Love Me Tender #BBQ Ribs With Irish Peat Bricks Here's How...

Over the weekend the weather cleared up just enough for just long enough that I finally had a chance to really do a nice long BBQ.

It was also the first NASCAR race of the season, the Daytona 500, so I got to stay home and do some barbecue and and watch some Motorsports and that's a good day for me any time.

For the smoke on my baby back ribs I decided to use Irish peat blocks. For most BBQ cooks they're kind of weird, they're definitely different, you don't see them everywhere, and I've never seen peat used in a restaurant setting, but they're really really unique. The website for this brand in the photo gives me a browser warning that the site is unsafe. Use the search link above to find some if you want to try it.

Irish peat is basically plants that grow in Ireland and they are cut and dried and then compressed so you don't get any wood flavor and you get a real earthy flavor in the smell of the barbecue. It is just incredible. It's something totally different, very unique but also very mellow, but there's a lot of smoke as you can see in the shots of these ribs. What they call the Smoke Ring really really penetrated and it made for a wonderful smell of a smoky barbecue all afternoon as the ribs were cooking.

These ribs are called Love Me Tender Ribs by my friends and family that I cook for. If I don't cook them this way everyone gets mad and upset and they say how come they're not the Love Me Tender Ribs. Well it takes a few extra steps and it takes a little bit longer to cook so you kind of have to get started the night before and then there's a finishing process that's definitely mandatory to make them come out as soft as they do. They are so tender that you can pull the bones out with just a soft tug.

This recipe is based on a recipe from Dr BBQ. I highly recommend his books. His cookbooks are great they cover a lot of topics and if you want to just start with some of the basics like brisket, ribs, chicken, things like that it's definitely a place to get a lot of really good knowledge and a lot of cool tricks and techniques.

You definitely don't need Irish peat moss bricks to do this but it does make for a unique flavor. Most the time I use wood chips - cherry apple things like that with the pork ribs.

Follow along and make sure to keep track of the time and temperatures. Those are probably the two most important things things can get really bad rib results.

I'll throw in a couple different options in this recipe for you to try and make sure you get started the night before that's a really important part of this to kind of give that full flavor effect.

I do cook these for someone that says they never order ribs in a restaurant because they're always disappointed. That's a pretty good compliment.

There are probably at least a million ways to cook bbq ribs and 999,999 of them are good.

Enjoy some ribs this year and try the The Love Me Tender Ribs recipe and techniques.

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Love Me Tender Ribs

1 or 2 slabs of Baby Back Ribs you can cook as much as you want just ramp up ingredients

1/2 cup of BBQ rub I like to use a mild rub as enough flavor will come later. I use CRC Sweet Pecan or Kinder's Mild or Bad Byron's Butt Rub. I like my rub to have a base of some salt, sugar, paprika, garlic, onion powder. I guess by definition these are dry rubs. There are lots of online recipes out there if you want to make your own. If you want to spend a little more time you can brine soak your ribs as well.

2 cups of apple juice since you won't drink it buy the cheap stuff

1 cup of honey

aluminum foil

1 cup of your favorite bbq sauce here in Northern California I grew up with Everett and Jones BBQ so I really like their Super Q sauce

1) Pre-Cook

Thaw ribs if frozen. The night before you will bbq take the membrane off the bone side by sliding a regular table knife under membrane at the small end. Lift a section up and grab and pull across. Sometimes it is hard to get it all in one shot. Sometimes it won't come off at all. In that case I just score the ribs between the bones top to bottom with a sharp knife. As it cooks it will peel back to open up that side to the smoke and sauce flavor.

Press the rub into both sides of the ribs. Use enough to lightly cover with one layer but don't end up with a big powdery slab!

Wrap them up and put them in the fridge overnight to let that rub soak in.

2) Cook set-up

6 hours before you want to eat get things started. Take the ribs out of the fridge for about 1/2 and hour to get to room temperature. Here's is what they look like.

Get your bbq started and up to 275 degrees. It is harder to bring down a bbq once it is hot than it is to slowly control it as it heats up. Once it is going keep an eye on the temperature and keep the air vents closed enough to just let it stay hot. It should stabilize pretty quick. Don't put the ribs on if it is really hot like over 350. You'll char and dry them out and then you can't recover from that.

