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RIBS
101:
Four methods
for cooking
By DANIEL NEMAN
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Ribs” should never be a
four-letter word.
They represent every-
thing that is great about
meat: They have an amazing,
instantly recognizable flavor
that is hearty yet mild at the
same time. They are tender,
but also have just the right
amount of chew. They taste
wonderful on their own, but
they also pair spectacularly
well with any number of
sauces.
And they are practically
impossible to cook badly.
And yet, a lot of people
find them daunting, or too
much work. Ribs are some-
thing they only order at a
restaurant, preferably a bar-
becue joint.
But it’s not hard to turn
your home into your own
personal barbecue joint. Ribs
are not difficult to cook at all,
and the best part is that when
you are done, you have ribs.
I made ribs — we are
talking here about pork ribs
— four different ways, with
different results.
First, I made them the tra-
ditional way, by smoking
them at a low temperature for
several hours. These turned
out the best by far, tender and
juicy with the exquisite flavor
and aroma of smoke running
all the way through. If you
have the time and you have a
smoker or a grill you can use
for smoking, this is unques-
tionably the way to go for the
true rib experience.
Next, I tried a method I
had always abhorred: I boiled
the ribs before grilling them.
Some restaurants love to
parboil their ribs because it
makes them extra-tender and
especially because it saves
them time.
Not everyone agrees.
Grillmeister Steven Raichlan
says, “in my barbecue reli-
gion, that’s heresy.”
Boiling ribs does help to
render out some fat, but at
the same time it also ren-
ders out some flavor. But
what I hadn’t guessed was
just how much other flavor
is added by grilling the meat
over direct heat. Ten min-
utes is all it takes to finish off
the nearly cooked ribs with
a mouth-watering taste of
flame and smoke.
Cooking ribs in a slow
cooker takes more time than
any other method, but it’s
time that you can spend away
from the kitchen, if you like.
You just rub the ribs with
spices, plop them in the slow
cooker and forget about them
— until the enticing aroma
reminds you that dinner is
almost done.
They come out tender,
but with just enough resis-
tance to your bite, and have a
delectable flavor, meaty and
full. They are awfully good,
but they lack the smoki-
ness that, for a lot of people,
defines the taste of ribs.
I don’t particularly recom-
mend the fourth method of
cooking ribs, roasting them
in the oven, unless you don’t
have a smoker, a grill or a
slow cooker.
What oven-roasted ribs
have is the proper texture,
and you can enjoy the fact
that you are eating ribs. But
the flavor is minimal and,
frankly, kind of insipid.
Still, the end result is ribs.
And that is better than not
having ribs.
What are the different
cuts of ribs?
The most popular ribs are
baby back ribs, which come
from the top part of the rib
cage. They have the most
meat of all the rib cuts, and
are also the quickest and eas-
iest to cook.
Spareribs are cut just
below the baby back ribs.
They have more marbling
between the bones, and thus
more flavor, but they also
are not as tender as the baby
backs.
St. Louis-style ribs are
essentially spareribs, but are
cut shorter so they don’t have
the rib tips on the bottom.
Rib tips are the toughest part
of the ribs.
What about country-
style ribs?
Country-style ribs are not
ribs (you can tell because
they are not attached to a
bone). They are actually cut
from the pork butt, which
is to say the shoulder. They
are sometimes inaccurately
lumped in with ribs because
they, like ribs, have to be
cooked at a low temperature
for a relatively long time.
What is the skin, and
does it have to be
removed?
What people call the
“skin” is actually a mem-
brane, the pleura. When
cooked, it becomes tough
and chewy, and most people
find it unpleasant to eat —
however, it is edible (and
some like it). It is usually best
to remove it, although we left
it on while cooking ribs in a
slow cooker because it helps
hold the rack together when
using that method.
To remove it, simply slide
a thin, sharp knife between
the bone side of the ribs and
skin to loosen enough of it
to be able to grab it. Hold it
with a clean towel or paper
towels and pull the skin off
the ribs. It comes off baby
back ribs very easily; it takes
more effort with spareribs
and St. Louis ribs.
If you are smoking
ribs, what wood
should you use?
Hickory is a good place to
start; it produces perhaps the
most familiar smoke flavor.
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
The Observer & Baker City Herald
A cooking icon turns 100
By RICK NELSON
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Hillary Levin/St. Louis Post-Dispatch-TNS
Oven-roasted ribs.
But go easy on the chips,
because too much hickory
smoke can add a bitter note
to your meat.
Fruit woods such as
apple (which won’t impart as
much flavor) and cherry are
mild, and are good to mix
with other woods. Mesquite
is delicious and unmistak-
able, but it can easily become
harsh so be sure to use it
sparingly.
Oak is not traditionally
used with pork, unless you’re
from East Texas, where post
oak grows like a weed and is
used to barbecue everything.
I used to live in East Texas,
so for this story I used a
combination of post oak and
hickory.
When should I put on
the sauce?
