Thank you Food Network!

Food Network is the nation's only 24-hour cable television network devoted to great food as well as the people and the places that contribute to the experience. Food Network is distributed to more than 66 million U.S. households, is seen internationally in Canada, Australia, France, the Philippines, and the Republic of Korea. Carson's is very proud to be featured by Food Network (July 2005) in its search for "the best BBQ from New England to Hawaii." The following is one recipe we shared during the show.

What is Barbecue?

The method of barbecue is used to slowly smoke meats at a temperature range between 190° and 250°. The meat is not cooked from gas, electric, or with the intense heat and fire from burning charcoals. Rather, the meat is cooked using an "indirect method." Smoke and low-level heat generated from burning coals and hickory (off to the sides) will slowly cook the meat while also penetrating the meat with wonderful wood flavor. For ribs, the process takes between 3 ½ and 5 hours depending on weather and wind conditions, and how well you are able to maintain an ideal temperature zone of 200° to 250°.

There is not a singular style of BBQ that is universally beloved. The Carson family has operated BBQ restaurants in Chicago for almost 30 years and is fortunate to have a large and enthusiastic following of loyal customers. However, there are areas across the country (Kansas City, Memphis, Texas, and the Carolinas) where methods are very different from Carson's signature recipe. Some people prefer hickory wood, while others like maple or oak. There are baby back, beef and spare rib eaters across the globe. In Kansas City one might prefer "dry-rub" ribs. Perhaps you are a smoky-sauce lover, or maybe sweet, hot or mild sauce whets your appetite. If you have ever tried to make your own sauce, you might have a preference between a vinegar, mustard or tomato-based sauce. Whatever the case (and all are acceptable, of course!), we at Carson's would like to share with you what we do to make America's #1 Barbecue ^®.

Each Carson's restaurant smokes their meats in a large, traditional BBQ pit smoker. Our smoker has a rotisserie system within the pit which permits us to slowly smoke 180 slabs of ribs at a time.

We at Carson's feel that sauce is an integral part of the barbecue process. We have tried countless sauces and still believe ours to be paramount, and that is why we use it so generously. Many places brush their sauce on the meat in the final grilling stage or just offer it on the side. We take a different route. Before we load our meats into the pit we dip them in our fabulous sauce. This allows the sauce to permeate the meat as the hickory slowly smokes the ribs. Since our sauce is on the sweeter side and we smoke the ribs between 190° and 250°, this ensures that the ribs never burn and that they come out perfectly. No dry-rub here. No spices, beer or garlic either. All that's needed is our award-winning BBQ sauce.

Thinking about preparing some ribs at home? That's not a problem because you, too, can barbecue great ribs from your own backyard. Before you start, however, be forewarned – barbecuing is a process that takes time and patience to be done correctly. It takes about 3 ½ to 5 hours and periodic tending to the coals in order to properly smoke the ribs. A 22 ½ inch kettle, for example, only smokes four slabs of ribs at a time.

Necessary Items

• 22 ½ inch charcoal kettle
  The lid should have a thermometer so one can monitor the internal temperature of the air in the kettle. It is important that the top rack has the two-hinged sides so that coals and hickory chips are easily added to the fire throughout the process.
• A rib rack
  Available at any good hardware store. It holds four slabs on their sides so that they are away from the direct heat of the fire.
• An aluminum drip pan approximately 9" x 12" x 1 ½"
• A good pair of BBQ tongs
• A stick meat thermometer
• 10 lb. bag of charcoal briquettes
• Hickory wood chips

Some people prefer to smoke with oak, maple, alder or even mesquite. We use hickory and we find it to provide the best smoke flavor without overpowering the ribs. Soak about three cups of chips in water at least two hours before you plan on starting the barbecue process. Dry chips will burn too rapidly and may even produce a bitter taste. The soaked chips will smolder and smoke, and that is the goal.

Ingredients

4 Domestic baby back ribs weighing between 1 ½ and 1 ¾ lbs. per slab

Baby backs are the most expensive type of rib but they're the best. Domestic spare ribs are good, and some even like foreign ribs (Denmark, Canada, Ireland, etc.), but for the best outcome we recommend baby backs.

Note: Ask your butcher to "skin" the ribs. This removes a thin layer of skin on the underside of the rib. Or, you can easily do it yourself by using a flat knife and sliding it between the bone and the layer of skin that exists on the bottom side of the slab. Use the knife to pull up the skin in the center. Then grab it with your hand and peel it off.

