www.sausagemaking.org

I was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, where the phone book has an entire section of the business directory devoted to Barbecue. If you are from Memphis, the word "barbecue" without modifiers refers to pork shoulder cooked low and slow. The other thing Memphis is famous for is dry ribs. These are pork ribs, either spareribs or loin (baby back) ribs, rubbed with spices, cooked without mop or finishing sauces. Table sauces are always available, of course, but dry ribs rarely need them.

My smoker has a firebox offset from the cooking chamber, so all of my hot smoking is with indirect heat. I cook at a temperature of 210-220 degrees (F). I was taught that this makes for a much moister finished product, because the meat juices do not boil off. This also means brining isn't really necessary at these low temperatures. If I am cooking in an oven, I substitute Spanish smoked sweet paprika for sweet paprika, and Spanish smoked hot paprika for cayenne, and cook at 250 degrees, because most household ovens are notoriously inaccurate below 250 degrees.

The most famous spot for dry ribs in Memphis is Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous, a deceptively huge restaurant with little alley entrance. The ribs there are cooked at higher temperatures, about 350 degrees, over direct heat, but on grills set so high above the coals that it is almost like indirect heat. Because they are cooking at higher temperatures, they also brine their ribs. I don't cook mine that fast, but the dry rub recipe that follows is a close approximation of the rib rub used at the Rendezvous.

1 tablespoon whole cumin
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons turbinado sugar
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon thyme
4 tablespoons sweet paprika
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon whole mustard seed
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon whole coriander seed
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1 teaspoon ground bay leaf -- optional
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated garlic
3/4 teaspoon cayenne

Toast the cumin. Grind fine in a mortar. Transfer to mixing bowl. Grind salt and transfer to mixing bowl.

Add sugar, pepper, thyme, oregano, paprika, chili powder, mustard seed, mustard powder, coriander seed, ground coriander, bay leaf, celery seed, garlic, and cayenne. Mix thoroughly.

This is enough rub for three slabs of spareribs. For each slab of ribs, rub both sides using about 2 to 3 tablespoons of dry rub. Wrap and refrigerate overnight if possible.

Cook ribs -- on foil-lined pans -- in oven at 250�. Allow 100-120 minutes per pound, calculated on the largest slab. Or cook over indirect heat in a smoker at 210�-220� for two hours per pound, calculated on the largest slab.

Half an hour to one hour before ribs are done, coat top surface with about 2 tablespoons of the dry rub. Continue cooking until done. I don't like ribs falling off the bone. I like for them to be tender and juicy, but with a little bite left. They still pull away from the bone, clean, but they aren't falling off.

Notes:
- If you prefer fresh garlic, substitue a tablespoon of minced garlic for the granulated garlic. Place the minced garlic and the kosher salt in a mortar and grind together to make a paste. Mix the paste into the rub mixture until it is evenly distributed.
- If you are cooking in an oven, substitue smoked sweet and hot paprika for the sweet paprika and cayenne, to get a subtle smoky flavor on the ribs. You can always punch up the spice with some additional cayenne if you like more heat.
- Rendezvous-style means the inclusion of Greek seasonings like oregano and thyme, and the whole mustard and coriander seeds that are peculiar to the Rendezvous seasoning mixture.
- Nick Vergos says that the ribs are soaked overnight in a proportion of 4 cups water, 4 cups cider vinegar, and 1/3 cup dry rub mixture. Cooked over low, direct coals, and dusted with dry rub at the end of cooking. The ribs are supposed to be done when 3/8" of rib bone is showing on the ribs. The published Vergos recipe doesn't include sugar or minced garlic, but the published version also doesn't include incredients that I know are in the seasoning they sell and serve at the table, either. The published version also calls for 1/2 cup salt and 1/4 cup black pepper - extremely salty.

Hi, Tom and welcome. I saw your intro post on a different thread. When you slow cook with indirect heat (as I do as well) do you lay your ribs flat or hang them? And I assume you use hickory?

One final question, my baby back ricbs are aroun 3 to 3 and 1/2 pounds each (very meaty). You don't think 2 hours per pound is a bit much?

I look forward to trying your recipes.

Wow, that's one hell of a spice mix!!

Thanks for the recipe, I like my ribs dry (whereas everyone around me always smothers them in sticky, sickly sweet sauce, which I can't stand) and I will certainly be trying your's soon.

When cooked in the oven, are they cooked uncovered or covered? I.e. you say foil lined pans - is the foil just on the bottom?

vinner wrote:...When you slow cook with indirect heat (as I do as well) do you lay your ribs flat or hang them? And I assume you use hickory?

One final question, my baby back ricbs are aroun 3 to 3 and 1/2 pounds each (very meaty). You don't think 2 hours per pound is a bit much?...

Hi, vinner. My smoker is horizontal, so I lay them flat. I've never liked using a rack to stand my ribs up on edge. I'm aware that some hang their ribs from hooks, but I've never tried that. I'm really hoping to get a nice rig when my current smoker finally bites the dust, and have my eye on a Pitts & Spitts model with a vertical cold smoking chamber beyond the hot smoking chamber.

In my smoker, I use exclusively lump hardwood charcoal and either green or soaked dry hickory. Sometimes, if I'm doing poultry in the smoker, I'll do a blend of hickory and mesquite. We have apple orchards up in the mountains, here, and after pruning time, I sometimes get apple cuttings and find applewood to be really good with pork.

2 hrs/lb is a bit much for baby backs, yes, but not for spareribs cooked at 210-220. I rarely cook baby backs, myself. In the end, it's just an estimate, and you have to judge the doneness for yourself. Some swear by the 3/8" of bone showing, but tastes vary. Baby backs definitely cook faster than spareribs, and can be cooked hotter. Spareribs really benefit from the low and slow treatment.

aris wrote:When cooked in the oven, are they cooked uncovered or covered? I.e. you say foil lined pans - is the foil just on the bottom?

When I do oven ribs, I do them uncovered, side-by-side (not overlapping or stacked), bone side down for the entire cooking time. Once I put them in the oven or smoker, I try to disturb them as little as possible. Because of the way my smoker is constructed, it is hotter at one end than the other, so I do relocate the ribs periodically, so they cook more evenly.

Spuddy wrote:Wow, that's one hell of a spice mix!!

Thanks for the recipe, I like my ribs dry (whereas everyone around me always smothers them in sticky, sickly sweet sauce, which I can't stand) and I will certainly be trying your's soon.

You're welcome. I hope you enjoy it. It is a complex spice blend, but it goes well with pork without overpowering the meat, and it kind of makes its own sauce as it blends with the pork fat. I reverse engineered it from a sample I took at the Restaurant. I know it isn't quite right, but I like it, and this way, it's my own. If you find the blend too mild, just add a little cayenne to it (I like 30,000 Scoville unit cayenne).