piece and coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper added:

And some salt:

A pouch is then created with the foil and they garlic is placed into a 400 degree oven for an hour to roast:

The aroma that filled the house during this process was rather pleasing to the nose.  The pouch is removed and the garlic is allowed to cool prior to handling:

Once cooled the garlic is simply rubbed over the entire surface area of the beef.  The garlic is now very soft and actually creates sort of a sweet garlic paste:

Usually I insert slivers of garlic into the upper half of the beef when preparing this dish, as you can see in this other prime rib done on the site, but opted for an alternative method this time out.  A bit of cracked pepper is applied to the beef and we’re ready for the grill:

Normally I French the roast as seen on a previous post but decided to let it be this time around.  That same link above will show you step by step how to French cut a standing rib roast.

The rest of the menu?  Well it’s a guy night since the gals are all together dining somewhere in the city so it’s going to be simple.  Appetizer would be Gulf Shrimp brought back from Skinner’s Seafood on Dauphin Island, Alabama with homemade cocktail sauce.  Then a mixed greens salad was served—I worked hard on this—a couple of varieties of the bagged stuff and some Zia’s Italian Dressing topped with Provel Cheese.  The other side was simply baked Yukon Gold Potatoes.  Of course a bottle or two of red wine would be added to complete the dinner.  The only thing ‘gourmet’ about this meal was going to be the beef as you’ll see.

The old CharBroil was set up for indirect grilling employing the flank method—coals to the left and right with beef in the middle:

Smoking wood chosen was Pecan as I’ve had success with it on beef previously as shown on my Beef Brisket effort:

The beef is prepared and ready for the grill.  I’ll place it on a roast rack initially to permit the smoke flavor to work on the entire surface area.  I hit the rack with vegetable spray prior to grilling for ease of cleanup later:

Here’s a pic thirty minutes into grilling with a brushing of Andria’s:

One hour:

Please note that the Andria’s is a very dark sauce.   The blackness on the above pics is the sauce and not burnt meat.  As you will see soon enough this roast will not go beyond medium rare.

My expected cooking time for a roast this size is approximately 2 hours at 300-325 degrees or until the internal temp of the roast reaches 125-130 which after a good 15-20 minutes or resting should be a wonderful medium rare.  I’ve decided to transfer the roast to a roaster pan and add some leftover red wine blended with Andria’s for the last hour to add moisture to the grilling chamber and to help impart some more flavor as the liquid steams around the meat:

The beef was basted about every 20 minutes with Andria’s Steak Sauce.  A few more charcoal briquettes and smoke wood were added as needed.

Here’s a pic an hour and a half into the process:

A close up from the other side:

Perfect Spring day for grilling—sunny, warm, gentle breeze, flowering trees, and smoke flowing from my grill.  It doesn’t get any better than this:

It’s time to choose a red wine for the occasion.  I selected a HV 2006 Syrah, gifted by day job partner Don H., and it paired nicely with the beef as we discovered later:

Don H. is a supreme griller in his own right—a huge fan of the Big Green Egg—he does some amazing things with grilled vegetables that we may be able to illustrate in a future post for you.

We are now 2 hours in and the roast is removed from the grill and foiled to rest for about 30 minutes:

The juices have settled and it’s time to carve into this bad boy.  First I removed the bones:

Here’s a pic of the roast sliced—medium-rare to rare as expected:

I French-grilled a center slice for me—not sure where that term came from.  I simply brushed it with a bit of Andria’s and slapped it back on the grill on direct fire for just a few seconds on each side:

The red disappeared but the texture and flavor imparted by Andria’s was superb and the slab of prime rib was extremely tender and moist.

Watch for rib-eyes on sale at your local grocer and have them cut a roast for you and give this method a try—the Andria’s really made a difference and you might not want to do any other method in the future.  What a night!  Three Grillin Fools, a big hunk of beef, the magic Andria’s adds, and some great red wine made this an event none of us will soon forget.  At least these three Grillin Fools won’t:

That’s Greg, Scott and Tom from left to right above.

