There are lots of opinions on which ribs and what times/temps, and pretty much all of them are correct. You have to find what you like. I like spares so I’ll talk about them. I could also talk about Loin Backs, but the tirade I am about to go into about spares should be enough from me for now. That way you can hear from the others as well.Spares will take longer to cook and can be cooked well at both low and high temps. Let’s not worry about trimming them down to start, let’s just worry about cooking up a slab of spares for starters. You can get to the more advanced stuff later.
One popular method is the 3-2-1 method for spares. What this means is to cook them at 225 degrees for 3 hours, then wrap them in foil for 2 hours, then unwrap and cook them an additonal 1 hour. For whole spares at this temp, this method will turn out some good spares every time. If you would like to cook them faster, you can increase the temp, but you will have to reduce the times. I find I like spare ribs cooked at 325-350 for 2-1-.5. This means 2 hours in the cooker to start, then wrap in foil and put back in the cooker for 1 hour, then unwrap and cook another 30 minutes.
Now to prep the spare ribs, start by scoring the membrane on the back of the spare ribs. This will allow smoke to penetrate and prevent the membrane from being tough to bite through after cooking. If scored well then you will never know it’s there. You can remove the also, but let’s save that for the advanced class after you make your first spares. Scoring it will do the trick just fine. Then just sprinkle them pretty good with some rub on the meaty side. If you want some rub on the bony side you can, but why? Do not let them sit in the rub for a long period of time because the salt in the rub could make the ribs turn out with a slight hammy taste.
Now start cooking them. At the 3 hour mark when you put them in foil, if you wish you can give them a quick spritz with some apple juice, a sprinkling of brown sugar, and toss on 3 or 4 pats of butter. Then wrap up in the foil good and tight for the next 2 hours. After you remove them from foil and cook for the last hour, you can start applying a glaze during the last 30 mintues. Apply the glaze 30 and 15 minutes before removing, and once again with glaze or with another sauce if you feel like it.
After cooking, let them rest for about 15 mintues and then start cutting them. Don’t worry if you have trouble cutting clean ribs. The main thing here is to make good tasting ribs the first time, not pretty ribs for display.
Posted on forum at barbecuenews.com
