My ribs came in 1st place!
Pauline Cheslock,
North Haven, CT
-
So far every one of them [your recipes] have been very very good!
Dan Caulder,
Hope Mills, NC
-
I've been trying to smoke barbecue meat for 10 years.....bought countless books (most which are't worth a damn) burned and ruined tons of expensive meat, which cost me a few bucks, needless to say.....right now I'm a happy camper...Thank you Thank you for your free web sight....you've got to be crazy or one hell of a nice guy to give all this to poor slabs like me who want to do good barbecue....I think you feel sorry for us and want to help out....Again thanks much.....I'll have a Jack Daniels tonight in your Honor....Sorry You can't join me.
John Baier,
Clive, Iowa
-
I tried the Smoky Sauna Indoor Rib method today, and I can only say AMAZING. They were a huge success, and without a doubt, the best ribs we've ever had. THANK YOU! You are AMAZING, too. Thanks for sharing.
Cindy Hall,
Naples, FL
-
We have some mean southern cooks in our family and holidays are the best! They feed us well, mostly family recipes passed down. I used to love showing up empty handed and feasting on their handywork. Well, I wanted to try to do a turkey for Thanksgiving so my mom who usually does it didn't. Pressure was on. I used your recipe and followed it closely. I couldn't carve it fast enough! I had to hide some for myself! And guess who got chosen to bring turkey on Christmas! I see a lot of turkeys in my future and I'm blaming the Meathead! Really do love the site and appreciate all the time you have put in it. And you made it into the family recipe book!
Phillip Sorrell,
Lawrenceville, GA
|
| FREE: SMOKE SIGNALS ELETTER
|
|
|
|
About Smoke Signals
|
|
 Smoke Signals is the occasional free email newsletter from AmazingRibs.com and me, the hedonism evangelist, Craig "Meathead" Goldwyn. Smoke Signals lets you know
what's new on my website and in the world of outdoor cooking.
Do me a favor, willya? Send me feedback: Especially if you think an article or recipe is
confusing, if you know a better way, or if I made a mistake. My Daddy
taught me that "praise is cheap, criticism priceless." And if you like my website, please click here to forward a copy of this to a friend.
And remember: No rules in the bedroom or the kitchen!
|
Chinatown Char Siu Pork or Ribs for the Superbowl
|
|
 I love the "barbecued" pork and ribs in Chicago's Chinatown and the ribs will be my choice for this Superbowl Sunday, especially since I can cook them indoors. Even though they are not really barbecued in the American sense, they are the perfect Cabin Fever Ribs.
They have a distinct pork flavor, a glossy sheen that implies the sweet glaze beneath, and a glowing red-pink color that penetrates the surface. I've worked on this recipe for a while and I've finally nailed the technique for making Chinatown Char Siu Pork & Ribs at home. Here's how to do this dizzingly delicious favorite indoors. Try a test batch for January 26, Chinese New Year, and then make a big batch for the big game.
|
How Much Meat to Buy & How to Reheat Leftovers
|
|
 When entertaining, I always cook more meat than I know I will need. Nothing worse than running out. I usually calculate at least half a slab or one pound per person. Maybe more. Remember, there's a lot of bone in a slab. I usually buy more because leftovers are just fine with me. Mmmmmm, ribs for breakfast! Here's how to store and reheat leftovers, and a nifty inexpensive gadget by Reynolds to help keep your pork from getting that funny flavor in the freezer.
|
Thawing Frozen Meat
|
|
Fresh meat is almost always better than frozen meat because when meat
freezes the water crystals expand and puncture cell walls spilling out
the juices that keep meat tender and juicy.
Ever notice the pink liquid
in the bottom of the styrofoam tray when you defrost meat? No way to get it back into the flesh.
That said, meat frozen when fresh is still usually better than meat that was
frozen after sitting around for a week or so.
There are some tricks to defrosting frozen meat. Never thaw meat at room temp. That is a recipe for fluid loss
via all your apertures. There are three ways
to defrost meat safely: In the refrigerator, sink thawing, and cooler
thawing. Here's how to do it properly.
|
Hazardous Foods
|
|
 So this food safety expert from the FDA was giving a seminar at a culinary school. Near the end of the talk she touched on the fact that some foods have effects that are cumulative and the hazard might not be evident for decades. She asked the audience if they could think of an example. After a few moments of silence an old codger in the front row raised his hand and mumbled "wedding cake."
|
Try These Great Sauces
|
|
 I think every cook needs to have his or her own signature
home-made barbecue sauce to brag on, and I have a dozen killer recipes for you
to try and riff on. Each is representative of the 12 classic barbecue sauce styles.