***Editor’s note ~ I agree Dad.  It was a great night.  Some great poker afterward and more red wine from your ample wine rack.  I hope we can do more of these events***

As usual, if you have any questions about this recipe, please email me or simply leave a comment below.

If you are interested in other beef dishes click here to see other picture by picture, step by step instructions on other beef dishes we have done on the site

Also, you can follow the Grillin Fools on Facebook and post your own grillin pictures.

Inspired by Master Raichlen I decided to shake things up a bit and take some ribs into a new direction.  These Asian ribs are marinaded and slathered in a coconut peanut sauce that is phenomenal.  If you are looking to shake things up a bit with your ribs, click below to see how I did that with this Asian inspired recipe…

Ingredients (for one slab)

3/4 cup of unsweetened coconut milk
2/3 cup of peanut butter (creamy or chunky, but if you go chunky add more chicken broth)
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp fresh garlic, minced
1 tbs fresh ginger, minced
1 green onion, minced
1 tsp of Thai chili paste (more or less to taste)
1 tsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
Black and white pepper

One note on the coconut milk.  Coconut milk has a pretty high fat content and can congeal in the can.  Don’t worry if it’s solid.  It’s perfectly normal if it looks like this:

Put it into a bowl and stir it up to get it back to liquid form, and then combine all ingredients into a pot and bring to a boil, stirring frequently:

Let the sauce cool and then use half of the sauce to marinade the meat overnight, saving the other half to brush on the meat while cooking and as a sauce to apply when serving:

Now place it on a grill and indirect for 2 hours at 275-300 degrees and smoke with your favorite smoke wood.  I used apricot wood.

Here are the ribs on the grill after 1 hour.  These ribs were done with chunky peanut butter.  The half slab on the upper left and the one on the bottom are the Asian ribs.  The other two are apple pumpkin ribs which you can learn about by clicking here:

The chunks in the pic above are Bologna Bites.  I highly recommend trying them.  Click here to see how to make them.

Here are the ribs after two hours and are ready to be pulled of the grill and have browned up nicely after I braised them twice with the sauce:

Here they are on the cutting board and ready to be sampled by the Official Grillin Fools tasters:

And here are the tasters:

That’s from left to right, Brian F, Scott P, Brad M, and Tim D.  And of course if someone gets out a camera these guys start hamming it up:

And here’s the aftermath and maybe the best testament to how good the ribs were:

You can serve them plain or slather them with sauce.  The flavor is more intense if you add the sauce:

If you have any questions about the Asian ribs, feel free to email me or simply leave a comment below.

If you are interested in other rib recipes, click here.

Also, you can follow the Grillin Fools on Facebook and post your own grillin pictures.

Ahhhh, my favorite time of year is here.  It’s officially Fall.  The temp is dropping, soon the leaves will be too after that magnificent color change.  The Cards are heading to the playoffs, football is back, well in other cities its back, no so much here in St. Louis.  The Blues are in training camp, Mizzou is off to a 3-0 start and my Irish just eked one out against Michigan State.  Halloween is just around the corner and the pumpkin ales are on the store shelves.  It’s a glorious time my friends.

Oh, and did I mention it’s the single greatest time of year to grill?  Most people think it’s the summer.  That’s just not the case.  Think about it.  It’s 95 degrees outside, let’s go build a fire and stand around it? Firing up the grill when it’s chilly outside makes much more sense than adding more heat to a hot summer day doesn’t it?  Now if I could get Shawn and Blinda, hosts of Your Livable Garden in Houston and owners of Mirror Lake Designs, up to St. Louis to build me one of those outdoor kitchens with the ceiling fans I might be singing a different tune.  While I grill all year round some of the most miserable cookouts for me are on those ridiculously muggy summer days that we get here in St. Louis.

