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Smoked ribs can be served as an independent dish in combination with spicy sauce, or together with vegetables as a cold appetizer. They can be eaten for dinner with potatoes, or used when cooking pea soup or meat soup. Ribs can be stored in the refrigerator for quite a long time, so if the smokehouse allows it, then it is best to smoke more meat at once.
Preliminary preparation of ribs for smoking in a smokehouse
Before smoking, the ribs must be salted. The process is long and takes 4-5 days to salt pork ribs. For salting and smoking, we took 2 kg of pork ribs.
water – 2.5 – 3 l;
salt – 150 g;
sugar – 70 g;
garlic – 4 cloves;
black peppercorns – 1 tbsp. l;
seasoning, mixture of herbs: coriander, cloves, cumin, saffron – 3 tbsp;
bay leaf – 3-4 pcs.
Brine
Salted water for the brine was boiled, sugar was added, a mixture of herbs, garlic, and pepper were added, and the brine was kept at a boil for 3-5 minutes.
Then they threw in a bay leaf. The brine was cooled greatly and the meat was placed in the cold solution.
A pressure was placed on top so that the meat was completely immersed in the brine. Left for salting for 4 days in a cold place. After this, the ribs were taken out of the brine and dried.
Smoking ribs in a home smokehouse
Our smokehouse is quite large in volume, 4 kilograms of meat, homemade, made of stainless steel by our craftsmen. The thickness of the steel sheet is 2 mm, inside there is a tray for collecting fat and two tiers of grates. To control the temperature, a thermometer is built into the lid; there is also a smoke exhaust, which is discharged into the hood or out the window.
There is a water seal around the perimeter of the smokehouse.
This smokehouse can be used to smoke any product at home, on the stove. The water seal does not let smoke into the room, but still, during cooking, the aroma of smoke pervades the whole house. You can also use the smokehouse outdoors by placing it on the grill or stove. But for now we feel sorry for spoiling such a beautiful thing and therefore we smoke the food at home, on a gas stove. It is also more convenient to regulate the temperature this way than on a fire by adding wood.
To smoke the ribs in the smokehouse, we used apple tree chips, which were scattered on the bottom of the smokehouse. It is believed that hard varieties of wood are best suited for smoking as wood chips, and the wood chips should not be dry.
Before smoking pork ribs, you need to prepare them. What is the preparation? This is salting; salting can be either dry or in brine. For dry salting we need 100 grams of salt per 1 kg of product. Salting is carried out within 24 hours, no less. After salting, you need to do a light drying.
To do this, just hang the pork ribs in a well-ventilated place for 3 hours.
Let's talk a little about the smokehouse, smokehouses can be stationary, portable, home - gas, automatic and semi-automatic, all of them are designed for smoking meat, cheese, fish.
For smoking, the most basic ingredient is wood chips. When creating a woodchip mix, you can adjust the product’s color and taste.
When talking with a large number of pork and fish smokers, they all unanimously say that fruit wood chips are optimal in taste and color. The most aromatic wood for smoking is cherry. When you mix 80% cherry chips and 20% apple or plum chips, you get a simply magnificent smell and taste that cannot be compared with anything else!
Smoked boiled pork ribs - recipe
For 5 kg of untrimmed pork ribs we need: 100 grams of salt, 5 liters of boiling water, and the desire to prepare a tasty product.
Of course, to prepare any smoked meats you cannot do without wood chips or smoke shavings. Use only wood chips or shavings from fruit trees. We recommend: cherry, apple, pear, plum. We do not recommend: walnut, poplar.
Important point: When making smoking chips, try not to use wood with bark, as this may negatively affect the quality of smoked pork ribs.
So, let's start cooking - heat 5 liters of water to boiling temperature, add salt, ground black pepper if desired, a few bay leaves, boil it all, add pork ribs and cook for 3-5 minutes.
Smoke at a temperature of 50 -60 degrees for 2 hours. This is how you get smoked boiled pork ribs.
Additionally, watch the video on how to smoke pork ribs!
Any delicacies from your own home smokehouse add respect in the eyes of guests. The most popular product is smoked ribs at home. In order for them to turn out tasty and aromatic, you need to know how to smoke ribs correctly, because not only the smoking process is important, but also the preparation of the product before it.
Only fresh meat with a small amount of fat on the ribs is suitable for smoking. Pork ribs are more suitable for cold smoking, since the fat will dry out with this type of smoking. And for hot smoking, pork ribs must first be deprived of excess fat.
