Recipe rescue: Transform your firehouse cookout

Barbecue is about more than just the food; it’s a way of life and a labour of love. It is time spent with family, friends, or your firehouse crew, creating great food and memories. If you think about it, you can put yourself in a time and place where you enjoyed a great BBQ meal. 

Pork ribs are one of my absolute favourite cuts to throw on a grill. There’s just something about picking up a rib with your fingers and chewing all that meaty, smoky deliciousness. What I love most about ribs is their ability to handle almost any type of flavour or spice, from a traditional barbecue rub to something a little more exotic. Some of my top choices include bourbon-glazed, sticky Asian, jerk spiced and hoisin ginger. Many hours and rib samples have been consumed to perfect my recipe, and getting ribs just right can be tricky. 

Let’s go through my foolproof method and everything you need to know about one of the best cuts of pork out there so you can be the star of your next cookout.

The baby back ribs are cut from where the rib meets the spine, at the top of the pig’s back. They are lean, tender, and usually the most popular, which means they are the most expensive. There are thirteen ribs on a rack; they have curved bones and are shorter on one end due to the natural tapering of a pig’s rib cage. They are named as such because they are smaller in size compared to the larger spareribs.

Always remember: it’s BBQ, so slow it down. Go low and slow every time for the best meals.

Next are the spareribs, which are my favourites. They are the same thirteen ribs, lower on the pig and near the belly. Spareribs are meatier; the bones are larger and flatter. They contain more fat, but remember, fat equals flavour. Spareribs are less expensive than baby backs and will take a little more cooking time to make them tender.

Making truly delicious ribs begins with knowing what to look for when buying them. When looking for ribs at your local butcher shop or market, ensure they have an even layer of meat across the rack. You certainly don’t want to buy a slab with a large amount of meat on one end and little to no meat on the other. Particularly with baby backs, don’t choose slabs with exposed bones, known as “shiners”, as they were cut too close to the bone and may fall out during cooking.

Also, try avoiding ribs that have been “enhanced,” meaning they have been pumped up with an added solution, which is mostly water and salt. Be sure to check the label before purchasing. Today, pigs are bred to produce very uniform and tender meat.

Preparing ribs for your next cookout

How many slabs of ribs do you need? I always suggest that one slab of baby backs will feed two adults. Regarding spareribs, I figure one slab for three people because they are larger and meatier.

Now it’s time to trim the ribs. First, ensure your workstation and cutting board are large enough to handle the number of ribs you plan to cook. Open your package of ribs, pat them dry with a paper towel, and lay them out on the cutting board with the meat side up. Closely look at your ribs, and trim off any dangling meat or excessive fat. 

Next, turn the ribs over to remove the membrane covering the rib bones. To remove the membrane, insert a kitchen butter knife on top of a rib bone on the small end of the rack of ribs; gently push the knife upwards to loosen the membrane. Grab the membrane with a paper towel and slowly pull it toward the opposite end of the rack. If it tears, repeat the process until it is all removed.

Now, it’s time to apply your favourite dry rub. If you want classic barbecue ribs, use a rub heavy on brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Here is where you can start to be creative. Add Asian-inspired spices like Chinese five spice, Caribbean jerk, or Moroccan ras el hanout.

With the rack lying on the meat side, sprinkle the rub onto the entire rack, making sure you don’t miss any areas, even the sides of the ribs. Flip the meat over and do the same on the other side. I like to season my ribs an hour before they go on the smoker.

If a rack of ribs is improperly cooked, it can be tough and dry. My guess is that you’ve probably experienced this in sub-par restaurants plenty of times. The best way to cook pork ribs is the well-known “3-2-1” method; this is the foolproof approach for fall-off-the-bone tenderness. Once your barbecue pit is up to temperature (225 degrees), place the seasoned racks on the smoker, bone side down, for three hours. After three hours, the ribs will look golden brown and will have absorbed all the smoke flavour they need.

Next, lay down a double sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil and place each slab separately in the foil, meat side down. Before sealing them up tightly, I like to pour some apple juice in to help steam the meat to become tender. Place the sealed ribs back on the smoker for another two hours.

You are almost there! Remove the ribs from the foil, place them back on the smoker, meat side up, and hit them with your favourite barbecue sauce or glaze for one more hour. Some folks even like hitting the ribs on a gas grill for a few minutes to char things up. If you need to rotate things on your smoker, you can throw wrapped ribs on a baking sheet and place them in a preheated oven at 200 degrees. 

Always remember: it’s BBQ, so slow it down. Go low and slow every time for the best meals. Enjoy the process, and you will enjoy the results.

As always, friends, eat well and stay safe. 

Patrick Mathieu is a Captain Training Officer with Waterloo Fire Rescue in Ontario. He has appeared on Food Network’s Chopped Canada and is the author of The FireHouse Chef Cookbook. Please email him at thefirehouse_chef@yahoo.ca and follow him on  Instagram @stationhouse_