Friday, October 26, 2012

Happy Porktober!

I have been remiss in my duties.  It seems that I have forgotten to mention that October is National Pork Month or as I like to call it, "Porktober"! 

To commemorate Porktober, here are some ribs that Trevor and I made a while back.  We used Melissa Cookston's recipe for barbecuing loin back ribs (aka "baby back" but there are technical differences).
 

Baby back pork ribs, smoked ribs, championship ribs, BGE ribs, grill dome ribs

Who is Melissa Cookston?  Seriously?  

Gee....she only won Memphis in May World Championships twice in the past three years and is the co-owner of the highly acclaimed Memphis Barbecue Company in Horn Lake, MS.  Some people say she is one of the best female pitmasters out there.  They are wrong.  She is one of the best pitmasters out there.  


You might have caught Melissa recently  on Food Network's Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives when they visited Memphis Barbecue Company for their world championship barbecue (Surf'n'Turf Jackpot episode.)  I DVR'd it because
  1. I'm a BBQ geek 
  2. and so I can do an at home version of her awesome sounding, drool inducing cheese fritters.  If you saw the episode, you know what I mean.
The recipe for the ribs can be found here - World Champion Melissa Cookston's Competition Style Baby Back Ribs.

Here are some pics of our fun cooking the ribs.

removing membrane from baby back pork ribs
Trevor pulling off the membranes.

Baby back pork ribs, smoked ribs, championship ribs, BGE ribs, grill dome ribs
Trevor slathering on the mustard.

Baby back pork ribs, smoked ribs, championship ribs, BGE ribs, grill dome ribs
Ready to go into the fridge over night.

Baby back pork ribs, smoked ribs, championship ribs, BGE ribs, grill dome ribs
Two hours into the cook on the Big Green Egg, smoked with cherry and hickory.

Baby back pork ribs, smoked ribs, championship ribs, BGE ribs, grill dome ribs
Trevor demonstrating the "bend test", my favorite part of the day. 

Baby back pork ribs, smoked ribs, championship ribs, BGE ribs, grill dome ribs
Ribs.  I like ribs.  Did I mention that?  Ribs, ribs, ribs.
 
Baby back pork ribs, smoked ribs, championship ribs, BGE ribs, grill dome ribs
Fancy plating...errrr...I mean, PAPER plating. 

I followed the recipe as written which has some steps that I normally don't do.
  • Her recipe has you put the mustard slather on AFTER the dry rub.  Most I see have you do it BEFORE and I usually don't bother with the mustard slather at all.
  • Cookston's recipe has you let the ribs sit with the rub on them overnight.  I don't usually.
  • She cooks the ribs at two different temps in stages.
Despite all the departures from my normal techniques, these ribs tasted great.  I found that I really liked the base rub recipe and I've used it several times since then.   I think this just re-iterates that there is not just one way to make good BBQ.  

So it's not too late to enjoy Porktober!  To get your creative juices flowing, check out Pork Be Inspired` for some delicious recipes featuring all things pork.
Happy Porktober!