3 pints of your favorite BBQ Sauce (ours recommended!)

Starting The Fire

Barbecuing is an outdoor activity. On the recent episode for Food Network where our restaurant was featured, we smoked ribs on a home-style kettle from the kitchen at one of our restaurants. Do not attempt to BBQ indoors! Our restaurant has a very strong ventilation system and it was for demonstration purposes only.

Adjust the bottom vents of your kettle so that they are about ½ open. On a windy day, you want to close them even more, so that they are barely open. On a very windy day, you probably do not want to barbecue at all. The high winds blowing through the kettle would make it very difficult to control the fire and temperatures.

Remove the top rack and place about 35 to 50 charcoal briquettes in the center of the bottom rack. Ignite and allow burning for about 20 to 30 minutes. When most of the coals have a gray ash, divide them in half, and push them to opposite sides of the kettle. Place the aluminum drip pan in between the piles of coals on the bottom rack of the kettle. The pan will keep the meat away from the direct heat of the burning coals.

If you would like even more help, most stores that carry BBQ accessories sell charcoal holders designed for "indirect heat" smoking. Purchase two that will hold about 20-25 briquettes each and place them on the bottom rack below the hinged portions of the upper rack. This eliminates the need to be spreading hot coals to opposite ends of the kettle. It also ensures that hot coals will not tumble beneath the meat during the BBQ process. These are highly recommended for the BBQ novice.

Either way, you should now have two moderate fires consisting of 18 to 25 briquettes each on opposite ends of the kettle. Cover the kettle with its lid. Make sure the top dampers are only slightly open. Wait a minute or two to allow the thermometer on the top of the kettle to register a temperature for the air within the kettle. It should read between 175° and 225°. If it does, that's perfect. It it's 300° or more, remove the lid and allow the coals to burn until the heat is not so intense. Once the temperature is between 175° and 225°, you are ready to begin the barbecue process.

Let The Fun Begin!

Place the top grill rack in the kettle so that the hinged ends are above the fires on each side.

Dip four slabs of ribs into the BBQ sauce, coating the entire slab. Position the ribs on their sides into the rib rack. Place the rib rack holding the four slabs in the center of the top rack so that the ribs are above the aluminum pan and away from the fire and the direct heat.

Once the rack is properly positioned, use tongs to lift the hinged portion of the top racks. Add three fresh charcoal briquettes to each fire. Then, grab a small handful of the hickory chips that have been soaked for a minimum of two hours and sprinkle them on top of both fires. Cover the Kettle immediately with its lid.

The temperature will probably be about 190o at this point. The three fresh coals and the hickory chips added to each side will raise the temperature to around 225° to 275° in a short time. You should see and smell puffs of smoke coming through the small opening of the dampers and sometimes even from the center of the kettle.

The BBQ process is now under way. You will need to "feed" the fire every 30 to 45 minutes. Check the thermometer outside of the kettle every 30 minutes or so. When you see that is has dropped below 190o, add four to eight briquettes and a small handful of hickory chips to each fire. Immediately after you feed the fire the temperature may actually drop for a short time before it starts to slowly climb. By adding briquettes and hickory chips you will keep the temperature range in that ideal zone of 200° to 250°. Up to 275° for short periods of time is fine but if you add too much charcoal (or have extreme weather conditions) it may cause the temperature to get over 300°. If this occurs, remove the lid and allow the fires to burn until the heat is less intense.

After 90 minutes use the tongs to remove one slab at a time from the rack so that you can generously baste them with more BBQ sauce. When you put them back into the rack, make sure to flip them 180° so that the side of the rib that had been touching the grill is now facing upwards. After about 3 ¼ hours lift the lid and use a stick thermometer to get a reading on the meat. Make sure to stick it in the meat between the bones – if the thermometer is touching the bone, it could give a false reading. The ribs are done when the internal temperature of the meat reaches 150° to 160°. The ribs should have a beautiful, golden-reddish color with even a touch of char here and there.

The ribs are ready to go at this point, but we prefer one final step at Carson's. We like finishing the ribs directly over hot coals (requiring another kettle) for about two to three minutes per side while brushing the meat with BBQ sauce. This gives the meat a final charring and seals in the juices. As we said before – this is a long and tedious process to produce just four slabs of ribs, but if you enjoy great barbecue and delicious ribs it's the only way to go!

If you have any questions or comments for Carson's, please feel free to contact us via e-mail at action@ribs.com.