slow-cooker ribs?

Raften wrote:
Boiling ribs, isn't that against the law. lol

It certainly doesn't make sense to me. Ribs, like most meats, tenderize somewhere around 190 and given their low mass that's an easy target on most fires.

Raften wrote:
Boiling ribs, isn't that against the law. lol

Certainly against my laws of making ribs.

Boiling ribs, isn't that against the law. lol

before I got a smoker I used to use a few different techniques.
I"d par boil or simmer the ribs in a large pan with pickling spices, garlic, and onions. Then grill with a light brush of sauce. Very tender, pretty flavorful.
I would also do the same thing in a large crock pot. Again, pickling spices in the liquid.
Now I remove the membrane, add my own dry rub, and smoke in a vertical smoker. mop with a mix of apple juice and gingerale or beer or mustard, whatever suits my fancy. I do more than i need for one meal, and vacuum seal and freeze ennough smoked ribs for future meals. To use them, I defrost, and heat up on the grill. Even the frozen ones come out perfect and it makes for a quick meal prep. The propane smoker cost a little over $100 and it sits on a covered porch so I can use it year round. I try to fill it. So i might do a Boston Butt for pulled pork,and some chicken leg quarters, whatever. The pulled pork I also vacuum seal in small bags so we can have a sandwich anytime.
All the ways i have made ribs have come out good,but I prefer the smoker. It's kind of like getting good ribs at a chain restaurant that doesn't smoke, and getting them at a real BBQ joint where you can see and smell the smoke. one is good, the other is great.

Smoking ribs on something like a Weber or a Brinkman can generally be accomplished by using the "snake" system of briquette alignment. I've seen it called this in print, I personally thought of it as a fuse. You simply stack briquettes around the perimeter, I do 3's and leave a small gap where you then place hot coals. If you only light one end they will burn 6 or 7 hours in a big kettle. If you're using a smaller unit you can do a restocking at about 3 hours by adding briquettes to the unburned end extending in to the ash from the start.

GordonThree wrote:
I appreciate the input on other ways to make ribs, but I don't think any of them are as multi-tasker friendly as the slow-cooker, from a behind the steering wheel perspective.

My favorite method, learned from Alton Brown, is to dry-rub the ribs 24 hrs ahead of time, and encase them in heavy foil. The day of cooking, a mixture of sweet and savory liquids is mixed up (I use honey and beer, Alton used some other stuff) and poured into the foil packets with the meat. Then you put 'em in the oven at 200-225 for ~6 hours, and then finish under a broiler. I can do that over a weekend at my home, but not going to all that fuss while camping... I got better things to do. :)

edit: oh, the cooking liquid can be reduced down for a great sauce, if you have the patience

Love the AB technique although like you I change the seasonings and liquid amt. around. Heck sometimes I use no liquid at all which makes for a nice bark. It's easy enough to use a Weber to cook them with little babysitting needed.

GordonThree wrote:


My favorite method, learned from Alton Brown, is to dry-rub the ribs 24 hrs ahead of time, and encase them in heavy foil. The day of cooking, a mixture of sweet and savory liquids is mixed up (I use honey and beer, Alton used some other stuff) and poured into the foil packets with the meat. Then you put 'em in the oven at 200-225 for ~6 hours, and then finish under a broiler. I can do that over a weekend at my home, but not going to all that fuss while camping... I got better things to do. :)

edit: oh, the cooking liquid can be reduced down for a great sauce, if you have the patience

This a pretty good description of doing ribs in the smoker. In fact except for the part where you start with them wrapped, I wrap at about the 3 hour mark, it's almost identical.

I appreciate the input on other ways to make ribs, but I don't think any of them are as multi-tasker friendly as the slow-cooker, from a behind the steering wheel perspective.

My favorite method, learned from Alton Brown, is to dry-rub the ribs 24 hrs ahead of time, and encase them in heavy foil. The day of cooking, a mixture of sweet and savory liquids is mixed up (I use honey and beer, Alton used some other stuff) and poured into the foil packets with the meat. Then you put 'em in the oven at 200-225 for ~6 hours, and then finish under a broiler. I can do that over a weekend at my home, but not going to all that fuss while camping... I got better things to do. :)

edit: oh, the cooking liquid can be reduced down for a great sauce, if you have the patience

As a couple others already stated... timing is everything. I do this exact same thing all the time! One of my favorite meals is ribs slow cooked in BBQ sauce, then to throw them on the grill for a little bit to make the outside "crunchy".

Here is what I do:

- Place ribs in slow cooker. (Usually I do spare ribs, but full racks cut in half work).

- Mix in a bowl your favorite BBQ sauce with water to make it a little thinner. (I know a true cook would make their own sauce, but with all the different BBQ sauces available on the store shelves these days I figure whats the point). Personally I use Stubbs BBQ sauce which is from a Texas restaurant but the sauce is available here in Michigan Grocery stores.

- Cook on low or high. If on low figure on checking the consistency in about 5 hours. If too tough go for another hour and check again. Repeat with discernment. If doing it on high be careful... probably need to check at 2 hours for the consistency then again at 30 minute increments.

- Once they are almost falling off the bone but still in tact, you know your at the right point to pull them out of the crock pot. Place them on a pre-warmed grill and grill to the desired brownness or crunchiness. I also brush on more BBQ sauce on both sides, and brush yet more on the top side when I serve them.

This is the poor mans way of doing ribs. The right way of course is to do them over a slow heat like in a smoker. You can do this with a regular grill... I have done it before, but it takes time and a watchful eye. I would have to plan on being home all darn day to do it. You can even put wood in there to give it a smokey flavor. The process is that you use only one burner on low and put the mean on the "cold" side of the grill (not over the one burner that is on). With charcoal, you keep the charcoal on one side and the meat on the other. You can even put a pan of water over the hot side to give off some moisture at the beginning. This will give the ribs that classic crunchy outside with the tender inside. Especially if you put a rub on the meat.

Here is more how to do that: http://amazingribs.com/recipes/porknography/best_BBQ_ribs_ever.html

Ive done that once and it was insanely delicious! As the article said its 3 hours or more... i found it took 8 hours on the grill with this method. (I have a gas grill).

Just thinking about this is making me want to do this again though!

Cheers!

Super_Dave wrote:
My buddy does his ribs with a smokers crutch by wrapping the ribs in foil with the seasonings, sugar and butter and then baking or slow cooking in the pot. They aren't bad for non smoked ribs.

All the pros use the Texas Crutch.