Can you brine ribs

Save Pin Print Share. Gallery Barbeque Rib Brine. Recipe Summary test prep:. Nutrition Info. Ingredients Decrease Serving The ingredient list now reflects the servings specified. Add all ingredients to shopping list View your list. I Made It Print. Cook's Note: Brine ribs for 24 to 48 hours before smoking for 3 hours. Full Nutrition. The label might say "seasoned" or something like that, but the seasoning is typically salt. Brined meats soak up a bit of their brine, so when you buy pre-brined meats, you're paying pork prices for salt water.

That works in the packer's favor, but it's not all bad. That practice brings the benefits of brined meats to cooks who would never think of brining on their own, or might not have the option. The downside of course is that if you brine pork that's preseasoned, it will be very salty.

In practice, because there's relatively little meat on the bones, ribs aren't often sold that way. If you want to be sure, slice off a small sliver of meat from the rack and fry or microwave it until it's cooked. If it tastes seasoned at all, it's pre-brined. If all you taste is unseasoned pork, you're good to go. The most common approach to brining meats calls for a wet brine, which is a solution of salt and water. Brines are measured by their concentration, or the percentage of salt dissolved in the water.

For quick-brining a few ribs or chickens at home, that concentration is usually about 5 or 6 percent by weight. It's easy math for cooks who use the metric system, because you'd use 60 grams per liter of water. A gallon of water weighs 8. If you multiply ounces by 6 percent, you'll get just over 8 ounces. Your ratio, then, would be a half-pound of salt for every gallon of water. Some brines call for sugar as well, which mellows the sometimes-harsh flavor of the salt.

The standard technique is to dissolve your salt, along with the sugar and any other flavoring ingredients, in hot water. Remove ribs from brine and pat dry with paper towels. Discard brine. Combine black pepper, salt, paprika and brown sugar in a bowl. Massage the rub in with your hands. Use wood chunks in grill for extra flavor.

Drain wood chunks and sprinkle a few over the hot coals. Add ribs to the smoker, overlapping slightly. Allow the ribs to brine in this mixture, for 6 hours or overnight, rotating bag occasionally.

Prior to cooking, remove ribs from brine and pat dry; discard used brine. Using a drip pan, prepare a grill for indirect cooking.

Place the ribs over the drip pan and grill using indirect medium heat test by placing your hand over the heat- you should be able to keep it there for about 3 seconds. Add additional coals during cooking if needed. Baste with honey bbq sauce during the last minutes of cooking, allowing the sauce to set.