All of this revelry in the season got me thinking of some sort of fall themed recipe.  It took some doing but I finally came up with the Grillin Fools official recipe for the Fall – Apple-Pumpkin Ribs.  Bear with me here.  Click below to see the steps I took to come up with surprisingly easy recipe that I initially did my best to over think and overdo.  The final result, though, will impress you and your friends.  And realize that this recipe was inspired by the beer shown above…

OK, so let’s start off with the inspiration for this.  O’Fallon’s Pumpkin Ale:

This is probably my favorite beer.  I don’t know if it would be if I could get it all year round but I can’t wait for it to hit every year at the beginning of September and it just makes me believe it is Fall outside when I taste it.  I wanted to grill something that when I tasted it would have the same effect.

Just to give you an idea of how this recipe came into being I thought I would show you how badly I messed it up before I got it right.  My first attempt was less than impressive.  First I tried marinating ribs in actual pumpkin pie filling:

MmmmmMmmmmm.  Appetizing, huh?

Yeah, didn’t think so.

What a huge orange mess that was.  But I wasn’t done wrecking the ribs with the pumpkin pie filling marinade.  Oh no.  I had a ways to go yet before these thing were thoroughly bad.  I also tried to infuse the flavors that make a good pumpkin pie via a rub.  I ground up whole cloves and cinnamon sticks to be combined with brown sugar, ground ginger, allspice and granulated garlic for the rub.  It was way over the top.  Fresh ground cinnamon and cloves can be overpowering.  It was just an assault on the taste buds.

My poor in laws were subjected to the first iteration of this.  My lovely Mother in Law actually suggested that I tone it down and keep it simple and it was her advice that helped me come up with the final product which I tested out a few days later.

The next Thursday was the first game of the NFL season and I had some of my boys over for the game.  One of them, Bill, had expressed a desire a few days prior to learn how to grill ribs.  I told him to go pick some up and that I would teach him.  Ribs 101 if you will.  He had 2.5 slabs of baby backs and I told him to skin the membrane off, put them in ziplocks with apple cider, a half cup of brown sugar and a few teaspoons of fresh minced garlic.  He put that in the fridge overnight and then came over the next evening before the game so I could show him how to grill them.

I walked Bill through the basics of making a rub for two of the slabs but the last half slab I decided to try my Mother in Law’s advice.  Keep it simple.  And again, I took inspiration from the pumpkin beer.  The pumpkin beer does not taste overwhelming like pumpkins.  It tastes like the spices that makes pumpkin pie so distinctive – cinnamon, clove, ginger, all spice, maybe nutmeg.  If they only had something that was comprised of all those ingredients?  Well they do.  It’s called, sort of appropriately, pumpkin pie spice:

The rub was comprised of 4 ingredients and two of them were black and white pepper.  The rub was simply equal parts pumpkin pie spice shown above and granulated garlic along with a few cranks of black and white pepper.  I put a little coarse salt on each side of the ribs before I applied the rub but that was it.

Nothing fancy in terms of grilling the ribs.  Just the basic two hour method I’ve started using exclusively now where I indirect the ribs at about 275 for two hours.  A more detailed write up on the 2 hour cooking process can be found here.

They were a huge hit with my second set of guinea pig tasters:

Now that the picture was over with, back to business:

Starting from the left we have Chad, Art, Roy and Bill. BTW, those 5 half slabs of ribs were gone in all of about 3 minutes along with the, appropriately enough, apple fatty I did.

So the following weekend, I decided to try a couple more variations just to make sure I had the process down.  I took two slabs of ribs, one I just applied the rub to and put in a ziplock overnight.  The second I marinated in apple cider, garlic and brown sugar as Bill had done a few days prior.  And not just any apple cider.  That dark stuff that is available from the local farmers this time of year:

The next evening I pulled the ribs out of the bags.  The ones with a rub on them got a little coarse salt and straight on the grill.  The other ones were taken out of the wet marinade and patted dry, then the rub was applied along with a little salt.  I also tried some Szechuan salt I got from Penzey’s on one of the marinated half slabs but it had no effect on the final result at all.  Still trying to find a way to utilize the flavor of that salt but it was not with this recipe.

