BBQ Pork Spareribs

BBQ ribs with chipotle-tamarind sauce.  These came in dead-last at the Cape Cod Classic in 2006.  Nasty!

Ingredients

  • 2 racks fresh pork spareribs, 3lbs each, trimmed St. Louis style
  • 1/2 cup powderpuff rib rub, recipe follows
  • 1/3 cup chipotle-tamarind sauce, recipe follows

Powderpuff Rib Rub (1/2 recipe)

Adapted from Raichlen’s Barbeque Bible - Sauces, Rubs & Marinades, p 25

  • 1/8 cup celery seed
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 1/8 cup paprika
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper, coarse-ground in a molcajete

Chipotle-tamarind sauce

  • 1 frozen chipotle pepper in adobo
  • 1/4 cup tamarind extract
  • 1 tablespoon honey

Directions

Trim ribs to St. Louis style if needed. Peel membrane. Cut out middle 8 bones (for turn-in). Dust with rub, cover with plastic wrap, put on ice.

5:30AM: T-7:00 Use a dry, foil-lined waterpan. Start a full chimney of Kingsford briquettes. Dump after 30 minutes, add 2 chunks apple wood. Target temp is 215 at upper grate, 230 lid.

6:00AM: T-6:30 Lay one slab flat, bone-side down, on the center of each grate, with extra bones kept away from edges.

11:30AM: T-1:00 5:30 elapsed Check for doneness. Baste with apple juice. If nowhere near done, foil and return to cooker.

12:15AM: T-15 6:15 elapsed Baste and taste one end-rib from each rack. Pick a winner.

12:20AM: T-10 6:20 elapsed Place ribs meat-side down on cutting board. Slice each rib with a single long, slow pull of the knife. Reassemble rack. Flip meat-side up and brush with chipotle-tamarind sauce.

12:25AM: T-5 6:25 elapsed Fill turn-in box - 6 bones back to front, angled slightly to show top and cut edge.

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