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04 July 2012

From Grand World Champion Pit Master: Apple City Barbecue Ribs




PHOTO: Apple City Barbecue's world champion ribs are shown here.From Denny:  How often can you get a renowned grill master, a barbecue world champion, to walk you through the steps to successful and perfect ribs?  Here's your chance. Good Morning, America invited him on to the show to show us his way of making the most delectable mouth-watering ribs.  This is July Fourth and we sure think ribs for this holiday.


Mike Mills has managed to parlay his love of cooking ribs into creating seven national restaurants - from four in Illinois to three in Las Vegas.  This is really amusing:  He is the only barbecue pit master with top-security clearance to board Air Force One.  Mike is also the only barbecue pit master who’s been featured in Vogue magazine for a total of four times.  


Of course he was also inducted into the National Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2010.  You have to read his bio and list of appearances and accomplishments.  The man has been quite busy for the past twenty years!


I took the time to find his various sites.  There are links for his cookbook on Amazon, his link to his bio and list of accomplishments that will make you smile and a link to his restaurant site with several locations.  Mike Mills is big on teaching and holds smoke seminars and consults too.  What a guy.



Mike’s Women!


Mike Mills in the middle, of course




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Apple City Barbecue Grand World Champion Ribs


From: Mike Mills (check out this bio and list of appearances), 17th Street Bar & Grill


Adapted from Mike Mills' book:  Peace, Love, and Barbecue. 

Peace, Love, & Barbecue: Recipes, Secrets, Tall Tales, and Outright Lies from the Legends of Barbecue






Servings: 4 - 6

Difficulty: Easy

Cook Time: 30 - 60 min

From Mike Mills:  People are mystified about how to cook ribs properly. I'm going 
to walk you through every step of the way as though you're using 
a basic charcoal grill. Obviously if you have different or more 
high-tech equipment, you'll need to modify these procedures. If 
you're setting up your backyard charcoal grill for indirect 
cooking, you'll want to use a disposable aluminum pan to capture 
the grease as the fat renders while cooking. Some people add 
water to this pan to add moisture to the cooking environment. 

Let me caution you right up front to mop the ribs with sauce no 
more than 10 minutes before you take them off the grill.
Saucing 
the meat too early is a mistake many people make when smoking or 
grilling. Virtually all barbecue sauce contains sugar, and your 
meat will have a burned crust around the outside if you use sauce 
too soon in the process. 

Ribs are readily available in most grocery stores. When selecting 
ribs, try not to buy ones that weigh less than 2 pounds. A true 
baby back rib weighs about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds; they are very 
fragile and dry out quickly. This recipe calls for a meatier rib. 
A loin back rib is preferable; they're easier to cook, less 
fragile, and have more meat. 

Once you start smoking ribs, you can't leave the smoker 
unattended for any more than about 20 minutes.
You'll need to 
continually check that the temperature in the grill remains 
between 200 and 210 degrees at all times. If it gets too hot, 
open the lid and allow some of the heat to escape. 



Coals that appear to be glowing red will cause a hot spot. Don't cook the 
ribs directly over the hot spot; move the ribs to a different, 
cooler part of the grill. If the temperature dips below 200 
degrees, move the ribs to a hot spot for a while. If the 
temperature gets too low, add some more coals. 

You'll need about 4 cups of apple wood chips to be authentic; you 
can use hickory, pecan, sweet maple, or cherry, but the ribs 
won't taste as sweet. You'll also need a chimney starter or 
another small covered grill or bucket to keep extra hot coals. 





Apple City Barbecue Grand World Champion Ribs

Ingredients:

4 racks of ribs (about 2 pounds each) 
Magic Dust (see recipe below) or your favorite dry rub 
4 cups apple juice in a spray bottle 
Apple City Barbecue Sauce or your favorite dry rub 


For the magic dust: 


1/2 cup paprika 
1/4 cup kosher salt, finely ground 
1/4 cup sugar 
2 tablespoons mustard powder 
1/4 cup chili powder 
1/4 cup ground cumin 
2 tablespoons ground black pepper 
1/4 cup granulated garlic 
2 tablespoons cayenne 

Directions:

Trim any excess fat and remove the membrane from the back of the 
ribs. 

Sprinkle the ribs liberally with Magic Dust, coating both sides. 
Put them in a shallow pan or on a cookie sheet and cover them 
with clear plastic wrap or a lid. Refrigerate them until you're 
ready to use them. I recommend letting them marinate for at least 
an hour. At the restaurant, we dust the ribs up to a day in 
advance. 

Start your fire using Royal Oak charcoal. 

Soak the apple wood chips in water for half an hour. Drain. 

Remove the grate and arrange the medium-hot coals in a grill or 
smoker. If you are using a grill, it must have a lid. Set an 
aluminum pan next to the coals as a drip pan. Spread out the wet 
wood chips on the coals. Replace the rack, close the grill, and 
check the temperature. It should be between 200 and 210 degrees. 
If the temperature is too high, open the lid to allow some heat 
to escape. 

Notice that the meat on a rack of ribs is on the top. The bottom, 
where you removed the membrane, is called the "bone side." Once 
the temperature is steady, place the ribs on the rack, bone side 
down. You want to cook them bone side down as much as possible. 
Turning them dries out the meat. If necessary, you can cut the 
racks of ribs in half to comfortably fit your grill. 

Cover and smoke the ribs for about 4-6 hours or until the ribs 
are done and tender. This is not an exact science; we're not 
baking a cake. 

You'll want to check the ribs every 20 minutes or so. Examine 
them to see if the surface of the meat looks dry or moist. Ribs 
"sweat" about three times during the smoking process. The pores 
of the meat open, and this allows moisture to escape. This is 
when the seasoning from the dry rub and the smoke itself are 
reabsorbed into the meat. 



When they're sweating, mop or mist them with some apple juice 
and sprinkle them with a little more Magic Dust. Opening the lid 
will lower the temperature; add more coals and wood chips as 
needed to maintain the temperature. 

About 10 minutes before you remove the ribs from the pit, mop 
them with the sauce. When you take them off the pit, mop again 
with sauce and sprinkle some more Magic Dust on them. Serve 
immediately. 

For the magic dust: 


Mix all ingredients and store in a tightly covered container. To 
make it a little more hot and spicy, increase the mustard powder 
and black pepper to 1/4 cup each. 

Makes: about 2 1/2 cups. 


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* * *  Support Warriors Pearl Foundation - helping homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -   - see what's new!




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