I don't specifically want to use the term BBQing (in any spelling) so I
don't offend any purists, but I just bought about 20 lbs of spares for a
weekend cookout. Now I usually do baby backs...season with a rub, low temp
roast in the oven for about 6 hrs, then finish off on the grill with some
sauce...and they turn out great.

I got my homemade rub...
I got my homemade "BBQ"/mop sauce
I've got a new grill that does have pretty good low temp control and a
smoker tray...
and I've got 20 lbs of spare ribs.

Should I do anything different with the spares other than possibly leave 'em
in the oven longer....or should I try the grill on indirect low-temp with
some wood in the smoker tray instead. Advice and recommendations appreciated
for trimming and "cooking" them.

I was planning on baby backs, but sheesh, even at Costco they were $4+/lb,
and a local store had pork spares for $0.97so I couldn't pass 'em up.

Bob in RSM, CA

"Bob Hayden" > wrote:
> [ . . . ]
> Should I do anything different with the spares other than possibly leave
> 'em in the oven longer....or should I try the grill on indirect low-temp
> with some wood in the smoker tray instead. Advice and recommendations
> appreciated for trimming and "cooking" them.
>[]
Same deal, far as I know. When ya can separate 'em by stickin' a fork
between 'em and twistin', they're done. Wiser heads may beat on me!

--
Intuitive insights from Nick, Retired in the San Fernando Valley

http://operationiraqichildren.org/

"Bob Hayden" > wrote in message
m...
> I don't specifically want to use the term BBQing (in any spelling) so I
> don't offend any purists, but I just bought about 20 lbs of spares for a
> weekend cookout. Now I usually do baby backs...season with a rub, low temp
> roast in the oven for about 6 hrs, then finish off on the grill with some
> sauce...and they turn out great.
>
> I got my homemade rub...
> I got my homemade "BBQ"/mop sauce
> I've got a new grill that does have pretty good low temp control and a
> smoker tray...
> and I've got 20 lbs of spare ribs.
>
> Should I do anything different with the spares other than possibly leave 'em
> in the oven longer....or should I try the grill on indirect low-temp with
> some wood in the smoker tray instead. Advice and recommendations appreciated
> for trimming and "cooking" them.
>
> I was planning on baby backs, but sheesh, even at Costco they were $4+/lb,
> and a local store had pork spares for $0.97so I couldn't pass 'em up.
>
> Bob in RSM, CA

I'll forgo comments on the cooking methods and just say to check doneness gently
fold them over. When the meat cracks, they're done.

_________
ht_redneck

"Bob Hayden" <wrote.


>
> Should I do anything different with the spares other than possibly leave
'em
> in the oven longer....or should I try the grill on indirect low-temp with
> some wood in the smoker tray instead. Advice and recommendations
appreciated
> for trimming and "cooking" them.
>
> I was planning on baby backs, but sheesh, even at Costco they were $4+/lb,
> and a local store had pork spares for $0.97so I couldn't pass 'em up.
>
> Bob in RSM, CA
>

Sounds like you gotta lotta experience already, Bob. Good call on buying
those spares. Much better value. WTG on making your own rub and mop sauce.
IMHO, ribs are the best landing zone for a rub. Brisket and butts cook so
long that a rub is pretty much cooked off by the time they're done.

I would only add a little more advice on deciding when to take the ribs from
the grill. I guage the doneness of ribs by how much the meat has pulled
away from the end of the rib bones. About a quarter of an inch is perfect.

John in Austin

Bob Hayden wrote:
> I don't specifically want to use the term BBQing (in any spelling) so I
> don't offend any purists, but I just bought about 20 lbs of spares for a
> weekend cookout. Now I usually do baby backs...season with a rub, low temp
> roast in the oven for about 6 hrs, then finish off on the grill with some
> sauce...and they turn out great.
>
> I got my homemade rub...
> I got my homemade "BBQ"/mop sauce
> I've got a new grill that does have pretty good low temp control and a
> smoker tray...
> and I've got 20 lbs of spare ribs.
>
> Should I do anything different with the spares other than possibly leave 'em
> in the oven longer....or should I try the grill on indirect low-temp with
> some wood in the smoker tray instead. Advice and recommendations appreciated
> for trimming and "cooking" them.

If you go the oven route, 6 hours is plenty of time for spares. That's
long enough that people without teeth can eat them with no trouble, and
a lot of people would consider that over-done.

If I were you, I'd smoke them, 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 hours if you're near sea
level, 5 1/2 to 6 hours if you're near 5000 feet elevation. Smoke them
till, when you pick them up by the ends and bend, the meat splits open
in the middle of the rack of ribs. I also look for the point where
almost all the fat at the thicker end of the slab has been rendered out.

If you smoke them, try leaving some of them completely unsauced. You'll
be surprised - they may be so good that many will prefer them that way.

