BBQ51/17: Not a McRib sandwich

BBQ51/17: Not a McRib sandwich:

I have seen a few recipes and pictures lately where folk try to recreate the McRib sandwich. I had a couple of racks of baby back ribs in the freezer from Bob’s butchers I was keen to cook so thought this would be quite interesting and something a bit different!

I had a tub of Rib Rub from @theribman (Best ribs in London!) which he gave me last time I saw him for one of his awesome rib rolls on Brick Lane (Sundays) so I decided to use that.

I set the smoker up with heat beads and tipped half a lit chimney of lumpwood on top then left everything to settle heat wise aiming for around 225F.

Whilst the smoker was settling I pulled the membrane off the back of the ribs using a bit of paper towel then I rubbed American mustard in before applying the Rib Rub using one of my spice shaker tins. The ribs were really meaty compared to other ribs I have bought elsewhere, one to remember for next time! I put a few chunks of Smokewood Shack Cherry wood in then placed the ribs on the top shelf.

ribs

The colour of the rub on the ribs was fantastic, it smelt great too:

ribs

I spritzed the ribs with a bit of water (no apple juice in the house!) every 30 minutes and added more cherry chunks after an hour.

ribs

2 hours in I took the ribs off to wrap in tin foil with a bit of apple juice (now in the house!), sealed them tightly and put them back on the smoker for another 2 hours.

I also had some smoky sausage pasta cooking (recipe here) which I took out for my lunch:

ribs

Once the ribs had been in for another 2 hours (4 hours total) I took them out the foil and brushed on some bbq sauce. I had a bit of the Hang Fire BBQ sauce left I made a while ago so used that to finish it up.

ribs

After half an hour (4.5 hours all in so far) I brushed more bbq sauce on the ribs and after 30 minutes (5 hours total) I took one rack of ribs off:

ribs

The bbq sauce I used is quite dark so the meat looks very dark. I would probably use a lighter shade of red bbq sauce next time so it doesn’t go so dark and/or I would brush the sauce much later, maybe with just 15 or 30 minutes to go. This Hang Fire BBQ sauce is very tasty mind! 

The ribs cut well, they weren’t too hard and they weren’t too soft. Just the right amount of tug as you bit them. The cherry smoke had left a mild and fruity smoke taste. I might ramp it up with some oak next time as well.

ribs

The other rack was re-wrapped in foil with a bit of apple juice to steam it so I could pull the bones out easily to make this:

ribs

The bread is a whole tiger loaf, it wasn’t easy to find anything else big enough but who doesn’t like a tiger loaf! I added sliced onions and pickles with more of the BBQ sauce poured on top. I thought I might have to slice the back of the ribs to get the bones out but they pulled out easily enough.

Next photo shows the sandwich for scale against the pot of Rib Rub:

ribs

I eat the standard ribs as they were and cut the sandwich up for my wife and I to share. I have to say the sandwich was really good. We both enjoyed it so much it could become the way we eat ribs in future!

I really enjoyed this cook. The smoker sat nicely around 225F thanks to the BBQ Guru and I didn’t have to do a lot to it. The Rib Rub was fantastic, great taste and the ribs were meaty and juicy so I would buy them again. The BBQ sauce tastes great but I would use a lighter colour and brush it on later next time so it doesn’t go so dark. 

I have cooked ribs a few times since I bought my smoker and started out doing 3-2-1 but they were over cooking so I started 2-2-1 and have had much better results.

3-2-1: 3 hours unwrapped  / 2 hours wrapped / 1 hours glazed unwrapped

2-2-1: 2 hours unwrapped / 2 hours wrapped / 1 hour glazed unwrapped

As I said before, I will be doing this one again!


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