A couple of Sundays ago I cooked a brisket and some pork ribs, this post concentrates on the pork ribs because they are delicious, juicy and one of my favourite meats to cook.
The first thing is to prep the ribs, trim off any sharp edges or lose meat that will burn and then peel off the membrane from the underside of the ribs. Loosen a piece of membrane with your knife then grab the lose end with a paper towel (to get grip) and pull away from the ribs. I like to marinade / brine my ribs overnight in a mix of tropical fruit juice, cider vinegar, Worcestershire Sauce, maple syrup and sea salt. The acids in the fruit juice and cider vinegar help to break down the muscle fibres in the meat, the salt draws moisture and therefore flavour in and of course the fruit juice, maple syrup and Worcestershire sauce ad the flavour.
Place in a zip-lok bag, push as much air out as possible and seal or vacuum seal in a machine and place in the fridge overnight. When ready to cook drain the marinade, pat dry then add the rub. For this cook I used Angus & Oink Pigasus, sprinkle onto the meat, wait a few minutes for it to glaze up then turn over and repeat. These should then be cooked low and slow at 120C for around two and a half hours or 71 C internal temperature then it time to wrap your ribs.
I put some yellow mustard onto the middle of a piece of aluminium foil then add cane sugar and honey and place the ribs meat side down onto the foil. Add a bit a fruit juice or apple juice, just half a cup and wrap the ribs tightly, then wrap again to ensure no juice can escape and place back on the BBQ for an hour to ninety minutes. Then take off the BBQ and rest for thirty minutes in a cool box or wrapped in a couple of tea towels.
Unwrap and prepare to be amazed, to most succulent, tasty ribs you have ever cooked and if you want that additional flavour, paste the top of the ribs with a BBQ sauce before serving.