Pork spareribs are a family crowd-pleaser
Editor’s note: This is the third column in a Barbecue at Home series in which Reid provides how-to advice on becoming a proficient backyard pitmaster.
Brisket may be king at Texas barbecue joints, but pork often steals the show when cooking at home. Pork ribs, shoulder, loin and chops are all standard menu items for a backyard get-together.
Pork ribs are particularly popular, especially when you want to impress out-of-town family and guests. Glistening strips of meat clinging to an accordionlike arc of bones is the barbecue dream our acquaintances from the East and West coasts have come to expect from their Lone Star brethren.
Fortunately, cooking pork ribs is a relatively easy task to learn, though it takes many cooks to perfect. In my experience, pork ribs are the one menu item that professional pitmasters struggle to make consistently great on a daily basis. I sometimes think many pitmasters put so much effort into brisket that pork ribs become an afterthought.
Before we discuss what makes a great rack of smoked pork ribs, let’s review the pitfalls you may encounter at your local neighborhood barbecue joint and that you’ll want to avoid in your own backyard.
Probably the biggest point of debate in smoking ribs is: How tender/chewy should they be? In general, “fall-off-the-bone” ribs (i.e. overcooked) should be avoided because the meat is soft and mushy. The sweet spot for cooking ribs is “pull-off-thebone” where the meat has a “bite” and pulls off cleanly so a shiny patch of bone is revealed.
But for both amateur and professional pitmasters, undercooking ribs is a frequent misstep. In this case, when you bite into the rib, the meat is tough and there are small patches of meat clinging to the rib when you’re finished.
Why do you occasionally get undercooked pork ribs at your favorite barbecue joint? It comes down to timing. In an example where a barbecue joint has limited pit space and cooks brisket and ribs on the same smoker, pitmasters will put briskets on at 4 p.m. the day before to cook overnight. They are then pulled off the pit at 4 a.m. and “held” in warmers or insulated cases until lunch service, usually 11 a.m. The pork ribs go on next at 4 a.m. to cook until 10 a.m., then they are pulled and held until ready for service.
Unfortunately, due to issues like weather conditions, the brisket cook may take longer and go beyond 4 a.m., pushing back the pork rib cook, meaning the ribs are not completely done by service time. Indeed, if you get to a barbecue joint right when they open, you are more likely to get undercooked ribs. Arrive an hour later, and the ribs coming off the smoker may be cooked just right.
Another challenge of cooking pork ribs is the “bark” or outside layer. You’ll often get a rib where the bark is too chewy to bite through. In this case, you find yourself peeling off that top layer to get to the tender meat below.
A tough bark is an issue of “wrapping” the ribs, or the lack thereof. Blasting a relatively subtle piece of meat like pork with smoke and heat for six hours can turn the bark to leather, so pitmasters wrap the ribs with aluminum foil at some point during the cook. There are also some pitmasters who don’t wrap at all, instead manipulating temperature and airflow to keep the bark as tender as possible. Unfortunately things sometimes go awry and that shoe-leather bark is the result.
Another problem with pork ribs is that sometimes there’s just not enough meat on those bones. Cheaper cuts of pork ribs will have lots of bone showing through the meat (these spots are called “shiners”). Whether it’s a cost-saving measure or a problem with the supplier, you will sometimes get ribs with more bone than meat.
The solution for both professional and amateur pitmasters alike is to choose the meatiest cut of pork ribs — known as spareribs or “full spares” — preferably in the 3-5 pound range. Barbecue joints may also feature smaller cuts like St. Louis-style or babybacks, which can also provide a good meat-to-bone ratio if properly procured.
But for the backyard pitmaster, a meaty rack of pork spareribs, smoked until they pull cleanly off the bone, with a tender, well-seasoned bark is the recipe for a happy family get-together.