Just ‘cause

Tea-smoked baby backs?
 
What, you've never marinated ribs in black tea? Where have you been?
 
It may not look that way from the perspective of the photo, but the tea bottle is too large to fit in the beer holders.

Oops, I mean drink holders. I hope the FAA doesn't read that.
 
"Shredded green and red cabbage with carrots."

Who the heck puts horseradish on ribs?
 
49E04B68-67AA-4950-93A5-A7A21D980004.jpeg AD7C621C-825E-4D8B-9527-9034A54C05B2.jpeg

Nearly four pounds of that bad boy
 
What's the plan? Baking? Grilling? Smoking? My go-to technique is smoking and then finishing off on the grill caramelizing some sauce.
 
MICHAEL MAHN said:
What's the plan? Baking? Grilling? Smoking? My go-to technique is smoking and then finishing off on the grill caramelizing some sauce.
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Baking. Ordinarily on a Saturday I would be grilling something but it's way too windy outside to light a BBQ. 250 for 5 hours.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Baking. Ordinarily on a Saturday I would be grilling something but it's way too windy outside to light a BBQ. 250 for 5 hours.
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I've never made baked ribs. It's ribs...so I'm sure they'll be great. Lately, I've been lazy and have finished brisket and pork shoulder in the oven after 3-4 hours in the smoker. The ability of meat to absorb smoke declines during smoking and the convenience of temperature control and automatic shutoff are just too compelling.
 
Matthew said:
View attachment 96166
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In my younger years, I'm sad to admit, I used to boil ribs. I eventually realized all I was doing was making a sauce delivery vehicle...all the natural flavor was gone. I'm so disappointed when I go to a restaurant and am served boiled ribs. It's usually the last time I go to that restaurant.
 
MICHAEL MAHN said:
I've never made baked ribs. It's ribs...so I'm sure they'll be great. Lately, I've been lazy and have finished brisket and pork shoulder in the oven after 3-4 hours in the smoker. The ability of meat to absorb smoke declines during smoking and the convenience of temperature control and automatic shutoff are just too compelling.
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My other option is to try to do a long burn in the Weber for a poor man's smoker, but winds are 25 G 40 right now so that is a no go. If I'm doing one rack, I'll just do a tight foil wrap, but if I'm doing two, I will prop them at a V angle in the turkey roaster. Either way they come out perfect.

PaulS said:
Looks like a good plan, you need a smoker.
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If I had a smoker, I would weigh 300 lbs.

Ravioli said:
It's for the slaw. Who the hell serves slaw without the horsey kick?
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I might just try that. I have to look and see if I have some horseradish. I am living dangerously though - I plan on making my own sauce. Some vinegar, mayo, maybe a little mustard...
 
I think I might just try something new. I did season the ribs with some dry rub seasoning. But I might just take some bbq sauce (Baby Ray's, sugar based, not my first pick but we have several bottles) and maybe cut it with some vinegar, brush it on after cooking, then maybe broil for a few minutes to partially caramelize.

Hmm.
 
Sac Arrow said:
...a poor man's smoker..
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A poor man's smoker is all I know :) I built myself a UDS (Ugly Drum Smoker) out of a 55 gallon metal drum. The entire setup cost me about $150 and I'll put it up against smoker of any caliber. It will hum along at 250 for 10+ hours w/o any intervention. I've heard people win BBQ contests with these things.
 
That ain't slaw! It doesn't have the creamy looking goo that slaw comes in.
 
MICHAEL MAHN said:
A poor man's smoker is all I know :) I built myself a UDS (Ugly Drum Smoker) out of a 55 gallon metal drum. The entire setup cost me about $150 and I'll put it up against smoker of any caliber. It will hum along at 250 for 10+ hours w/o any intervention. I've heard people win BBQ contests with these things.
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Well please share, there is a big audience for these things. I like it already.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I think I might just try something new. I did season the ribs with some dry rub seasoning. But I might just take some bbq sauce (Baby Ray's, sugar based, not my first pick but we have several bottles) and maybe cut it with some vinegar, brush it on after cooking, then maybe broil for a few minutes to partially caramelize.

Hmm.
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Experimentation almost never leaves you in a bad place. I typically dry rub my ribs over night using Al Roker's recipe in Webber's Big Book of Grilling. I highly recommend it if you haven't tried it. This rub is fantastic on pork. When I make ribs, I finish on the grill caramelizing some off-the-shelf sauce onto the ribs. I used to make my own sauce but found store bought is just fine. For pork shoulder, I use Roker's dry rub, but then finish with, since I live in Charlotte, a NC apple cider vinegar-based sauce.
 
