When thinking about America’s birthday, there are a few things that I think of: people throwing tea into a harbor, bald eagles flying around wearing cool sunglasses, people swinging wooden things at fast moving white balls, apple pie (OR APPLE CRISP!), and people standing next to a smoker/grill with a beer in hand, cooking some Smoked Baby Back Ribs!
The American Way
There are quite a few things that make up American Cuisine, but in my personal opinion, BBQ (as an entirety) is the leading star! The cool thing about this is the fact that there are so many different ways to prepare a “BBQ” around the U.S.!
Some places rely heavily on sauce, while others rely heavily on the rub. Different places use charcoal, and others impart their flavor with different types of wood! For an even further break down, there is an extreme amount of different sauces that range from ketchup based to vinegar based. That’s what makes this whole BBQ thing so much fun!
A First For Everything: Smoked Baby Back Ribs Edition
After all this talk about BBQ, I haven’t actually cooked many of these *key* BBQ proteins! What I am talking about is Brisket, Pulled Pork, Burnt Ends, Tri-Tip, and you guessed it…Smoked Baby Back Ribs! I have, however, eaten my fair share of all of the above, and have fine tuned my ability to know flavors and new cooking techniques!
3-2-1: I Know How To Count!
The 3-2-1 Method is a form of cooking ribs. The numbers represent different cooking times throughout the entirety of the rib cooking process. Basically, cook ribs on grill for 3 hours at 225F (bone side down), followed by 2 hours of cooking while wrapped in tin foil (meat side down), and ending by unwrapping bone side down for the last hour. Baste 2-3 times over that last hour…annnnnnnd DONE! Personally, I do a rendition of this at 3-1-1! It adds a little more texture for the meat, for sure!
Even though I have never made these before, they turned out bomb-tastic! I know that by competition standards, fall off the bone is considered overcooked…but that’s the way I like them. So competitions can suck it! The 3-1-1 method is the perfect combo of ALMOST fall of the bone and bombass flavor!
The Perfect Ending To A Perfect Rib
As some people know, one of my favorite things to make is Mac and Cheese. It is one of those recipes that I have been fine tuning over the past couple of years, and I truly love where it is at! I am, however, VERY protective of the recipe (just like my Chili)… but for all of you reading this, here is the recipe!
“Return of the Mac!” Click here for the Mac and Cheese Recipe!
In the famous words of Anthony Bourdain, “Barbecue may not be the road to world peace, but it’s a start.”
HAVE A HAPPY 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND! Drink too much but don’t drive, eat great food, and party like it’s 1776!
Want To Cook Ribs Like The Tailgate Foodie? Cook on the pic below!
Smoked Baby Back Ribs
Ingredients
- 3 Slabs Baby Back Ribs (~8 lbs.)
- 1 c. TTGF BBQ Rub
- 1 c. The All-American BBQ Sauce
- 1 Stick Butter (cut into 9 equal sections)
- 1/2 c. Apple Juice
- 1/2 oz. Bourbon
Optional
- Mustard
Instructions
Night Before
- Slather with Mustard to make binder for seasoning.
- Coat all slabs of ribs with TTGF BBQ Rub and place in fridge.
Day Of
- Pull Ribs from fridge and preheat smoker to 225F.
- Once preheated, place ribs on rack with the rib side down (meat side up).
- Smoke for 3 hours.
- Pull ribs from smoker. Place 3 slabs of Butter on tinfoil and place ribs, meat side down, on butter. Finish wrapping but leave hole to pour Apple/Bourbon Mixture into. Wrap in second layer of foil. Place wrapped ribs (meat side down) onto smoker.
- Smoke for 1-2 hours.
- Pull Ribs and unwrap. Place Ribs back on smoker (meat side up) and baste with The All-American every 15 minutes for an hour.
- Pull and rest for 20 minutes. EAT DEM RIBS, YO!
Notes
If you want a little more \”bite\”, do the 3-1-1 method. Smoke for 3 hours, wrap for 1 hours, baste for 1 hour.
