Get Your Grill On

Two Saturdays ago the local temperatures were in the 40s, so I cooked some ribs and chicken on my Big Green Egg. There were some things I was pleased with and also some big areas for improvement. If I’m going to critique restaurant ‘cue on my review site, I have to be equally critical of my own cooking.

Things that disappointed me:

• For the ribs I tried a new rub that had what I thought was a good combination of ingredients, but in practice wound up rather dull. It was about 40% turbinado sugar—that’s significantly more than what I usually use, but not unusual. Chile powder (guajillo and chipotle) accounted for a little less than 20%, but in the end it tasted more like 10%. There was nothing unpleasant about the rub’s contribution to the final taste, but there really didn’t seem to be much of a contribution at all.

• I did a less than stellar job removing the rib membrane. For restaurant volumes this is usually considered impractical, but removing the membrane for competition is a must. I usually handle this fine, but one out of every four or five racks seems to give me a problem. If I ever decide to compete on my own, my skills need to improve.

• I procrastinated and didn’t order the external thermometer in time for this cook. The one that came with the unit hasn’t been accurate, so I’ve been relying on an oven thermometer tha t I rest on the cooking surface. This seems pretty accurate, but if I’m only checking it periodically, I run the risk of either checking too often and affecting the temperature or not checking often enough and not reacting soon enough to out-of-tolerance temperatures.

• I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I knew this was a problem from the beginning, but my wife selected them, so I agreed. If it were up to her, we’d be eating at an upscale restaurant that night, so I let my gratefulness for the Saturday cook affect a decision that should have been made differently. Next time, it’s thighs with skin and bone. If she doesn’t want to eat the skin, she doesn’t have to.

• 

  It took three full hours for the chicken to cook. Despite temperatures ranging from 200F to 250F, it took much longer than usual to get the boneless thighs to the point of proper doneness. I’m going to chalk this up to both of the previous problems.

• The ribs were juicy but the chicken was merely moist, with some dry meat at the surface. Good barbecue chicken should be juicy. I’ve achieved juicy before but not this time.
• I’m usually a no-sauce guy, but I decided to finish the ribs with a thin coating of sauce to add flavor and crisp up the bark. Although there was a nice natural bark already, th e sauce never caramelized, even after a half hour. This might be another fallout of the temperature gage problem. I’ll try this technique again next time and see if the results improve.

Things that pleased me:

• Despite the temperature issues, I managed to make enough adjustments on my cooker to get both the ribs and the chicken cooked properly. Although there’s still plenty of room for improvement, I was pleased with the tenderness and the flavor.
• The chicken rub, despite having no sugar, still supplied plenty of flavor. I used the same rub I used for Thanksgiving turkey parts, with celery seeds and coriander seeds two of the key ingredients.
• The chicken marinade was also a sugar-free affair, and the mix of Diet Coke, Italian dressing, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and low carb maple syrup worked well.
• I tried a new trick during the foiling process to sweeten the ribs, and this seemed to be a success. I’m still experimenting and will report my findings after additional research.
• The chicken was merely moist but the ribs were juicy.
• I concocted a cherry glaze for the ribs and a pineapple glaze for (just two pieces of) the chicken. Both worked well with the meat, both had plenty of other flavors and both were sufficiently within the confines of “traditional barbecue” to be at home at a competition.
• Even though my new external thermometer should be arriving any day now, I found and ordered a dual probe thermometer online. This will provide constant remote readout of both the meat temperature and the smoker temperature.