Competition Rib Recipe | Smoking Competition Ribs for Competition BBQ Contests

hey welcome back to how to barbecue right I'm Malcolm Reed I've got some beautiful st. louis-cut ribs here today and I'm gonna show you how I do them competition style I know a lot of guys been requesting this one I want y'all to see how I do it let's get to cooking so when I'm doing competition ribs you know I'm taking the time to pick out the best quality rib I can season it with the best ingredients and really baby it throughout that cooking process the first thing we have to do to our comprehensive them trimmed up take them out of the cryovac we're gonna square them up because I want these ribs to be pretty close to even so they cook even while they're on the smoker we'll take the ends off and then we'll come back and we'll shorten the slabs to where they fit in the box and we do this by removing some of that rib tip that's up at the top of these st. louis-cut spareribs and you can see it just kind of evens them up of course we got to get that membrane off it's a barrier so if you can just use the end of a butter knife or a spoon raise it up a little bit so you can get a finger under it and then grab some paper towel and just slowly peel it off what's left you want to just trim off with your knife if there's really scraps of fat or any Seenu that's still there once we get the backs trimmed we're gonna flip them over and we're just gonna eyeball the top and we're gonna take off anything that doesn't look appetizing these two slabs right now look perfect they're ready to go all you got to do is get some seasoning on them it's what I'm seasoning my competition ribs the first thing I want to do is get a little light coat of mustard I don't know there's all kinds of binders you could use I like just plain mustard and you see I don't put much what this does is it gives something that's the rub to stick to and that's all it is it's just tacking it up tacking the surface of these ribs up so our rub will stick to it we're not going to taste this it's not gonna really do anything to the flavor at all now for the seasoning of course you can use any kind of rub you want there's all kinds of great competition rubs out there and I do use my products when I compete and I've got my first layer is my hot rub because I want a spicy savory layer then you notice we're not going super heavy because we're gonna layer on another sweet layer now once we get that on I'm just gonna kind of loosely Pat it in and now I'm gonna flip it over and do the other side when I do Capri absorbs it just kind of helps get that rub worked in it's plenty of mustard don't forget the edges now we're doing the same thing a little light coat that hot spicy rub now we're gonna flip them back over it's just working that season in every time they come in contact with the board - making it stink - the meats making it sweat a little bit what we want to do now is we're gonna put our layer of just original Kellogg V barbecue rub this is where you'd want a sweet rub layer and once again we're not going heavy these ribs aren't getting packed we just want to get a good even coat it's about building layers now we're gonna flip them back over same thing a light coat can they're always regular rub and we're just gonna lightly Pat them in we're not rubbing them we're just kind of tapping them it works that rub into the meat but now they just need to sit here on the countertop and they need to rest for about an hour let those salts and those sugars start working on that meat start pulling some of that moisture out let's get the smoker fired up now when it comes to cooking competition ribs there's all kinds of smokers out there that I see on the competition trail today I'm going to show you how I do them on my gateway drum and whether you're using a pellet grill a stick burner and Old Hickory it doesn't matter all of those smokers will work fine when it comes to cooking competition ribs and you can follow this technique the same way the first thing we're going to do is give us a basket full of lump charcoal going in our drum it takes two wax cubes we're just going to light them up and then we're going to drop it in and we're gonna control the drum I want it to run about 250 today and I'm using a barbecue guru the cyber cue I fell in love with this thing when it comes to running a drum pit you can't beat it it holds it right there I've just got my vents barely cracked just to let some air flow and I've got that cyber cue set on 250 and I know it's gonna stay there the whole time once our coals get up I'm gonna throw in a little bit of wood it doesn't take a whole lot of wood on the drum I like to use a piece of cherry and a piece of hickory that's all that's going on then we're gonna get our grade in place and we're going to be ready to cook soon as it comes up to temp all right I've got the drum up to 250 degrees so you get a little that cherry grill wood smoke rolling that's what you want to see we're just gonna get these ribs right on the pit you want to lay them on there straighten them out they're gonna cook exactly how you put them on now we're gonna get the lid back on we're gonna keep these ribs in that cherry smoke keep them good and happy a little bit of hickory rolling all right our comrades have been on about 30 minutes and this is the point where I want