If you have never been to Memphis or Tennessee - never fear! I have got you covered. I have decided that Nashville is one of my most favourite places to eat and visit, and you should too because the food is seriously legit delicious!
When I first went to Memphis, I had no clue what was about to happen, and after a night eating at world famous Rendezvous restaurant - I became an advocate - for BBQ, and also for Tennessee ❤️
The way the share their passion for food was mind blowing to me, and they openly mocked a woman who just wanted a salad and a glass of water - she was mortified - I was impressed.Impressed that they believed enough in what they were doing to turn a customer away for not wanting what they did best - I often think about that woman, and wonder if her life would be different had she done what she was told and just ordered a rack of ribs and a beer like the rest of us! I digress...
I have Made a rub for pork ribs that reminds me of Memphis and that first rack I had all those Tennessee moons ago, and am in the final stages of having it ready to buy in my shop! It’s spicy, herby, and cooks into the meat dry so you get amazing bark on the rack, and then serve with a tangy BBQ sauce - or just eat dry!!
One of the the first things I learned from being shown how to cook the ribs best in a kitchen oven - was how important it was to remove the back membrane off the rack before you apply any seasoning - it makes them much easier to eat and no one wants to fight with a rib membrane when there are ribs to eat!!
Once you have this bad boy off, the job becomes easy - just sprinkle and rub! Be generous with the rub too - just a sprinkle isn’t going to create that lovely bark, so pack it on!
Once you have it covered well, double wrap it with foil and cook on a low heat - on a rack so it doesn’t touch that heat source directly! For about 3 hours! This is for oven method - because right now I don’t have access to a bbq or smoker - but if you only have an oven too - you can still cook ribs!! I usually have the oven on 100C for about 3 hours - wrapped, and then I take off the foil and let it go another hour to dry out a little and create the bark.
Once that is done - cut and enjoy with your favourite sauce - please not tomato though!
if you have my meat dust in your pantry already - then you can use that as it is perfect for ribs and is often a nice contrast of flavour if you were making 2 racks!!
Someone asked me if the rubs can go on beef ribs - and I say yes indeed, but beef ribs have more fat to render so you will need to cook for longer and longer to get them dry like the pork ones - for me Beef ribs are juicy and best cooked slow and low - but they will take hours of TLC and very worth it! By all means give it a shot using this Memphis flavour - it will be delicious - wrap them for at least 6 hours and up that temp to about 120C then char them and smother with sauce... ahhh drooling!
Anyway - whatever rubs you cook - Pork, Chicken, beef, lamb, fish - pumpkin? It’s all a great choice and will all be delicious! Patience is the key for tough cuts - but it will be worth every clock stare!
Happy rubbing!
MammaJo