After purchasing ribs, it is necessary to remove the film from the product, as it will interfere with the penetration of smoke into the fabric. When the film is removed, the meat on the ribs needs to be cut with a knife. You can also cut the ribs directly into portions by cutting the cartilage. , if it exists, it must be separated. It will make a very tasty pilaf.
This preparation is best done regardless of the type of ribs: pork, lamb or any other.
Recipes for brines and marinades for ribs
Before smoking the ribs, you need to salt them. This is necessary so that the ribs have flavor, and not just a smoky aroma. We offer you recipes for brines and for smoking ribs.
Garlic brine with vodka
This brine recipe is very popular, as the smoked pork ribs are very juicy, spicy and aromatic. For the brine you will need the following ingredients:
- water – 1 liter;
- bay leaf – 4-5 pieces;
- garlic – 6-5 cloves;
- ground pepper and peas – 10 grams each;
- sugar – 1 tablespoon;
- vodka – 60-100 grams;
- salt – 150 grams.
In a saucepan you need to mix all the ingredients except alcohol and put on fire. Bring the mixture to a boil and skim off the foam. After the liquid boils, remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool.
The amount of pickling mixture is enough to pickle up to 2 kilograms of ribs. The ribs must be completely filled with brine so that the meat is covered to the top with liquid. The container with meat in brine must be left in a cool place for three days. After this time, you need to remove the meat and rub it with a mixture of seasonings and vodka. In order for the meat to be saturated with herbs, it must be wrapped in film and left in the refrigerator for a day. After a day, you can start smoking the ribs in the smokehouse.
The calorie content of pork ribs salted using this method is 280 kcal per 100 grams of product.
A quick way to salt ribs
This recipe helps when you need to smoke ribs quickly. Salting takes literally 3-4 hours, after which the ribs can be sent to the smokehouse.
Required ingredients:
- garlic – 4 cloves;
- paprika – 10 grams;
- cumin – 10 grams;
- vinegar - 2 tablespoons;
- salt – 100 grams;
- pepper – 10 grams;
- cloves – 10 grams.
All ingredients must be thoroughly mixed and rubbed onto the ribs with the resulting mixture. Wrap the meat in cling film and leave in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Smoking pork ribs salted in this way can be done either hot or cold.
Honey marinade with tomato paste
Required ingredients:
- dark beer – 1 liter;
- garlic – 6 cloves;
- oil – 3 tablespoons;
- onions – 3 heads;
- honey – 3 tablespoons;
- vinegar - 3 tablespoons;
- tomato paste – 200 grams;
- spices to taste.
Mix all ingredients with 1 glass of boiled water and pour the resulting mixture over the ribs. It is necessary to marinate for at least 8 hours, but it is better to leave for the whole day. These smoked ribs are perfect with boiled potatoes, pilaf and fresh vegetables.
Boiled ribs
A very popular recipe is not just smoked, but boiled-smoked ribs. The calorie content of such a dish is no different from regular smoked ribs. After smoking, boiled ribs come out unusually tender and very juicy.
The ribs must be boiled for an hour in water with the addition of bay leaf, vinegar, salt and seasonings. Then leave in the broth in a cold place for 4 days. After this period, remove the ribs from the broth and dry. Then you can safely smoke using the usual method.
How to smoke ribs
There are two methods by which you can smoke meat and other foods, namely cold and hot.
Hot method
Lean meat is better suited. Pre-marinated ribs must be placed in a smokehouse with a temperature of 110-120 degrees. To fully cook smoked ribs, 45-60 minutes in the smokehouse are enough.
After the ribs are smoked, they should be removed from the smokehouse and left in the air for 30-40 minutes. During this time, the smoke will be evenly distributed in the meat.
Cold method
Smoked meat lasts longer. You can also smoke very fatty foods, since at low temperatures the fat literally dries out before your eyes, and the meat does not come out dry.
It is necessary to smoke for at least 2-3 days at a temperature of 30-35 degrees.
What can you cook with smoked ribs?
Smoked products are quite good as independent dishes, but they can be used as ingredients for preparing various other recipes.
Smoked ribs can be added to pea soup, borscht and solyanka. There are many recipes that use smoked ribs and other smoked products. For example, potato stew with the addition of smoked ribs turns out to be a very tasty and aromatic dish.
