As some of you know, I’ve been cooking on Big Green Egg Barbecues for some years now…and size of your barbecue does matter, especially when using a Big Green Egg. We went from a large size BGE to a small BGE, a significent size difference that influences how much you can cook, how much heat you can keep and for how long and how much good charcoil you can keep on the boat. I LOVE Mexico, but Mexican charcoil just ain’t like Big Green Egg Brand Charcoil…which simply isn’t available. So keeping heat and temperatures right on a small BGE on a sailboat can be a challenge, especially when the recipes call for a low and slow cook using an indirect method of cooking…like when you’re smoking.
I admit it….I haven’t done much rib cooking lately and I had never cooked ribs on my small BGE. But in this case I found a nice looking rack (of ribs) at the tienda in the Puerto Escondido Marina and decided to try a big rack for the first time on the small BGE. I used the Big Green Egg Cookbook for guidance and inspiration, but threw a wet rub of yellow mustard on the ribs to make the seasoning stick and liberally covered the meaty side of the ribs with Aw Shit Seasoning from Big Cock Ranch. Don’t worry, you’ll never taste or see the yellow mustard when the cooking’s over, as it just goes away but does a great job holding seasoning onto the meat. I’ve used both olive oil and yellow mustard with equal success.
Seasoning added and the Big Green Egg prepped for indirect cooking at an even 300 degrees, I threw the ribs onto the barbecue. After an hour and ten minutes, it was clear they were cooking fine, so I turned the ribs for another 30 minutes.
After those 30 minutes, I did follow the recipe and got some tin foil under the ribs and added 1-cup of apple juice, letting the rack cook for another 30 minutes. You’ll see the tin foil in the next picture, as I’m taking the ribs off to cover them and allow them to cool while soaking their own juices back up.
Lastly, I add the piece-de-resistance….adding some of our precious Phils Barbeque Sauce directly to the ribs and covering them back up again for 10-15 minutes. We only had this one small rack of ribs, but served with a Merlot and some barbecued veggies, this was a great meal for the four of us and I’m excited to make my ribs again when we can find some more.
Since COVID started and we returned to the Sea of Cortez, we have been stuck on the boat for nearly every meal, so cooking has taken on a whole new level of importance for crew morale and has a daily impact. This is a life style that we’ve chosen but we sure didn’t choose to cruise during a pandemic. We’re making the best we can out of a tough situation and starting to look into our crystal ball past hurricane season….thinking through what’s next. I have some trepidation for what’s to come and how bad the fall/winter might be. But a bad fall and winter for COVID will only keep countries closed, making safe cruising destinations that much harder to get to. I urge folks who are cruising or thinking of cruising to think longer term about what happens if ports/countries continue to remain closed or fail to reopen to incoming cruisers; due to increased mortality and spread of COVID. Ok….nuff of that. This stories late on this Monday night cause I’ve been out doing errands all day and didn’t get around to fine tuning it till tonight. I hope it’s interesting and you decided to try a big rack for yourself.
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