Here they are on the grill about ready to be taken inside to be carved up after being smoked for two hours with, you guessed it, apple wood:

Sliced.  Notice there is not a prominent a smoke ring with apple as you would get with a cherry or say a red oak.  That’s not a bad thing.  It’s just the nature of apple wood.  It’s more subtle than cherry in flavor and the smoke ring:

Three bones of each kind on the plate:

In the end, the ribs marinated in the apple cider/garlic/brown sugar with the pumpkin pie/granulated garlic/pepper rub were by far the best of the three.  The apple cider really permeates the meat and the rub gave that distinct pie flavoring as well as a bit of garlic so as to not make them over the top  sweet.  I may do these again and add a little brown sugar to the rub.  See, I’m never satisfied.  I gotta keep tweaking until it’s just right, but there’s always something more to tweak it with so will it ever be just right?  Alas, this is my lot in life.

And I just wanted to give you an idea of how obsessive I can be to get something like this right.  I had baby back ribs three times in a seven day span simply because I wanted to make sure they were perfect.  I’m a slave to this obsession I tell my wife is just a hobby.

If you liked the rib recipe above you might want to check these out the many other ways we have done on this site by clicking here.

And as usual, if you have any questions or comments about the Apple-Pumpkin Ribs, please respond below or shoot me an email.

Also, you can follow the Grillin Fools on Facebook and post your own grillin pictures.

One of the hardest things to teach people about grilling is dealing with ever changing circumstances that may or may not be out of their control.  Grilling on a muggy summer day is much different than grilling in a blustery Autumn day and certain things should be done to account for the different weather.  Grilling one day with an empty grill and then another with the bottom full of ash and thus a fire much more subdued than the previous cook out can greatly slow down the cooking process.  Cooking chicken over direct heat and trying to keep the flare ups down with a squirt bottle while keeping the heat up in the grill enough to still cook the meat.  There are many times the griller has to overcome some unforeseen problem.

I doubt I will ever be able to document all the obstacles I have ever faced while grilling but this last weekend I had a minor catastrophe that I had to deal with.  I did a Brisket Sunday and made a crucial mistake that could’ve have easily resulted in an epic failure.  Click below to see what I did to screw up and how I responded to that blunder…

Before I get into how this cookout went terribly wrong let’s start from the beginning.  I picked up this 5.5 beauty at a local meat market near my house:

This is a pic of the brisket with the fat cap up.  Someone asked me recently what the difference was.  The above is fat cap up, below is fat cap down:

See the difference?  I noticed a bad spot on the fat side that I removed.  This happens from time to time.  As long as the bad spot is small just trim it out.  This was about the size of a dime and in the fat rather than the meat.  Had it been larger and in the meat I would’ve taken the cut back to the butcher:

You may be wondering what that container is that the meat is in.  It’s advertised as something specifically designed for marinading meat.  The top and bottom of the inside of the container are lined with these little pyramids:

I guess the theory is that the squared inverted dimples would elevate the meat a bit and allow more marinade to touch it.  Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t, but it’s the perfect size for a brisket that is too big for a gallon ziplock bag.

Now for the prep.  I dusted the outside of the brisket with granulated garlic, black and white pepper:

Now on to the marinade.  Nothing fancy.  Just horseradish mustard:

I slathered it all over the meat on each side – you can see the divot I created carving out that little bad spot:

Closed it off and into the fridge on Friday night.  Next stop, Sunday morning – That’s right, a two day marinade:

Sunday morning I pulled it from the fridge and prepped my rub:

1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp dried mustard
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp smoked salt (regular salt can be used here)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp each of black and white pepper

Here is the brisket in a disposable aluminum pan with the rub.  The dry mop ingredients next to it:

The dry mop ingredients are as follows:

2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp dried mustard
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp smoked salt (again use what you have here in terms of salt)
1/2 tsp each of black and white pepper:

Mix that together with the wet ingredients:
1 pumpkin beer (insert you fave beer here)
1 cup white vinegar

The primary wood I used here was hickory:

I also used some small apple chunks as well.  The little chunks are better than chips but they don’t last long.  Not a fan so I was just sort of getting rid of them.  If you’re not a fan of hickory or don’t have access to it, check this link for a list of close to 50 different woods and such that you can use to smoke meat.

