martin.william@heb.com wrote:

> Well, I served spareribs to the gang here at work about 6 weeks ago, and
> then brought in part of brisket for a couple of lunches yesterday.....NOW,
> they want me to cater an "event luncheon" thats coming up, for about 20
> people.

Nothing you can't handle with ease, your problem is that you are too
good of a cook and once they get a taste they get a craving for it, then
you can charge more and more for your product. Hummm, this reminds me of
another type of business......Oh, right, ummm, never mind. <G>

> Since spares are kinda my specialty, and have never done babybacks...I
> wanted to suck your brain dry on the subject of babybacks, glazes and
> serving sauces, since you are the Babyback Man of Chicago, in my
estimation..

You overestimate my talents by 1000%, but I will try to help. I happen
to like both spares and baby backs, to me they are very different, both
texture wise and flavor wise. 

> I'm cooking on ole Milepost 113, a Patio version of Big Jim Whittens
propane
> Lazy-Q.  I can nail the temps....for however long they need to be nailed.

250 for 4-6 hours, depending on a number of variables. 

> >From the butcher: average about 13 bones per rack.  (Right??), and I'm
> planning on 4 bones per person, plus sides and dessert.  The sides are
> potluck...so I don't have to worry about that...but I am making my
> World-Famous DGGBeans.  Are 4 bones per person adequate??  Or should I
plan
> on 2, or 3??  Remember this is lunch....not supper.

13 bones is what is in a slab of ribs, a rack can be any amount. Baby
back rib means, specifically, a 13 bone slab of loin back ribs that
weigh less than 1-3/4 lb, if the 13 ribs are over 1-3/4 lb then they are
simply plain old loin backs, even though loin backs are often called
baby back. Furthermore, many grocers, not HEB of course, sell 11 bone
'racks' that weigh less than 1-3/4 with the two ribs cut off and sell
them for premium baby back prices. Confused yet? Well don't worry, none
of this makes a whit of difference, I am just trying to dazzle you with
bullshit, before I get into my weak area, actually smoking the ribs. <G>

You have to make two major decisions before you start, fall off the bone
or some texture (chew) left to the meat and spicy/barky or fairly
neutral with a little or no bark. If I remember correctly your personal
spice rub is a lemon pepper base with onion powder, garlic powder, brown
sugar and K salt, that is what I would call a fairly neutral rub, to
make it even more neutral I would substitute black pepper for the lemon
pepper and add paprika for color.

A spicier rub would add chipotle, ancho, cayenne etc to the neutral rub
and maybe a few herbs such as thyme or oregano. If you want I will send
you my recipe for rub, but no sharing it with the HEB spice dept and
selling it by the boxcar load. It would also be my pleasure to send you
a bag of the batch that I just made up, it turned out quite well, if I
do say so myself. I do not add any type of sugar to my rubs, but if you
really have to add some sugar try turbinado instead of brown, it has a
slightly higher burn point. 

Bark or no bark, simple enough, and even though you already know this I
will repeat it, for medium bark, mustard/rub, lots of bark,
mustard/rub/oil/rub, little bark, bit of oil then rub, no bark to speak
of, just a shake or three of rub.  

I am firmly in the wash with water, then vinegar, then depending on my
bark preference of the day, mustard, oil or nothing prior to the rub.
Lately I have done a few BB with just salt, pepper, onion and garlic
powder, the rich pork flavor of the loin backs really shines though. 

OK, next, fall off the bone or some texture, start checking at 3 hours
for texture/chew, full set of teeth needed, and up to 5 or 6 hours for
the fall off the bone, denture, meat jello crowd. 

Hit em with Danny's glaze two minutes before they come off the smoker
(1-C brown sugar, 1/3-C apple cider vin, 1/3-C yellow mustard, simmered
for 15 minutes) and they will take on a nice sheen.

When you smoke the BB's use a fragrant wood, apple, pear, cherry, or if
they are smoke whores go for something stronger like hickory, but mix it
with a milder smoke, like oak or ash, BB's are more subtle than spares
and do not need hickory or stronger smoker flavors. In Texas, the land
of mesquite, YMMV. 

Whatever rub you decide to go with do it the night before, plastic wrap
them and let the ribs and spices get to know each other in the refer. 

Mop or spray them with a mix of apple juice and apple cider vinegar,
(maybe a bit of oil if they are starting to prematurely dry out) and put
a loaf pan of water in the smoker filled with water, apple cider vinegar
and apple juice. 

Did I remember to say take off the membrane? Well, take off the membrane
and smoke them bone side up. 

You can serve a home made sauce, I have been leaning to the Tommy Bowen
lately, but with loads of toasted then ground Mexican peppers or my old
standby South Carolina mustard style. A decent not too sweet general
population has no taste type sauce is simmer open pit with cranberry
juice and honey, or even lower on the sauce scale is sweet baby rays cut
with cranberry juice and simmered. If you need recipes for the T Bowen
or the SC Mustard let me know. 

4 ribs per person with bread and sides will be fine, as long as there is
a mix of male and female. 

For the non-aficionado I would lean towards recommending a simple rub,
little or no bark, Danny's glaze, mild/fruit wood for smoke, loaf pan
with water/apple cider vin and apple juice, 4 hours@250, mop with apple
cid vin and water and whatever the heck else I recommended in this Iliad
of an email. <G>  

I went a bit long and non-linear, so if you find this email confusing,
you are not alone. <G> 

Hope this helped a little, feel free to call me, 773-282-3277, I will be
home all morning on Saturday and most of the day on Sunday. 

Regards,
Gary