3) Smoke set-up

The Love Me Tender ribs always use smoke. Sometimes it is wood like cherry or apple in chunks about the size of a baseball, sometimes wood chips, and sometimes I use Irish Peat. You can soak the wood in water but usually I just throw it in. Either way add the wood will change the bbq temperature. Soaked wood will bring it down and dry wood will bring it up. Make sure to watch it. Don't freak out if it changes. Adjust a little but remember to adjust it back as the wood smokes. Don't let things get over 300 degrees.

4) Low and Slow

Ok fire going, smoke wood ready, ribs rubbed and rested and at room temperature let's go!

Cook indirect so the heat isn't directly under the ribs. Move the coals to one side and the ribs to the other, or find a way to cook indirect on your grill. On a gas grill just use one side for heat and the other for ribs. This can be hard to do if you have a small grill. Some people put a pan with water or apple juice under the ribs. It all depends on your set-up. On my Big Green Egg I use a "plate setter" to cook indirect with no water pan underneath.

Add the wood for smoking and then the ribs bone side down. If you are using a vertical rib rack have the bone side facing the heat source.

Close it up. Again watch the temps on the bbq to keep things in the 275 to 300 degree range. As mentioned they will change a little as the smoke starts.

2 Hour Break! Yes now you are done for 2 hours (but watch those temps)

Optional - After 2 hours flip the ribs to the meaty side down. I don't always do this depending on how they look. Sometimes I let them cook the whole way with the bone side down. I think it gives the meat some protection from too much heat and they won't dry out.

1 Hour Break! Yes you are now done for 1 hour (but watch those temps at this point you might be running out of fuel for the fire)

5) Wrap It

Time to wrap. Take 2 long sheets of foil about double the length of a rack of ribs plus a little more and place half of it on a table or baking sheet. Brush honey on the sheet. The more you use the sweeter the pork will be. Put 1 rack of ribs on the sheet meaty side down on the honey. Fold up the sides of the foil and pour in about 1/2 cup of the apple juice. Fold up the foil all the way and seal the edges. Do this with all the ribs and put them back on the heat for 90 minutes at 275.

I don't always use the honey. Sometimes it ends up being a little too sweet. You can just use the apple juice and it will taste great.

90 Minute Break! This is a good time to make the other dishes

6) Sauce It For The Finish

Almost done! Remove the ribs from the foil. It will be a big mess with the juice and honey so have somewhere for it to go. Bump up the heat on the bbq to 350 and put the ribs back on. Lightly brush on your favorite sauce on the meaty side and let it dry for about 15 minutes or more. You can also do this in the oven. When the ribs seem tacky you are done!

7) Eat!

If all went well you will be able to pull the bones out of the meat and the ribs will be super flavorful and tender. Have some warmed sauce on the side if people want to add a little more.

I love a big red wine with these ribs. In the photo is a red blend from Domaine de Nizas with syrah, mourvedre, grenache that really paired well. Zinfandel is a popular bbq wine. I count on friends at Cellar Collections for suggestions and most of my wine buying.

Tips

Other Ways To Do It - Like I said there are other ways to do it. Search for the 3 2 1 BBQ method and try that. Get a cookbook from Dr BBQ and try more.

Tender Test - Ribs are done when you take tongs and pick up the ribs in the middle and both ends drop down close to 90 degrees to the ground. At that point they can be sauced and finished. I cook mine a little more and they get that extra tender texture people seem to love.

Fuel - What Is The Best? There are lots of opinions out there. I think briquettes are ok. I use either Cowboy Charcoal or Lazzari mesquite.

Fuel - You can run out of bbq fuel because this is such a long cook. You can add more but don't add the kind with lighter fluid on it like Match Light. It will make the food smell awful. It can be ok to use before the ribs go on.

You Can Use Too Much - Be careful if you use a lot of fuel the fire can get really hot and it can take a while to get the temps back down to 275.

How much is enough? I don't know it depends on your bbq set-up!

I hope you enjoy trying out this Love Me Tender ribs. I hope you and your friends like eating them as well!