I was thinking about doing it as a time saving device - any recommendations?
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I can kind of go either way on this. I like to cook my ribs low and slow with smoke, which takes a couple of hours. However, I'm not sure that par-boiling will really improve this cooking time. So I'd say no for low and slow technique. My mother boils her ribs first and then grills them. In this case, they cook in the liquid and really just finish on the grill. She puts the ribs in a shallow pan, puts some liquid in, covers in foil, and throws them in the oven. I think she does about two hours in the oven (a quick google suggests about 275). Then it only takes 15 mins or so to finish on the grill. This makes tending quite a lot easier. You can boil them ahead of time and hold in the refrigerator. It also allows you to introduce some more interesting liquids for the boiling (beer, Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper). Par-boiling for 10-15 minutes and then grilling will help reduce some of the fat in the ribs. It will also help make them "fall of the bone" if you're grilling at higher heats. However, I don't think that 10 minutes is going to substantially affect your cooking time. I could be wrong though, as this method falls dead in between the two methods I'm familiar with. |
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It probably will save some time, but I tend to think that boiling meat makes for a rather bland, ropey final product (collagen dissolves from the meat, leaving it stingy rather than juicy). I would suggest just baking them beforehand. You can bake them (low heat, wrapped in foil) days before you intend to serve them and keep them in the refrigerator. Finish as normal (either on a grill or under high heat in the oven). |
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Our family recipe calls for the ribs to be boiled for an hour before being broiled. The ribs are boiled with a few onions, salt and pepper, and then a sauce is applied for broiling. This does significantly cut down on cook time, and also doesn't require the oven to be on as long and results in tender meat. That being said, Slow cooking ribs does result in tastier ribs. The boil and broil method is best used in colder weather and don't want to cook low for the required number of hours. |
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When you boil ribs, the terrorists win. The whole point of the slow cooking process is to break down the collagen in the connective tissue into gelatin which creates that unctuous mouthfeel that great bbq is known for. By boiling it, you're causing the proteins in the collagen to seize and toughen. The meat may be more tender but that's not what you're ultimately after in great bbq ribs. |
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