ITALIAN PORK RIBS - How to Cook Them on a Gas BBQ
- bbqspark
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
We all know it: traditions in Italy are sacred, especially when it comes to cuisine.
Having worked in the restaurant industry for many years and primarily using braziers for cooking, we've come to understand how, in Italy, they're mostly misused. A prime example is cooking ribs.
We've all been to a barbecue and watched the grill man cut the ribs from the sides, throw them on the grill with the charcoal or flame directly underneath, and brush them with oil, using a sprig of rosemary.
Without having to guess, we are sure that the result, in most cases, was considered excellent by all the diners.
But are we sure this is the best way to cook them?
We're not convinced, and in this BBQ Lesson we propose Italian-style pork ribs, according to our standards.
INGREDIENTS
- Rib belly (whole)
- Rosemary
- Garlic
- Salt
- Pepper
Measure the quantities according to your tastes
PREPARATION
Let's start by cleaning the cut. Using the handle of a teaspoon, lift the pleura from the bones and remove it with our hands. We also trim off any excess fat and trim the flank to make it more uniform.
Let's move on to preparing our rub. Since these are "Italian-style ribs," we'll use some very simple, typically Mediterranean herbs: rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper.
So let's chop some rosemary, add some finely chopped garlic cloves, salt and pepper.
We'll drizzle it over the meat without using oil. We'd like to remind you that, in our opinion, the oil will fry the meat during cooking, releasing a different flavor than that obtained from pure BBQ cooking.
We proceed with the preparation by placing the ribs in a rack suitable for oven or barbecue cooking. This will keep the ribs upright and help us save space in our brazier as well as collect all the fat in the drip tray at the bottom.
To cook them we decided to use a gas brazier, which we will set up for indirect cooking.
For those unfamiliar, indirect cooking refers to a grill setup that places the heat source away from the food. In our case, we'll light the side burners on the left side of the grill and place the ribs on the right. Be careful: remember to close the grill lid and avoid opening it too often, as temperature fluctuations could ruin the final result.
To add extra flavor to the preparation, we also use a smoke box . It's a simple steel box with perforations on the bottom and lid, inside which you place wood chips or pellets. If you don't have one, a disposable aluminum tray with perforations on the bottom and covered with perforated foil will do.
Once filled, the smoke box should be positioned in contact with the flame, under or above the cooking grate, depending on the size of the combustion chamber and the power of the burners.
In the first phase, to facilitate smoking, we will maintain a higher temperature, around 150°C.
Once the chips have stopped smoking, we will lower the temperature to around 120 degrees and continue cooking.
After about three hours, our ribs are ready. As we often say, this time is a guideline; the important thing is that they pass the "whisker test" with tongs.
The test is simple: if, when you pick up the ribs with tongs, the meat bends and begins to pull away from the bone (without falling apart), the ribs are cooked through. In our opinion, ribs that completely fall apart when you pull on the bone are overcooked.
The visual result is significantly better than ribs cooked over a direct flame. You'll notice reddish hues with slightly browned (not burned) areas. If you've smoked the ribs, you'll see a more or less pronounced band of pink meat, called smoking rings , in the cut section, indicating a perfectly executed smoking process. The ribs will be juicy and tender, having allowed the heat to dissolve the collagen within the meat.
Cooking ribs this way will not only improve your overall cooking, but it will also reduce your effort by avoiding having to constantly turn them, quell the flames, and dirty the grill.
This Italian-style pork ribs recipe is a dish you never get tired of, because it's made with the simple flavors and aromas we use every day in our most classic national recipes.
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