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Sac Arrow said:
View attachment 96150 Cole slaw
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X38E7fJ.gif
 
Sac Arrow said:
Well please share, there is a big audience for these things. I like it already.
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You asked for it!! This will likely turn into a long post. But seriously, perform a search on UDS and you will find dozens of in-depth pages with instructions for building your own.

For years I used an electric water smoker. I was never really happy with the final product but it was convenient and the result was okay. When it died, I was looking into converting Weber Smokey Mountain Charcoal smoker to gas when someone turned me on to the UDS. IMO, the reason the UDS is so great is b/c you still get fat atomizing on hot coals and then circulating around the meat. To me, that makes all the difference in the world.

I found a 55 gallon metal drum on Craig's List that used to store yellow, center line road paint. The first order of business was burning out the drum to remove the toxins. I had no idea how this would play out. I live in a residential area and the afternoon I chose was dead calm. Do you remember how the oil wells which Iraq lit on fire when they retreated from Kuwait looked? It was not dissimilar. A column of thick, choking black smoke spewed from this thing for at least 20 minutes. I was surprised none of my neighbors called the fire department as the 1/2 mile area around my house looked like a war zone.

The next day I attached a wire brush drill bit to my electric drill and then spent the next couple of hours removing the interior lining of the UDS. This was absolutely the worst, most unpleasant part of the build.

I bought some replacement racks for the Weber Smokey Mountain. Interesting, they fit exactly inside a 55 gallon metal drum. I then drilled holes and install bolts where I wanted the racks to sit.

Lastly, I built myself a fire basket out of compressed steal from Home Depot. I created a heat diffuser out of a heavy duty pizza pan which negates the need for a water pan thereby enabling the fat to make its way to the heat source for atomization.

But in all honesty, Google UDS as there is a ton of information. There are companies selling them now if you chose not to go the custom build route. They are not as efficient as a Big Green Egg, and you'll spend a little more in fuel as they don't have the insulation, but it will make just as good BBQ for $1K+ less.
 
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Matthew said:
Or you could shell out $800.
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I built my UDS 10+ years ago. I'll likely buy something similar when I need a new one. During my build, one of my neighbors would corner me at the neighborhood pool asking tons of questions. He later started a business making custom UDSs. I think it was more of a hobby for him than a money maker. But there's definitely demand for these things.
 
Looks delicious. Any pics of the crock with cole-slaw and Swiss cheese?
 
We made a big batch of cole slaw last week. Had enough to eat it for lunch every day for a week. Love me some salad.
 
Deelee said:
I am so hungry right now, I would eat cole-slaw with swiss cheese on top of it.
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There is nothing intrinsically wrong with cheese and cole slaw, but the introduction of a slow cooker can rapidly change the dynamics.

Or slowly.
 
Sac Arrow said:
the introduction of a slow cooker can rapidly change the dynamics.

Or slowly
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It can rapidly change them if you use an Instant Pot.

No... this is actually false. Instant pots are great, but there isn't much instant about them.
 
MICHAEL MAHN said:
You asked for it!! This will likely turn into a long post. But seriously, perform a search on UDS and you will find dozens of in-depth pages with instructions for building your own.

For years I used an electric water smoker. I was never really happy with the final product but it was convenient and the result was okay. When it died, I was looking into converting Weber Smokey Mountain Charcoal smoker to gas when someone turned me on to the UDS. IMO, the reason the UDS is so great is b/c you still get fat atomizing on hot coals and then circulating around the meat. To me, that makes all the difference in the world.

I found a 55 gallon metal drum on Craig's List that used to store yellow, center line road paint. The first order of business was burning out the drum to remove the toxins. I had no idea how this would play out. I live in a residential area and the afternoon I chose was dead calm. Do you remember how the oil wells which Iraq lit on fire when they retreated from Kuwait looked? It was not dissimilar. A column of thick, choking black smoke spewed from this thing for at least 20 minutes. I was surprised none of my neighbors called the fire department as the 1/2 mile area around my house looked like a war zone.

The next day I attached a wire brush drill bit to my electric drill and then spent the next couple of hours removing the interior lining of the UDS. This was absolutely the worst, most unpleasant part of the build.

I bought some replacement racks for the Weber Smokey Mountain. Interesting, they fit exactly inside a 55 gallon metal drum. I then drilled holes and install bolts where I wanted the racks to sit.

Lastly, I built myself a fire basket out of compressed steal from Home Depot. I created a heat diffuser out of a heavy duty pizza pan which negates the need for a water pan thereby enabling the fat to make its way to the heat source for atomization.

But in all honesty, Google UDS as there is a ton of information. There are companies selling them now if you chose not to go the custom build route. They are not as efficient as a Big Green Egg, and you'll spend a little more in fuel as they don't have the insulation, but it will make just as good BBQ for $1K+ less.
Click to expand...

Awesome, dude
 
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