Here is my recipe for Rex’s Smokey Braised Country Style Pork Ribs.
We just had this for dinner tonight and boy was it good. So good in fact that I decided I better share it with all of you. It was so good in fact, that we completely overlooked taking any photos of either the preparation or the final presentation. I suppose I could have taken some photos of some totally cleaned up plates from after we ate, but instead I thought I better find a few photos off the internet to go with this post.
However, even though there is no photographic evidence to accompany this post, you are simply going to have to trust me on this and try it because it is really…and I mean really…good.
Before I get into the details I have to state that the roots for this dish start with my Mom but I’ll share with you how I made it my own. Of course this means that my trusty Traeger grill is involved.
Any great meat dish starts with finding the best cut and quality meat that you can. The interesting thing about “Country Style Ribs” is that they aren’t what you usually expect when preparing pork ribs. These aren’t your petite little Baby Back Ribs…no these are thick cut meaty pieces of meat. Your butcher can prepare them for you a variety of ways. They can be thick or thin cut and bone in or bone out. For this recipe you want to find some that are cut about 1-½ inches thick – or even a little thicker. I like them boneless, this way you can let them cook slowly. It is important to find country style ribs that are well marbled. If they are too lean, they may dry out and will not be as flavorful. Don’t be afraid of the fat – you’ll cook it slow and it will melt away and give your meat amazing flavor in the process.
This recipe has 2 distinct cooking phases – Phase 1 – slow smoking and Phase 2 – braising in a magical elixir we call the braising bath.
Phase 1. The Rub:
1. Wash off your country style ribs and pat then dry with paper towels.
2. Arrange your ribs in a large glass baking dish. The dish should be large enough to give the rigs some room. Dust your ribs with your favorite rub. For this recipe I prefer a milder rub. My preparation involves 3 different rubs. I first dust them with “Rub Some Butt” rub – which is available on Amazon. This is a Carolina style rub that has a mild taste. Then I dust them with Kinders Mild BBQ rub. This is a more traditional BBQ dry rub with paprika, garlic, onions but light on the red pepper. This can also be purchased on-line at www.kindersbbq.com. Lastly, I add some of Traeger Asian BBQ rub. This rub has a hint of five spice that imparts a slight asian taste. Don’t be afraid to dust your ribs liberally. When you are done – don’t clean out any excess rub from the bottom of the baking dish – you’ll use it later.
3. Once dusted, I like to let them sit covered with saran wrap in the fridge for a couple of hours – or even over night. But if you are in a rush – go ahead and put them on the grill.
4. Get your smoker going. In my case I use a Traeger Lil Tex grill. You can pick your favorite wood pellets. For me it is a fruit pellet – apple or cherry wood. Turn the grill on to the “smoke” setting and within 5 minutes you should have a good amount of smoke going. Then turn up you grill to 350 – I don’t want the heat to get to high at this point. After about 15 minutes, turn your grill back down to smoke. Wait another 10 to 15 minutes to let the temp come down.
5. Now you will take the ribs out of the baking dish and arrange them on the smoker leaving a good bit or room around the ribs to let them absorb the smoke.
6. So, how long do you let the smoke – that is entirely up to you. I would say that 1.5 to 2 hours is the minimum time to let them smoke buy if you have the time, you can let them smoke for 3 hours.
While the ribs are smoking, it s time to prepare the braising bath.
Phase 2 – Braising Bath
1. Its time to retrieve that glass baking dish that you used to rub the ribs in. It should have a bunch of excess rub on the bottom of the dish and that’s a good thing. Don’t wash it out, it will become part of the braising bath.
2. Ingredients: 2 tbsp or olive oil, 1 Cup of Martinelli’s sparkling apple cider, 2 tbsp of dark molasses, 1 – 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar, 3 – 4 heaping tbsp of apple butter, 2 tbsp of soy sauce, 4 tbsp of your favorite fruit preserve – either apple, peach or apricot. I use peach with little chunks of fruit in it.
3. Spread the olive oil onto the bottom of the baking dish.
4. Combine all the other ingredients – EXCEPT THE PEACH PRESERVES – into a mixing bowl and whisk the ingredients until blended. Then pour the liquid into the baking dish.
5. After you are done smoking the ribs you will remove them and place them into the baking dish, turning them to make sure they are mostly covered by the braising liquid. Then take the peach preserve and spread it over the tops of the ribs and put any excess into the liquid. At this point you could add some onions, celery and carrots, they will cook nicely in the braising bath. It’s optional.
6. Seal the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and place it into your Traeger grill – I recommend that you cover the outside of your dish with aluminum foil as well – it will make clean up a lot easier.
7. Turn your grill up to 300 degrees and let them cook. Check the temperature of the ribs at 55 minutes. Your target temp is 140 degrees internal temperature. This usually takes about an hour. Be sure to reseal it tightly each time you check it and try not to unseal it too often. When the temp hits 140 degrees, turn the grill temp up to 350 degrees making sure you have resealed it well. Your final target temp is around 180 degrees. This will usually take another 20 minutes or so. Although pork is considered fully cooked at 160 degrees, I find that you get more flavor at the higher temp.
8. Once you hit 180 degrees, remove the baking dish from the grill and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
When you open it up, you should be blessed with an abundance of “gravy” in the baking dish. We usually serve them in the baking dish so that we can use the gravy for dipping.
It is best served with steamed rice or you other favorite starch, some crusty sourdough bread also goes well with it.
Let me know how yours turn out.
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