to take a peek at them see if they need any moisture I've got a spray bottle ready just got a little bit of water makes it a little bit apple juice in it I don't want to go all sweet on it was I don't want those sugars to burn so I dilute it down let's take a look at them you see they're starting to cook still got some good smoke going and they are getting a little bit dry and so I'm just gonna go ahead and hit them a little bit I just got it on a mist I'm just wetting them up not the worry about putting any more seasoning on right now we're just gonna get a little bit of moisture in there get the lid right back on them what I wanted to drop our pit temp that gurus going to bounce this back but just remember whenever you go in your pit you're letting that heat out that's gonna be recovery time it's gonna be time added alright we're gonna check on our ribs once again it's been another 30 minutes so we're at an hour total so far I'm just gonna take the lid off still looking good but you can see they're trying to get a little dry that's okay we just want to spray the spots that look dry we're just gonna keep the lid on you know we're at an hour mark two hours is what we're shooting for before we wrap so we're gonna check them one more time then it'll be time to start thinking about how we're gonna wrap these comp style ribs all right it's been about two hours and this is the point where we want to get these compras so we're just gonna take the lid off here and we're gonna get one slab at a time and take them over to the aluminum foil we've got set up see we've got good color on them they've got good bark starting get a little pull back on them alright to wrap here's what we're gonna do first we're gonna use a richness a fat in there I'm gonna use some of this magic blue bottle I know you guys have seen us use it in the competitions it's just parquet margarine if you want to use butter hey that's fine but you don't need a whole lot we're just gonna make three good runs down the fold just like that now we want to put on about a quarter cup of brown sugar then you just want to spread that over the butter then we've got a tablespoon of honey we're gonna drizzle on that looks right to me on that first one we'll save something for the next slab no you got to have that hunting for the money and now we're going meet down now here's the point where you can clean up that back side you see how we've got a couple of these little hanger ohms so the pieces of the fat that's rendered down it's kind of cooked a little bit you don't want the judges to eat that so go ahead and pick it off so we've got our rich element we've got that margarine spread down and we've got our sweet element the brown sugar and the honey we need some spice and we need some acidity now and that's where I'm going to use my vinegar sauce we're just going to drizzle this over the backside of these ribs right down the middle just like that it's gonna add some moisture in there for the spice and the acidity from the vinegar is gonna melt the mix with that butter and the sugar it's really going to give these ribs a great flavor then we just close them up it's ready to go back on the pit but I'm gonna grab the other rack real quick I wrap them this way so those bones that are sticking out get two layers of full you got one layer over them you want to bring that layer really protects them right there keeps that full from tearing let's get them back on the pit you noticed I went meat down in the fall and that's how they're going right back on the grill meat down bones up we're gonna let them go like this about a hour and fifteen minutes we need to be checking them we're still running 250 degrees we're not worried about smoke at this point it's all about temperature all right our ribs have been rolling for about an hour I always like to check up no matter what I mean if it takes an hour hour 15 an hour and a half doesn't matter we're gonna get a slab off we're gonna look at it now let's open them up and see what we're working with here you see we've got pull back we start seeing some disintegration on that membrane that's what I want to see I guarantee you this rack of ribs is done I mean they're flexing that's what that's what you want just like that I know we need to go ahead and get them off after about an hour 250 on that drum they're done you'll get that other rack off it's now we're going to check this second rack oh yeah we've got disintegration on the big bones you want to see that movie broke down we've got great exposure on the edges of those ribs I just want to kind of feel what they feel like when I moved the full if they feel like they're gonna break another telltale signs when they come off the pit I want to give them a little bit of a rest I'm talking you know 15 minutes 30 minutes just sitting out let them calm down let the juices stay in there stops that cooking process it lets them cool off a little bit so now I'm just going to make a full boat and this is just an easy way to transfer these ribs back to the smoker we get ready to glaze them I just tear off a sheet of full about as long as you would when you wrap we're just gonna fold it up into something that'll that I'll hold these ribs I just like to reinforce it by folding the edges a little bit we're just gonna turn it up and make an edge just like that right after our ribs