Nothing much been posted up here in a week or two, so let’s cook up some Ribs and Taters on the smoker. It’s HOT here... do you live in the South? If you do, you know what I am talking about. Now I am in E. TN, them fellers and felines that live further down the country must be even hotter. The fish are biting, been catching a few as their metabolism is in fast forward this time of year, but for the Homeotherms, it’s just hot. Back to the ribs, found them on sale at the local food store, 3lbers are the ideal size for Baby Backs.
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Hint for Ribs, try to get racks that are very close in weight so they will finish about the same time. Membrane removed, halved, and rubbed down liberally, time to go on a 250 degree charcoal smoker. Hickory was the smoke flavor of choice today.
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Hint number two, put the larger thicker ends on the top rack and the smaller thinner on the bottom... heat rises and it’s hotter on the top rack. For 3 hours the ribs slowly cooked and darkened to a slight mahogany color.
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Satisfied with the exterior color, I wrapped in aluminum foil and placed them meat side down back in the smoker for about 1.5 hours more. This is called the Texas Crutch...I call it the magic phase where the ribs tender up nicely and start pulling back from the bone. In the meantime I prepared my version of the Hasselback Potato. Some fancy name for Taters cut Funny.
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You can Google it for more information, I just place potatoe between two wooden spoon handles and cut down to the wood. Slices them 85% thru and leaves the bottom intact. I place butter slivers and spices in the cuts and of course give it a dash of Kosher Salt. In foil and on the smoker. We don’t need no oven for this cook... it’s too dang hot outside.
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Ribs out of the foil and smelling wonderful. We can all fit upstairs, so let’s get some good color on them and firm them up a little from the foil phase. No basting, no sauces, nothing fancy here for the finish.
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Off the smoker for everyone, Taters are tender and deserve just a little more butter and bacon bits for their efforts. Cheese is normally applied but I was not after that Tater Skin flavor tonight. Paired with a nice salad, I tried to partition the plate with only a half a Tater and 4 bones.
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A good meal, got High marks from the wife, and leftovers will be vacuum sealed and frozen for a later meal. Ribs were tender, almost fall off the bone. The last picture says it all.
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Enjoy and stay cool out there...and safe.
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