Just Cook It: ‘Marbeque Ribs’
Amanda Steen | 缅北禁地
Just above, Chef Mario Porreca seasons his Marbeque Ribs with a dry rub on the set of 鈥淛ust Cook It鈥� at Fourth Street Barbeque in Charleroi. The top photo shows Marbeque Ribs made by Porreca.
Amanda Steen | 缅北禁地
Nothing says summer like great barbeque. When I was a child I always looked forward to the summer season. One reason was because I was a huge fan of having three months off from the regular school schedule, but another big reason was that I loved the outdoor grill.
I always looked forward to stepping outside and having the warm sunshine on my face, a baseball glove on my hand, and being able to smell the grills of the neighborhood fired up in full force. That feeling signified that summer was here and that it was time to relax and enjoy all it has to offer.
I talk about the aroma of foods grilling in the summertime, but there actually is a difference between grilling and barbequing. I love both cooking methods equally, but it is important to understand the distinction between the two.
In the United States, to grill is to cook meat relatively quickly using direct heat imparted by a charcoal or propane fire. Barbeque is generally a much slower method utilizing indirect heat imparted by the smoke of a wood fueled fire.
That being said, I would like to point out that there is a large degree of variation and overlap in terminology and method surrounding the form of cooking known as 鈥渂arbeque鈥� or to some 鈥渂arbecue.鈥�
How you spell it is personal preference. Even the spelling of the word can be done in a couple of different, yet acceptable, ways.
I personally prefer to spell barbeque with a 鈥渜鈥� as opposed to a 鈥渃鈥� only because I like to use the letter 鈥渜鈥� whenever possible.
When I was in Kindergarten they taught is the alphabet using an association learning method. They had a fun tool called 鈥淟etter People.鈥� I鈥檓 sure most of you know exactly what I鈥檓 referring to. It was actually a children鈥檚 literacy program and even became a television series.
The letter people were letters of the alphabet that depicted people and their specific characteristics were based on the letter they represented. For example, Mr. M was known for his Munching Mouth. You get the idea.
Our class had giant (or at least they seemed giant to me at the time) inflatable Letter People that would get blown up and displayed in the classroom as they were introduced to us.
Mr. Q was one of my favorites and was known for his Quiet Questions. Believe it or not I was quiet back then and was very inquisitive as I am to this day. I could relate to Mr. Q and I still like to use that letter whenever possible.
Back to barbeque 鈥� the generally accepted difference between barbeque and grilling is in the cooking time and type of heat used. Grilling is generally done 鈥渉ot and fast鈥� over direct heat from low-smoke fuels. Barbequing is generally done 鈥渓ow and slow鈥� over indirect heat from high-smoke fuels.
An easy way to remember the difference is that grilling is usually when the flame touches the meat during cooking and barbequing is usually when the flame does not touch the meat during cooking.
As mentioned above, there are varying ways to prepare barbeque. Technically if you use barbeque sauce on a food you are entitled to call it barbeque, but it would be incorrect to say that the food was 鈥渂arbequed.鈥� It can be confusing, but it makes sense when you stop and think about it.
The rib recipe that I prepared in the video at HeraldStandard.com, and included in this column, is technically barbequed even though the ribs are not smoked.
The ribs are baked and are prepared using indirect heat as mentioned in the definition of barbequing above. They are also grilled, as I like to finish my ribs over high heat to achieve that nice crusty exterior while leaving the meat tender and juicy. I guess you can say I prefer the best of both worlds.
I really enjoy smoked ribs, but let鈥檚 face it 鈥� we don鈥檛 all have a smoker at home. I鈥檇 be willing to bet that most of us have an oven though. Making ribs in the oven is a really delicious way to prepare them.
If you still want a smoky flavor an easy trick is to add some smoked paprika to your dry rub.
The smoked paprika will add some smokiness to your ribs without you actually having to smoke them.
Now let鈥檚 talk ribs. There are two types of ribs that I prefer to use 鈥� baby back ribs or St. Louis style ribs.
Baby back ribs are taken from the top of the rib cage between the spine and the spare ribs, below the loin muscle. The term 鈥渂aby鈥� indicates the cuts are from market-weight hogs (240 鈥� 270 pounds), rather than adult hogs (500 鈥� 650 pounds).
