3-2-1 COMPETITION WORTHY PORK RIBS
Updated: Jul 1, 2020
I’ve picked a few recipes to share just for fun. The first of which are these fine St. Louis style competition worth pork ribs.
Here’s what you’ll need:
A pair of St. Louis style pork rib racks (we get ours at The Warehouse Club in Jurong for less than $10/rack!)
A bit of regular yellow mustard
“Memphis Dust” rib rub
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup garlic powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ground ginger powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 teaspoons rosemary powder
A few knobs of unsalted butter
Brown sugar
A tiny splash of apple juice
A good slathering of Competition Red Sauce (a la Big Bob Gibson’s recipe):
1 1/4 cups (12.5 oz/355 g) ketchup
1 cup water (8 oz/235 g) water
3/4 cup (6 oz/170 g) vinegar
3/4 cup (6 oz/170 g) tomato paste
3/4 cup (4.5 oz/135 g) brown sugar
2/3 cup (7.75 oz/220 g) corn syrup
1/2 cup (4 oz/ 170 g) pure maple syrup
4 tbsps (1.5 oz/100 g) honey
3 tbsps (2.25 oz/60 g) molasses
4 tsps (25 g) salt
4 tsps (.75 oz/20 g) Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp (.75 oz/25 g) applesauce
1 1/2 tsps (.25 oz/8 g) soy sauce
1 1/2 tsps (.25 oz/5 g) liquid smoke
1 tsp (4 g) onion powder
3/4 tsp (2 g) cornstarch
1/2 tsp (1 g) dried mustard powder
1/2 tsp (1 g) cayenne powder
1/2 tsp (1 g) black pepper
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/8 tsp celery seed
1/8 tsp ground cumin
Prep is really simple. Wash off your ribs and pat them dry with some kitchen roll. Remove the membrane on the bone side of the ribs by prying it loose then tearing it off using a bit of kitchen roll. It really helps with the grip.
Then slather a bit of mustard on both sides of the rib racks. Some people omit this step, others swear by it. Me, I’m easy either way. The mustard, being a water-based product simply lets the rub adhere to the rack a bit better. Water works just as well to be honest as you’ll really not taste the mustard once you’re done.
Next you’ll coat your ribs liberally (like a Bernie Sanders) making sure that you’ve covered every centimetre. That will help with the bark and ensure that no matter where you bite down on that rib, you’ll get a good helping of the rub/crust.
Set up your Kamado for indirect heat and stabilise it at 225F (107C). Add in some wood chunks to get the smoke going. For this cook I used Beech wood. Nice and delicate. Once you get that blue stream of smoke going, it’s time to put the ribs on. I placed a drip pan full of hot water under the ribs (and on top of the plate setter) to add some additional humidity inside the Kamado.
Place your ribs down meat side up and set your timer for 3 hours. Go grab a beer, read a book, mow the lawn. You’ve got time.
When your timer pings, take the ribs back into the kitchen. Grab some heavy duty aluminium foil large enough to tightly wrap the ribs. Before you place the ribs down, sprinkle a healthy amount of brown sugar. Add three knobs of butter and a bit of honey drizzled. Place the ribs down, meat side down. Sprinkle some brown sugar, add some butter and honey onto the bone side. Now make a packet, add a splash of apple juice and crimp it all so that you’ve made an airtight seal. If the bones tear through, just use another piece of foil.
Back onto the grill, meat side down for another 90 minutes to 2 hours. I took mine off a bit early because I didn’t want them to fall right off the bone. Now, add a bit more rub and slather with a good coat of Red Sauce. Place it back onto the grill for another 30 -60 minutes. Again, I did 30 as I didn’t want ribs over done. With practice, you’ll get the hang of the timing.
The last step is to get some flame going and char up the meat side of the ribs. I use Grill Grates and swear by them. Get the grid nice and hot and sear the ribs until you get some nice caramelisation happening.
Once ready, pull off the ribs and let them rest for at least 10 minutes. Then cut between the bones and serve.
My family loves this recipe and as I’m writing this, I’ve got two racks on the go just now.
Enjoy!