They also prepare not only first and second courses with the addition of smoked meats, but also snacks such as salads. The Hungarian salad is prepared very simply, its recipe is similar to the Olivier recipe, except that the sausage in the salad is replaced with chopped smoked meat.
Bottom line
At home, you can prepare delicious smoked products even in a homemade smokehouse. The benefit of ribs is that little time is wasted during hot smoking. They don't have as much meat as a ham, but enough to enjoy the taste of smoked meat and satisfy your hunger.
One of my favorite hot smoked dishes is ribs; I tried several recipes and came up with one simple and, most importantly, quick cooking method. In this note I will reveal mine.
Hot smoked pork ribs recipe
Ingredients- pork ribs - 1 kg
- salt - 50-100 g
- ground pepper mixture
- dried garlic
Salting ribs for smoking
Before smoking, pork ribs need to be prepared and salted; first of all, you need to rinse them well under cold water and separate the membrane (the white film on the ribs) from the ribs. The membrane needs to be pryed off with a knife and carefully peeled off - this is necessary for better salting of the ribs.
Next, mix salt and spices, thoroughly rub the ribs on all sides with this mixture. Pour some of the salt into the bottom of the dish, lay out the ribs, and pour the rest on top of the ribs. Place the ribs in the refrigerator overnight. After salting the ribs, you need to rinse them well in cold water, test the meat, if the salt is too noticeable, then soak the ribs for another hour or two. In my case, a good wash was enough. Afterwards, dry the ribs with napkins and hang them in a draft for several hours to remove excess moisture.
First you need to prepare the smokehouse: cover the tray with foil and add wood chips. Usually, for such a number of ribs, 4-5 handfuls of beech or alder wood chips are enough; you can also make an additive from cherry wood, it gives a light fruity-resinous hue. Place the ribs in the smoker and cover them loosely with foil. The temperature in the smokehouse is approximately 100-110C, smoking time is from 35 to 45 minutes. After smoking, the ribs should be allowed to rest for an hour or two so that the strong smoke aroma goes away and the smoky flavor is evenly distributed throughout the ribs.
Hot smoked ribs are an excellent dish for potatoes, you can add them to soup, or eat them as a snack with beer. Separately, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the recipe for hot smoked lard and chicken. Below is a detailed video recipe for smoking ribs in a hot smoker with tips and tricks from the author of this blog.
Smoked ribs are an incredibly tasty delicacy that is appropriate on absolutely any table. You can prepare this delicacy yourself at home. Moreover, the lack of a smokehouse is not an obstacle to this. They can also be made in the oven, but in this case liquid smoke is required.
We offer recipes for cooking smoked ribs in the smokehouse and in the oven. Both options will allow you to get an incredibly tasty snack.
Smoked ribs - smokehouse recipe
Ingredients:
- pork ribs – 1.8 kg;
- rock salt – 110 g;
- granulated sugar – 20 g;
- ground black pepper;
- garlic;
- vodka – 55 ml;
- water – 1 l;
- ground bay leaf - 1 pinch.
Preparation
Remove the film from the pork ribs and rinse them under cool running water. Now prepare the brine. To do this, pour water into a ladle or saucepan, add salt and sugar and heat, stirring, until it boils. Let the liquid cool and pour it over the prepared pork ribs. We place the container with the workpiece in a cool place for salting for three days, turning the ribs daily in the brine.
After time has passed, we remove the ribs from the brine and hang them for a couple of hours in a ventilated place or, ideally, in the air to dry. Now mix vodka with chopped garlic, ground pepper and bay leaf and rub the dried ribs with the aromatic “drunk” mixture. We place the product in a bag or wrap it in cling film and place it on the refrigerator shelf for a couple of days.
To smoke pork ribs, we will need a hot smoker, since in a “cold” device we will not be able to obtain the desired taste of the snack. The meat will simply dry out in it during a long stay in the smoke and become oaky and not tasty.
We place the marinated ribs on the smokehouse grate, having previously poured wet sawdust on the bottom of the device and installed a tray to collect fat, and smoke at low temperature for three to four hours.
Smoked pork ribs in the oven
Ingredients:
Preparation
We prepare the pork ribs in the same way as in the previous recipe, rinsing them with cool water and removing the membrane (film). Now we flavor the product with liquid smoke, then rub it with salt, squeezed garlic, spices and herbs to your taste. Place the ribs in a bag and place them on the refrigerator shelf for a day. After time has passed, place the product on a baking sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees until fully cooked for about an hour.
