I saw something on Twitter today about there being 14 non-BBQ states, and apparently Oregon is one of them. Which is no problem for me since we live in Washington, and efforts to identify the other 13 states have been fruitless. Besides, all my friends know where to go to get good BBQ here…
Speaking of good BBQ and poor weather (I did mention WA state, and it is autumn), Bubba Ho-Keg got a chance to wear his new hat yesterday and slow-cook some babyback ribs and a potato experiment.
I normally cook babybacks dry, but since I wasn’t in the mood to make up a new batch of rib rub I decided to mess around with the spice mix and glaze the ribs at the end of the cook. I used up the remainder of the rib rub I had on hand, then supplemented it with some McCormick’s Barbecue spice mix, Bayou Cajun seasoning mix, and some red chili powder. The ribs went on Bubba Ho-Keg for about 3 hours at 225°F, give or take 10 degrees. It took some work, but I was able to keep the temps fairly consistent for most of the cook without having to check more than every 30 minutes or so. The ribs were glazed with Marionberry jam about 10 minutes before removing.
The potato experiment consisted of chunking up several yellow potatoes, an onion, and a few mini bell peppers, then adding some garlic, salt, pepper, EVOO, butter, and about 1/2 cup of white wine to the pot. I put the potatoes on shortly after the ribs, so they were on the smoker almost the full 3 hours. After removing they were treated to a session with the potato masher, and you can see the results on the plate.
All in all, it was a pretty good meal. Did I mention it rained?
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Nice looking ribs! I dig the marionberry jam. I’ve never tried the Bubba Ho-Keg, but have heard good things. (But why not fresh beans, grilled, vs the canned things)? Nice to see a fellow Washingtonian BBQ blogger. Best, Julie
Thanks for stopping by, it’s always nice to have a real celebrity show up (for those of you that don’t know who Julie is, go buy “She-Smoke: A Backyard Barbecue Book” and read it cover to cover).
As for the green beans, we also prefer them fresh (see http://noexcusesbbq.com/archives/2458 for an example) but can’t always get them down here (or are just too lazy to make a trip to the store). The nice thing about the canned beans is they store easy and don’t take up more space in the refrigerator or the freezer, and are there when fresh beans aren’t available.
Having said that, you still need to do something to them to make them actually taste good; straight out of the can they don’t have a lot of flavor…
Do you do the ribs direct at 225f or indirect? 3 hours seems short to me at indirect, so I’m think it was the former.
How was the marionberry glaze? I’ve never tasted them before, but like using cherry preserves. Is it a local thing?
I don’t have a plate setter/diffuser for Bubba Ho-Keg yet, so they were direct. The marionberry glaze was good, but a bit too sweet for my tastes (at least on babybacks). Marionberries come from Oregon and are a local thing; I never saw them on the shelves when I lived in California, and haven’t seen them outside of a Made in Oregon store when traveling around the US. We get it at Costco; the brand is Columbia Empire Farms which is a local company that makes some wonderful preserves (like jalapeno jellies).
Nice job ZP, I gotta give those potatoes a go. Perhaps I will pick up some Marionberry preserves as well, I can get them in Humboldt.
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