Baby back ribs have meat between the bones and on top of the bones, and are shorter, curved, and sometimes meatier than spare ribs. A rack of back ribs contains a minimum of eight ribs, but can include up to 13 ribs, depending on how it has been prepared by the butcher. A typical commercial rack contains 10 鈥� 13 bones. Butchers have a special name for racks that contain fewer than 10 bones and they call them 鈥渃heater racks.鈥�
St. Louis style ribs are a type of spare rib. Spare ribs are taken from the belly side of the rib cage, below the section of back ribs and above the sternum. Spare ribs are flatter and contain more bone than meat, but more fat can make the ribs tenderer than back ribs.
St. Louis style ribs have had the sternum bone, cartilage, and rib tips removed. I like to use these ribs because their shape is almost rectangular. The more consistent shape makes for more consistent cooking and in my opinion makes them very easy to cook and time correctly.
I also enjoy the extra flavor and tenderness that the extra fat provides.
Both baby back ribs and St. Louis style ribs will yield an excellent rack of ribs. St. Louis ribs are a bit larger than baby back ribs so you won鈥檛 have to make as many, but they will take longer to cook.
If you are preparing baby back ribs, follow the recipe below and cook them in the oven for two to two and a half hours. If you are making St. Louis style ribs you should cook them for three to three and half hours.
A great perk of making ribs is that you can actually cook them in advance the night before. If I am making baby back ribs for a cookout for example, I will dry rub the ribs and seal them in the parchment/foil packet two days ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator overnight.
The following day I will bake the ribs for two hours in a 300 degree oven, let them rest at room temperature for 15 鈥� 20 minutes (still sealed in the packet), and then return them to the refrigerator.
When I am ready to finish them the following day I will let them sit at room temperature to temper for 30 minutes and then place them back into a 275 degree oven for an additional 30 minutes to warm them.
Once they have been warmed, I鈥檒l remove them from the packet and finish them on the grill with barbeque sauce, as per the recipe, before serving them. This method makes them extremely easy and still just as delicious.
When using my recipe to make ribs, each rack of ribs should be sealed in it鈥檚 own parchment/foil packet for roasting. If you try to put more than one rack of ribs into a packet they will not cook correctly, so be sure to wrap each rack individually.
For the dry rub and the barbeque sauce, use your preferred rub and sauce. I have my own recipes that I use but I鈥檝e also used rubs and sauces that I have purchased from the supermarket that worked out just fine.
You can always buy a rub and/or sauce and then doctor it up to make it taste exactly how you want with minimal effort. Get creative and have some fun with different dry rubs and sauces.
If you haven鈥檛 guessed by now, I call my ribs Marbeque Ribs because it is a play on my name and I use my own special dry rub and sauce. I apologize that I can鈥檛 divulge the recipe for my dry rub, but some things are better left for another day.
My mentor chef taught me a very valuable lesson that continues to stick with me.
I鈥檒l never forget walking through the kitchen with him chatting one day and he said to me, 鈥淢ario, don鈥檛 ever give away all of your secrets. Keep some tricks in your bag just in case.鈥� Words to live by.
Don鈥檛 forget to check out the video of me making my Marbeque Ribs at HeraldStandard.com. I鈥檒l have an all-new video and recipe for you in July, but until then get some ribs and 鈥� Just Cook It!
Mario J. Porreca of Belle Vernon is a food personality, author, and the host of Just Cook It on WMBS Radio 590 AM. He can be reached via his website at: www.JustCookIt.net. Twitter: @MarioPorreca
Marbeque Ribs
Yield: 2 full racks of ribs
2 racks baby back ribs
戮 cup barbeque dry rub
1 cup barbecue sauce
Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Liberally rub the top and bottom of the ribs with barbeque dry rub until completely coated.
2. Wrap each rack of ribs in parchment paper and then in aluminum foil to create a packet.
3. Slowly bake the packet of ribs for 2 鈥� 2 陆 hours.
4. Remove the ribs from the foil and parchment and grill on medium-high heat, while basting with barbeque sauce, to create grill marks and slightly char each side.
5. Finish by brushing the ribs with extra barbeque sauce and sprinkling with sea salt just before serving.