Most barbecue sauces
have sugars in them (the vin-
egar-based sauce of North
Carolina is a significant
exception). Sugars burn
quickly, ruining your bar-
becue. If you are cooking at
a low temperature, such as
in the smoker, oven or slow
cooker, do not apply your
sauce until the last 20 to 30
minutes of cooking. If you
are cooking at a high tem-
perature, such as finishing it
under the broiler or on a grill
over direct heat, do not add
the sauce until the last three
to five minutes.
Some experts don’t even
put a sauce on at all while the
ribs are cooking. They serve
the sauce on the side. A few
purists disdain the thought
of sauce entirely and don’t
believe in using it, but I do
not see any reason for such
extremism.
SLOW-COOKER
RIBS
Yield: 6 servings
3 racks baby back ribs or
2 racks spareribs
3/4 cup spice rub
1. Coat both sides of the ribs
with the spice rub and rub it into
the meat. Do not remove the
membrane. Place the ribs, standing
vertically, in a large slow cooker
(an oval-shaped cooker will work
best). You may have to cut rack into
pieces to fit them in. A small slow
cooker will fit 1 rack.
2. Cook 4 to 5 hours on high or
7 to 8 hours on low. The ribs are
done when the meat is tender, it
has pulled away from the bone
by about 3/4 inch and its internal
temperature is 195 degrees.
Per serving: 535 calories; 38 g
fat; 13g saturated fat; 156 mg cho-
lesterol; 44 g protein; 6 g carbohy-
drate; 3 g sugar; 2 g fiber; 1,389 mg
sodium; 86 mg calcium
Recipe by Daniel Neman
SMOKED RIBS
Yield: 6 servings
3 racks baby back ribs or
2 racks spareribs
3/4 cup spice rub
1 cup wood chips, for smoking
1/3 cup apple juice
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Chipotle barbecue sauce or
your favorite barbecue
sauce, optional
1. Remove membranes from
bone-side of ribs by slipping a thin,
sharp knife between meat and
membrane. Pull up on membrane
with the knife until you can grip it
with your thumb (use a towel or a
paper towel for a better grip). Lift
membrane off meat, and discard.
2. Coat both sides of ribs with
spice rub and rub into the meat.
Refrigerate 4 to 8 hours or let sit at
room temperature for 1 hour. Do
not keep out of the refrigerator for
more than 1 hour.
3. Meanwhile, soak wood chips
in water for at least 20 minutes if
small or 1 hour if larger chunks.
Wrap wet chips in aluminum foil
and cut 4 slits in top of package.
4. Prepare a grill for indirect heat.
5. Light the grill and use dials or
vents to keep the temperature very
low, 250 to 275 degrees. Try not to
go above 300 degrees. Place wood-
chip package in center of coals or
directly on top of gas flame. Place
the ribs, bone-side down, on the
grate and close the cover. If using
charcoal, you will have to add
additional coals every hour.
6. Mix together the apple juice
and cider vinegar. After 1 hour of
cooking, brush this mixture spar-
ingly over the ribs. Cover and con-
tinue cooking. Every 30 minutes,
brush more of the liquid sparingly
over the top of the ribs.
7. Baby back ribs will be done in
about 4 hours; spareribs will take
longer. About 20 to 30 minutes be-
fore they are done, brush ribs with
barbecue sauce, if desired. The ribs
are done when the meat is tender,
has pulled away from the bone
by about 3/4 inch and its internal
temperature is 195 degrees.
Per serving: 600 calories; 39 g fat;
15 g saturated fat; 156 mg choles-
terol; 44 g protein; 17 g carbohy-
drate; 12 g sugar; 2 g fiber; 1,578
mg sodium; 102 mg calcium
Recipe by Daniel Neman
SPICE RUB
Yield: About 1/2 cup
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons packed
light brown sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
pepper, see note
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Note: This recipe makes a
moderately spicy rub. If
you want it spicier, use 1
1/2 teaspoons cayenne
pepper. If you want it mild,
eliminate the cayenne.
Combine all ingredients in a
bowl.
Per serving (based on 8): 20
calories; no fat; no saturated fat;
no cholesterol; 1 g protein; 5 g
carbohydrate; 1 g sugar; 1 g fiber;
894 mg sodium; 13 mg calcium
Hillary Levin/St. Louis Post-Dispatch-TNS
Smoked ribs.
B
See, Ribs/Page B2
Spoiler alert: Betty
Crocker, arguably the most
recognized Minnesotan
of the past century, isn’t
a real person. Still, Cathy
Swanson Wheaton is
making sure that the 100th
birthday of General Mills’
fictitious spokesperson is
not going unnoticed.
Wheaton is execu-
tive editor of the Golden
Valley, Minnesota-based
company’s cookbooks,
overseeing recipe devel-
opment, photography and
manuscript writing.
