Used to slather ribs in sauce, now I just dry rub and finish with a mop at the end

After 3 years of sticky, burnt edges on my 20 pound backyard cook, I switched to a simple salt and pepper base from a Franklin video last summer, and now I use a vinegar mop every 30 minutes on my offset smoker in Nashville, has anyone else ditched the sauce entirely for bark?

2 comments

2 Comments

phoenixb344d ago

Genuine question: how do you keep the mop from washing off that salt and pepper bark you worked so hard to build, especially on a 20 pounder where you've got hours of cook time left? I tried mopping once on a brisket and it turned the crust into this weird soggy paste, so I just stopped touching it entirely. But ribs might be different since they're smaller and take less time. Did you have to mess with your pit temp or spritz schedule to make the mop work, or does it just dry out fast enough in that Nashville heat that it doesn't matter?

anthony4244d ago

20 pounds of meat with a vinegar mop every 30 minutes on an offset, that's a full day of babysitting right there. My back hurts just thinking about standing over that thing for eight hours in Nashville heat. I ditched the sauce for a plain salt and pepper rub a while back too, but I never got the nerve to go full Franklin on a cook that big.