Braise The Ribs

This is more of a picture share than anything. I spent my father's day in the smoke of my New Braunfels (now defunct) Black Diamond smoker. But don't get me wrong, it was exactly where I wanted to be. I will always consider it a good day of barbeque when my guests leave my house full of delicious meat and in that haze of barbeque. If ever my wife complains of me stinking up the bedsheets with smoke, then I know my job has been done.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to barbeque some ribs and use the smoking then braising method. I did follow the braising phase with a glazing phase, but I think that was kind of just window dressing. They would have been just fine without the glaze.

As we have discussed before, braise means to cook slow in the low-temperature moist environement. What this means for barbeque is to tenderize the meat, or turning the tough, connective tissue from collagen into soft, pliable gelatin.

For these ribs, I used the foil-pack method for braising. After smoking for a few hours on the grill, use the following method for braising.

1. Lay out a long sheet of heavy-duty foil and place the rib rack on it.
2. Pull up the long sides and fold them together gently.
3. Do the same on one of the ends, being careful not to break the foil.
4. Tip the other end of the pouch slightly and pour 1/2 cup of apple juice into the pack.
5. Fold over that end of the pouch, being careful not to let any juice spill out.
6. Bake in oven for 90 minutes at 325 degrees or put the pack back on the grill at 350. I say do it on the grill, while it's still going.

The result of all of this is going to be meat that falls right off the bone. The recipe and process for this entire thing is very long and very tedious. If you would like it, send me an email and I'll send you the recipe.