I set this up for indirect grilling.  I realize that the grill is an offset smoker but I get much more consistent results just using it as a horizontal drum smoker with the indirect cooking method.  With the chimney on the left I put the coals and smoke wood on the right and the meat on the left so the smoke traverses over the meat on its way out of the chamber via the chimney:

And yes, that is a thermometer probe inserted into the thickest part of the brisket.  I have never used this probe in meat before.  I have just used it to check cooking temps in the grills I use.  I wanted to quantify the process a little more so I used the thermometer here.

The grill always runs hot at first because it doesn’t seal very well. So it ran about 300 for the first 90 minutes or so until I could get the temp down. I mopped at 90 minutes at which time the internal temp read about 150:

I mopped it again an hour later. By this time I had gotten the temp to where I wanted it about 225-25o  by reducing the amount of coals on the right.  As you can see a nice crust is forming with the rub:

After 3.5 hours the internal temp was around 180.  This is where it gets sort of interesting. I foiled it. Covered the top of the aluminum tray with two layers of foil to make sure I got a good seal:

I realize that’s not all that interesting, but right after I foiled it I heard my son scream. 17 months old. He had gone up to a card table leaning against the wall that I had out to set up for dinner later and pulled it down on himself. He was OK but it scared the crap out of him. Well I rushed in to make sure he’s OK.  My wife was holding and soothing him.  In a couple of minutes he’s running around again like nothing happened. After that I went downstairs to watch football. And that was my mistake.

About an hour later I went up to check the fire. I go outside and the lid to the grill is still open from when I foiled the meat. When my son screamed I turned immediately and went inside.  I didn’t close the lid on the grill.  My meager fire that was holding the cooking chamber at 225 was just a few tiny bits of coals and the internal temp of the brisket was around 155 (the temp is on the left, the right is the alarm point at which it will start flashing if it goes over that):

I figure that the meat did some steaming in the pan for a while before it cooled down, but I basically stopped cooking for an hour and had a dozen people coming over for some brisket in 4 hours. Many things were going through my head including the words, “epic fail,” and how many pizzas I would need to feed 12.

Rather than give up hope I decided to whatever it was I could to try to salvage this mess.  I had to start up a half a chimney of coals as there was no saving the little fire I had left in the grill. Once I got a nice pile of coals I literally slid the brisket right over the coals. Jump starting brisket like this may not have been a good idea. Brisket is all about low and slow to break down the connective tissue so it will be tender. But I had to do something to other than push dinner back to after 9:00 pm.

I decided I couldn’t do much more so I went back downstairs to watch more football. About 45 minutes later I smelled something burning. The grill was close to a window near to the where I was in the basement. I ran back up, slid it over to the other side and continue to cook it indirect.

That burning smell turned out to be from the thickened juices at the bottom of the pan.  As they steamed out the amount of the juices got less and less. The edges of the little pool of juices in the pan blackened and burned a bit which was much better than the alternative.  And the only reason it was not the meat is I placed the brisket fat cap down. A lot of people put the fat cap up so it will baste the meat but to me that really diminishes the mop sauce which bastes and flavorizes at the same time. That sauce is not penetrating that fat cap but it will penetrate the meat on the other side.  That fat cap insulated the meat from the direct heat when I kick started the cooking process.