have had time to rest for about 15 minutes to half hour we're gonna go ahead and get them out of the full what I like to do is just open it up and then have something you can collect the juice in I've got just a waste can here setup and I'm just pouring the juice out pour it into a bucket whatever you're on the pan makes a little bit easier to deal with now we can transfer them real easy just pick them up we're still smoking hot even after arrested and it's just a beautiful slab of ribs I mean look at that call it a barbecue rub gave them the thinner gur sauce cooking down the brown sugar the way it coats them that's what I want to see hey if I'm a judge I want to eat these right now but we're not through with them yet we want to get a little glaze on the outside really finish these ribs off with the sweet and spicy sauce and so what I've done is I've taken one part of my vinegar sauce I mixed it with three parts of the killer hogs original sauce makes an awesome glaze it's picking up some of that same color because of the the rub that's in the sauces and I'm just gonna gently brush it on I just want to give it a light coat and it helps if you warm the sauce up just a little bit paint the ball on edges this is gonna make them shine and I don't want really a real saucy red that's why we're going light we've kind of got it turned into a glaze this is gonna tack up when we put it back on the drum for a little bit it's gonna make an awesome competition rib I mean that's amazing color right there they need about 15 more minutes to tighten up just let that glaze sit it kind of cook it on we don't want to serve it wet like this to the judge so I'm gonna get these over on the pit let's get the lid on about 15 more minutes we're gonna check them I know they're gonna be ready we're gonna take them off it'll be time to cut them up we see what we did today Lee's comp ribs and I just want y'all to look at these ribs these comprehend out beautiful I mean I love that color that's a mahogany color it comes from the rub from the glaze from that cherry grill wood smoke we put on it I'm just gonna flip them over and then the reason why I flip them over is because you can see the bones see where you need to make your cuts you just want to take your time use a good knife go right between those bones makes a perfect cut every time nice and straight using a long-bladed knife really helps you get even cuts all the way through you're not sawing at them you just take it one swipe you go right down these ribs so now we're gonna flip them over oh man look at the smoked green you can see on them we're not done yet though because when we got ready to box these ribs for a judge we would lead a little more sauce on them and what I like to do is just kind of take them one by one and touch up that edge where the judge would bite it locks the moisture in and it makes a better looking rib in the box to have a little bit of light coat of sauce right on those edges so if I was gonna pick some of these ribs out for the judges I want these four or five right in the center there this good hearty ribs they all have uniform thickness this one's got my name on it I want you to look at that that is just beautiful I've got the edges sauced up I mean that is a magnificent rib now I'm gonna try it and just see how it tastes it's a tender you get the smokiness from that cherry and a little bit of hickory wood bite right through awesome awesome rib you get a little sweetness from the glaze but the peppers and the seasonings from those rubs really come through so it balances it all out the riches they can be and they're juicy I mean all the way through and that is just an awesome rib it's not overcooked it's not mushy the texture is there and more importantly you get a clean bone and that's what you want when you're doing competition ribs I shouldn't be falling apart they should have some texture to them but the bones should come out clean and that's what I want to see when I'm doing competition style ribs thanks for checking us out here at how to barbecue right today subscribe to our Channel and hit that little bell if you want to know when we put out new videos we're gonna be putting them out all year long as always you can send us comments and questions of Facebook and Twitter we try to answer all of them we'll see you guys next time let's turn it over fantastic I want to turn them in she'll need some judges here

Channel: HowToBBQRight

Views: 924,656

Rating: 4.9400473 out of 5

Keywords: Malcom Reed, HowToBBQRight, How To BBQ Right, competition rib recipe, smoking competition ribs, bbq competition ribs, competition spare ribs, spare ribs, smoking ribs, st. louis spare ribs, award winning bbq rub recipes, competition bbq, comp rib recipe, Competition Style St. Louis Ribs

Id: wdGTs-PEra8

Length: 13min 15sec (795 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 15 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/ubadeansqueebitch]

So this is what God looks like....

[u/Unique_NY]

I love Malcom. His smoking setup backyard area is top notch. Looks like a swanky neighborhood

[u/Mister_JR]

Does he look like he doesn’t know good BBQ? Nope!

[u/bonzy11]

Man that looks good. I always use a chimney starter for my charcoal and I haven’t seen wax used before..

[u/Daddyfat]

I like to smoke ribs at home for eating ribs at home