For her latest project,
Wheaton has compiled a
collector’s edition of rec-
ipes into “Betty Crocker
Best 100: Favorite Rec-
ipes From America’s Most
Trusted Cook” (Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt, $25),
ranging from tried-and-
true standards like banana
bread and Swedish meat-
balls to classics-in-the-
making along the lines of
spiced pumpkin cupcakes
and gluten-free tuna-
noodle casserole.
In a recent phone con-
versation, Wheaton dis-
cussed Betty’s beginnings,
the vagaries of memory
and the appeal of easy-to-
make chicken pot pies.
Q: How did you go
about narrowing what
had to be a mountain of
archived recipes?
A: It was daunting. I
lost a lot of sleep. How
am I to know what are the
100 top recipes? I ended
up looking at the data that
we had. Bettycrocker.com
has 12 million visits each
month — it’s one of the
largest food websites out
there — and selecting the
most popular recipes there
was a good way to choose.
We have a large and robust
consumer relations depart-
ment. They receive a mil-
lion questions each year,
and I pored over their
recipe requests. A lot came
from the nearly 400 cook-
books that General Mills
has published since Betty
was born, and also recipes
that we’ve given clever
new twists.
Q: Such as?
A: Fruitcake. It got a
bad rap as being a good
doorstop. But there’s a
recipe on bettycrocker.com
for fruitcake bars that take
20 minutes to prepare, and
people rave about them.
We never changed for
change’s sake. There was
always a purpose. We tried
to keep the essence of the
recipe — we did take some
favorites and made them
gluten-free — but in some
cases, ingredients and
methods have changed and
improved over time. For
example, it didn’t make
sense to share the old
recipe for stuffed peppers,
because you boiled them
for 30 minutes. That’s
when people cooked veg-
etables to death. Now, we
stick them in the micro-
wave with 2 tablespoons of
water, and they’re done in
three minutes.
Q: How many recipes
did you consider before
whittling the list down to a
hundred?
A: There were hun-
dreds, easily. Every night,
I’d be pulling back my
memories, asking myself,
“What did I have 30 years
ago?” and “What did I
have 20 years ago?”
Q: Memory can be
tricky, right?
A: We’ve learned that
while we may have our
memories, our taste buds
have moved on. If you
taste the mac-and-cheese
you remembered from
your childhood, you’d
probably think, “This
doesn’t have much flavor.”
We expect more flavor
combinations these days,
which is why we updated
the mac-and-cheese recipe
with dry mustard and
Worcestershire sauce.
They enhance the cheese
flavor, and match today’s
expectations for the
tongue.
Q: First on my to-do
list is going to be making
those single-serving
chicken pot pies. Why did
you include them?
A: That recipe is very
much comfort food; it
says “fall” to me. We rec-
ognize that people have
busy lives. We don’t want
cooking to be daunting
— we want people to be
successful at it, and to
be proud to serve what
they’re making to their
family and friends. With
those pot pies, it’s so easy
to place the crust over the
top, it doesn’t have to form
beautiful edges. People
aren’t looking for perfec-
tion, they’re looking for
things that taste good and
are easy to make.
Q: The Star Tribune
has an annual holiday
cookie recipe contest.
Which one of the book’s
16 cookie and bar cookie
recipes would you submit
for our competition?
A: The Brownie
Cookies. Chocolate is
always going to be a
favorite. The recipe is a
twist on brownies, and
with the pecans, it delivers
so much flavor and texture.
Q: You produce three
or four cookbooks a year.
Was this a fun project to
take on?
A: Oh, my gosh, yes. It
was so exciting when we
realized, a few years ago,
that the 100th birthday
was coming up. We had
to do a book. It helps con-
sumers see that she’s still
relevant. She’s not your
grandmother’s Betty
Crocker. She has that his-
tory, but she’s still going
forward and still has great
ideas. She trends with the
times, she’s not ahead of
the times. Poring through
old books, finding orig-
inal sources and seeing
how recipes have touched
our lives and continue to
touch our lives, that was a
lot of fun. I’m super-hon-
ored that I can keep up the
traditions.
Q: We’re talking about
a fictitious character
as if she were a living,
breathing person. Is that
standard operating proce-
dure in your workplace?
A: It’s definitely part
of the culture of General
Mills. As a writer, it’s a
little odd to talk about her
in the first person as much
as I did in the book. But it
is about her birthday, and
she lives in the hearts of
all of us who represent her.
Q: Can you shorthand
Betty’s origin story?
A: Our parent company,
the Washburn-Crosby
Co., had a contest. A lot
of the responses included
cooking questions, and
the marketing people real-
ized that they needed
more food-related people
to answer them. They
decided to create a persona
for all of the home econo-
mists working at the com-
pany. They chose “Betty”
because it was popular,
and warm, and friendly,
and “Crocker” because
it was the last name of a
retiring executive.
Q: It’s great that the
book includes reproduc-
tions of the famous eight
Betty Crocker portraits.
The last one was created
25 years ago. Will there
ever be another one?
A: I would hope so, but
it’s hard for me to say. I
know they’ve toyed with
the idea, and about how
they would represent her
today. But everyone can
See, Betty/Page B2