90 minutes after kick starting it the internal temp hit 200:

I pulled the foil off – check out the steam action:

I left it on the grill for another 15 or so in the pan. I then took it out of the pan and placed it on a large sheet of foil and wrapped it up:

You can see some of the blackened spots in the aluminum pan that gave off the burnt smell.  I then put it in the microwave to stay warm.  A cooler or an oven works well too:

90 minutes later it was the moment of truth – carving time.  The wine was to drown my sorrows should this thing be like shoe leather.  That is a Zen of Zin Zinfandel from Ravenswood that is really good and around $12:

So how does it look:

I’m not sure if the picture does it justice but it was spectacular. So tender it melted in our mouths. Despite the disaster of that hour off in the middle of the process, the foil really saved my bacon, or in this case my brisket.

The steaming action in the foil seems to accelerate the process of breaking down those connective tissues and keeps it very moist all the while.  And while everyone told me it was really good, the real testament was my 10 year old niece, Katherine, who went back for seconds and thirds.  That and there being just about none left at the end.

A couple of things about slicing brisket – the thinner the better and across the grain.

Now onto the actual meal.  Couple of sammies for me:

And coleslaw is not just for pulled pork.  It’s great on brisket too:

Still some room on that plate.  What about sides?  Fresh green beans, or as my son calls them, mean beans, with plenty of bacon:

And my wife’s cheesy potatoes made in muffin tins:

The recipe for the potatoes is sliced potatoes, layered with colby jack cheese and green onions.  A little salt and pepper and two table spoons of heavy cream per potato muffin.  Then 350 degrees in the oven covered with foil for 30 minutes and then uncovered for 30 more minutes

Heavy cream and bacon?  Brisket and coleslaw?  Not the healthiest of meals.  But I did have whole grain Sarah Lee buns on hand to lighten the load just a little.  That may not be a lot but hey, pick your battles.  The rest of the week I’ll be watching my portions and my carbs.  But on the weekend I eat like this:

So what’s the lesson here?  Foiling is your friend with brisket.  I plan on doing another one of these again soon to try to perfect the process without the one hour lapse in the middle.  Then again, this turned out so well, maybe I should do it this way again?!?!  Nah…

If you liked this recipe you may want to check out other beef products we have done on the grill by clicking here.

As usual, if you have any questions about the brisket, leave a comment below or shoot me an email.

Here is a link to a discussion of this recipe on the air on the Houston airwaves.

Also, you can follow the Grillin Fools on Facebook and post your own grillin pictures.

We have been discussing ribs a lot lately here at Grillinfools.com because we know a big BBQ weekend is coming up on the 4th of July.  We figured that a lot of our fellow fools would be looking for ideas for what may be the quintessential BBQ food.

This entry is not going to offer any new information that isn’t already on this site.  I just want to make it easier for everyone to find all the different ways we have done ribs to date here.  And maybe, if you aren’t planning ribs on the 4th of July these pictures and write ups will inspire you to give it a shot.  Click below to see six different ways to do ribs…

Old School Ribs

Let’s start off with the basics.  My dad has the smoking/indirect method for grilling ribs down to a science.  In this method one puts the coals on one side and the ribs on the other.  Get the temp to about 275, drop some smoke wood on the fire and cook for 2 hours.  That’s it. I know it sounds like an oversimplification, but it really isn’t.  Sure, you can marinade them or add a rub or add some sauce or do all three.  But this is the basic premise.  This method will yield these beauties:

A lot of people will talk about the the new 3-2-1 fad for spares and the 2-1.5-1 for baby backs.  The first number is the number of hours smoking between 200 and 225.  The second number is the amount of time wrapped in foil and cooked at the same temp.  And the final number is the number of hours out of the foil cooking (not smoking) at 200-225.

I’ve done the 3-2-1 method many times but I can produce the exact same results if not better results in 2 hours.  Some will argue that there is no way to get enough smoke into the ribs in 2 hours.  After 2 hours meat is not going to absorb any more smoke.  So why go longer?  Besides, if it’s not long enough to impart enough smoke how can the ribs above, that only cooked for two hours, have this incredible smoke ring:

So click here to see exactly how he produced those amazing baby backs…

Fall off the Bone Ribs

There are two kinds of people out there in terms of ribs.  Those that prefer fall off the bone ribs and those that prefer juicy, chewy ribs.  I fall into the latter category but don’t mind fall off the bone ribs.

