Sometime Saturday, Mrs Burgerdogboy announced she needed ribs this weekend, and I was designated to make them. Now I don’t care for ribs or wings, two of her favorite consumables, but for some reason I have the ability to whip up pretty good batches of either. I am surpised my ribs measure up for her, because we have been to the rib capital of the world, Lockhart, TX, and had the best the US has had to offer. (If you haven’t been to Lockhhart, and love BBQ, it’s worth the trek!)
But it’s my job to please,and especially after the repast she concocted Saturday nite, a basil-cream-garlic-butter sauce over prosciutto ravioli!
So I made a simple dry rub:
2 T salt
2 T paprika
2 T ground black pepper
1 T garlic powder
1/4 C brown sugar
Since it was my intent to slow roast the ribs in the oven, I threw in the tiniest (less than 1/8 ounce) of Lem’s Liquid Smoke, and liberally rubbed the whole mess into both sides of the rack, left it in a baggie in the frig overnite. This liquid smoke is potent stuff, as the directions on the bottle say 1/2 t per 5 pounds of meat.
Since I wasn’t going to eat the ribs, it was experimental burger day, so I massaged the same dry rub into a couple of burger patties and left them to their own devices overnight. (I am prepared NOT to like these when they are cooked, can’t imagine the brown sugar going well with the hamburger flavor I so adore!)
Of no relevance to the burger, but apparently important to the rib eater, I whipped up a batch of pinto beans, as well. The ribs went into a 275 degree oven for nearly four hours, and were finished up for 15 minutes on my burger grill.
The burger elements (except for the rub) were all Fred Meyer. 80/20 ground beef in a chub, bakery hard rolls, deli cole slaw, purple onion. The hard rolls could be harder on the outside (tho many people will like their softness), and the cole slaw lacks any distinguishable flavor, it could be from anywhere, very reminiscent of KFC’s. I have no bone to pick with the 80/20 ground beef, cooks up nicely on the grill.
The patty was done over medium regular Kingsford coals (20 minutes after lighting), 6minutes on one side, four on the other, for just past medium rare. I added the cole slaw because of the bbq flavor from the rub, ala eating pulled pork in the Southeast. The rub produced a slight crust on the patty, much like if you were doing a blackened seasoned burger, the sugar in the rub makes the exterior slightly carmeleized, which seals in some of the juices, and I liked that. Overall, it did not seem doing the rub the night before had much of an added effect on the burger, I think it would have turned out the same if I added the rub right before grilling. Nice flavor overall. The 80/20 grind is my preferred size, and the chub is Fred Meyer’s least expensive non-sale ground beef offering.