But if you've got to buy a sauce, I've listed some
of my favorite commercial sauces. I try to recommend sauces that are not only delicious, but are also representative of the different regional styles. Best of all, you can buy most of them on the net. I've recently added about a dozen new sauces to the list, so check them out.
|
Why You Need a Faux Cambro
|
|
 There's no bigger blow to one's manhood than standing in the dining room while the wife's mashed potatoes and string beans give out their last gasp of steam as you announce that the ribs are still not ready.
The problem is that it's a lot harder to control the temperature of most outdoor cookers than your kitchen oven. Only a few electrics and gas units have thermostats, and then there's that pesky wind, rain, and snow screwing things up. As a result, it is really really tricky to have the meat ready when your guests start pounding the table.
Here's a trick that will save your butt as well as your ribs, brisket, and turkey: The faux Cambro. A Cambro is an indispensable tool to caterers. It is an insulated box in which they carry hot foods to weddings on the beach and keep them in the safe zone. But you don't need to buy a Cambro, you probably have one in the garage.
|
The Thermodynamics of Cooking
|
|
You may have thought you left physics and chemistry behind when you left school, but if you want to eat well, you need to understand that cooking is all about physics and chemistry, with a little magic mixed in. Here are some broad concepts every outdoor cook needs to know.
|
Ribs in a Hurry, Memphis-Style
|
|
 Almost everything on my website tells you to take your time cooking ribs. Low and slow. Three hours or more for baby backs, and five or more hours for spares and St. Louis cut.
But sometimes you can't wait. But there's a way to have baby backs ready in 90 minutes, the way they do in many of the best rib joints in Memphis. Here's how to do ribs in a hurry, Memphis-style.
|
The Most Beautiful Grills Ever?
|
|
My wife and I spent a few weeks in Northern Italy this fall, and while we wandering the side streets of Florence we stumbled across Giotti, a store selling beautiful ceramics, among them magnificent ceramic grills. These may be the most beautiful grills I've ever seen, and they will ship to the US.
|
Blog: No meat for a month? No way!
|
|
 Chicago's health commissioner, wants everyone to join him in going vegetarian for the month of January. First city officials tried to ban foie gras, then trans fats, and now another one wants us to lay off meat for 8.3% of the year? Not this Meathead.
Can you imagine the city built by Armour, Swift, and the Amalgamated Meat Cutters going meatless for a month? Can you just see Da Coach wandering from table to table at Ditka's selling grilled tofu during the playoffs? Or Mr. Beef changing his sign to Mr. Eggplant for two fortnights? Or Hot Doug's serving nothing but asparagus on a bun for 31 days?
Click here to read my take on this goofy idea, including a discussion of why meatless Lent failed, Carnivale, and why humans love meat.
|
Blogg: Lessons from Marley
|
|
 There are two powerful teaching opportunities in the new movie "Marley & Me" and the film gets a PhD in one and flunks the other.
One is about life and death. The other is about dog training. Longtime readers know my wife and I raise puppies for Leader Dogs for the Blind, so it will not surprise you to know that I have some strong opinions on movies that think out of control dogs are cute. Read "Lessons from Marley" if know an incorrigible dog. Send it to his owner.
|
Can you DIGG it?
|
|
 DIGG is a really useful website. People tell DIGG about their favorite websites and the top rated DIGG sites are usually pretty cool places. A top-rated site on DIGG gets a lot of traffic. I have recently added a DIGG button to my pages. If you dig my site, please DIGG it by clicking on the link near the top of each page! |
|
Unbiased Product Reviews and Buyer's Guide |
|
Check out the AmazingRibs.com Buyer's Guide
for unbiased recommendations for the best products for the back yard
cook including smokers, accessories, tools, gadgets, books, and sauces.
|
Visit the AmazingRibs.com Gift Shop
|
|
 Order cool gear from AmazingRibs.com including aprons, hats, shirts, sweatshirts, intimate wear, and other apparel for men, women, kids and pets. I also have beer mugs, posters, clocks, and other tschotschkes.
Select from a number of fun captions: Nice Rack!, Porknography, Hot & Juicy, Suck bones!, Eat me!, Succulent, Got ribs?, Allèz Barbecue, Jeet?, BBQ Goddess, BBQ God, Saucy, iRibs. To see the entire selection at CafePress.com, just click here.
|
|
|
|
|