If you want fall off the bone ribs there are two ways of doing it.  Smoke those bad boys for about 10 hours or put the foil on.  For you Slap Shot fans out there, it has nothing to do with putting foil on the knuckles.  The foil is wrapped around the ribs after a couple hours of smoking with some sort of liquid.  The foiled ribs are placed back on the grill to cook in the foil.  There is something about the steaming/cooking action going on in the foil that hyper accelerates the breaking down of the connective tissue that allows the meat to fall off the bone.

Click here to see just how to do it…

Peachy Sweet Spare Ribs

OK, now that you have the basics down, let’s take you off the beaten path a bit.  Let’s think outside the fire box a bit.  Inspired by a recipe my dad found in Dr. BBQ’s, Ray Lampe, book he decided to go with something we had never tried before.  The results were just amazing:

So if you are looking to try something new or just have a sweet tooth as well as a love for ribs click here to see how to make these sweet sensations…

Peach Smoked Jerk Ribs

So what if you don’t have a sweet tooth but love the spicier side of life as I do?  Well these are the ribs for you. I get an almost overwhelming craving for jerk ribs or chicken a couple times a year.  One knock on spicy food is that it can be so hot that you can’t actually taste anything.  That is not the case with jerk seasoning.  With that incredible taste bud heat wave comes a tidal wave of flavors.

Of course you don’t have to make them as hot as I make them.  And if you click here you can see exactly how to make them and then you can choose just how hot you want them.

Country Style Ribs

There are people that get frustrated when they buy a slab of ribs that doesn’t have a lot of meat on it.  It takes a lot of work to get a little meat.  The meat to bone ratio is all off.  If you love the taste of ribs but don’t like the work involved, well this rib is for you.  The meat to bone ratio is off the chart.  These things seriously bring the meat:

The other beautiful thing about country style ribs is that they have a high fat content, which, while it may increase the waist line, it will greatly increase the margin of error in terms of drying them out.  Click here to see how dad makes these meaty ribs…

Mighty Beef Ribs

Beef ribs get a bad rap.  Tough, not much meat, too much bone.  And it’s true they do have gigantic bones, the ample amount of meat more than compensates. In the pictures below realize that the cutting board they are sitting on is two feet by 18 inches:

When I say these things, if cooked properly, can be very tender, I mean it.  In the picture above that is not a steak knife next to my plate.  It’s a butter knife and that’s all I needed to cut the meat.

There is definitely some work that has to go into making these thing tender and juicy but they are worth the effort.  If you want to know exactly how to do it, click here and see how I did it…

Apple Pumpkin Ribs

This was originally written up as the perfect fall recipe but it doesn’t have to be fall to enjoy these.  Marinade in apple cider, garlic and black pepper, then cover with a rub that is equal parts pumpkin pie spice, granulated garlic and brown sugar, then smoke two hours at 275-300 with apple wood and you have some incredible ribs.  The full write up on how the recipe was developed can be found here.

Asian Baby Backs

And if you really want to change things up on the Fourth, try Asian Baby Back Ribs.  The flavors of peanut sauce, coconut milk and chili sauce form together to make an amazing rib that will impress your friends and family.  Think outside the box and give these a try.

Rendezvous Ribs

If you don’t want to spend all day over a hot fire on 4th of July, try this method.  Takes 60 minutes.  That’s not a typo.  Awesome ribs in 60 minutes.  In fact the ribs you see below were done in 55 minutes as I pulled them five minutes early.  It’s called the Rendezvous Method and you can find the full write up with more than 30 pictures and a video here and see step by step how to make them.

If you have any rib recipes you would like to share, feel free to leave a comment below or go to the Grillin Fools Facebook page and post your own picture.