As for the difference between cooking baby backs and spares, the baby
backs are so tender you can grill them for 20 minutes on a hot fire, and
they're fine. Spares will be tough unless cooked at least 4 hours at
250, and will also have layers of unrendered fat that most people won't
find appealing, until at least 4 hours - baby backs don't have those fat
layers within the meat.

May I ask what sea level elevation has to do with dry cooking time?

D a n

"Dan Kaiser" > wrote in message
...

> May I ask what sea level elevation has to do with dry cooking time?

Atmospheric pressure is higher at sea level than higher up in an elevation,
you could equate cooking at sea level (higher pressure) as cooking in a
pressure cooker and cooking higher up in a mountain as cooking in a regular
pot, the higher pressure in the pressure cooker lowers the boiling
temperature of liquids, so the pressure cooker "runs hotter" than your
regular open lid pot, therefore things take less time to cook at higher
pressures. The opposite is true too, the higher up in elevation you are,
the less atmospheric pressure, that lowers the temperature at which liquids
boil and evaporate (for instance), lower temperatures require you to
increase the cooking time.

Guillermo

> "Bob Hayden" <wrote.
>> Should I do anything different with the spares other than possibly
>> leave 'em in the oven longer....or should I try the grill on
>> indirect low-temp with some wood in the smoker tray instead. Advice
>> and recommendations appreciated for trimming and "cooking" them.

Look for a recent couple of posts in the thread "Where to find ribs in
Charlotte" there's some very complete info there if you want to trim the
full spares.
I've cooked a bunch without any trimming and have been happy. I mentioned
trimming the next batch and my wife looked at me like I'm crazy. I hope
that's because she's wondering why would I mess with perfection, but she
probably just thinks I'd hurt myself with the knife.


--

"Bob Hayden" > wrote in message
m...
SNIP
> Should I do anything different with the spares other than possibly leave
'em
> in the oven longer....or should I try the grill on indirect low-temp with
> some wood in the smoker tray instead. Advice and recommendations
>appreciated for trimming and "cooking" them.
SNIP
> Bob in RSM, CA

You can cook spares directly over coals for the entire duration, using a
"medium" temp. which would be enough briquettes.'s to cover the bottom but
leaving a space of about 1 briq. width between briq.s. It should take about
5 hours till you meat puckers and the bone picks out. On a Weber kettle
you'll have to add more coals after about 2.5 hours. A solid layer of coals,
all touching will be too hot. Or, cook for 1 hour over coals, then finish
cooking in-directly will give a decent flavor too. Sometimes I cook entire
slab, or, slice every 4 ribs or separate the tips from the ribs. A lot of
store call bones minus the tips a slab, but to me, a slab is one thing, a
nice big 3 pound "slab" of pork ribs with tips attached. Tips are the
cartilidge area past where the ribs end.


--
"Piedmont", from Northern South Carolina!

IN REVERSE: MOC DOT OOHAY AT 4201LIWMW

Dan Kaiser wrote:

> May I ask what sea level elevation has to do with dry cooking time?
>
> D a n

I lived outside Salt Lake City, Utah (in Tooele) for about 4 years -
elevation 5,000 feet - and I now live in Crisfield, MD - sea level. I
notice that I can reduce my Utah cooking times, when barbecuing, by
about 10-20 per cent (I'm talking cooking times 4 to 5 hours and over).
What the elevation has to do with it, as best I can guess, is first, the
way the greater oxygen content of the denser sea level air affects the
heat at which a bunch of coals burn. Just for instance, at 5000 feet, my
charcoal chimney would often repeatedly fail to ignite either briquettes
or lump charcoal, even in the very dry Utah conditions. It just never,
ever fails, here at sea level. It was always a real struggle to keep any
smoker *up* to 250 in Utah, while here in Maryland, I normally have to
use vents to damp down the airflow a bit. Second, I think there may also
be some effect due to the fact that water boils at a higher temperature
at sea level than at higher elevations, and under normal conditions,
once water is boiling, it never gets any hotter than its boiling point.
Meat of course contains lots of water, and at a higher elevation,
according to my theory, the outer part of the meat never gets as hot as
it does at sea level, and so the whole business of heat being conducted
from the outside of, say, a pork shoulder, to the inside, may be
happening at a lower temperature at higher altitudes.

Douglas Barber wrote:

> What the elevation has to do with it, as best I can guess, is first, the
> way the greater oxygen content of the denser sea level air affects the
> heat at which a bunch of coals burn.

Well, here's something else that may be in play, as well. Even if the
coals are burning to produce smoke at 250F as indicated by a thermometer,
the smoke is lower in density and thus conveys less total heat to the food,
even though the *temperature* of the smoke is the same. Maybe a
physicist can help here...