Johnny Trigg's Ribs

Man, These look amazing, I am thinking of trying them.

I noticed he had something on the bottom of the foil and I have no clue what it was, kinda looked like the same mixture he put on top of the ribs.

He did butter, then put brown sugar on top (didnt notice if he rubbed it in, kinda looked like he just evenly spread it on top of the ribs), honey, and I believe garlic powder/Onion powder.

Anyone else got any idea as to what he put on them?

It was actually margarine he put in there, not butter. You can tell by the way it looks (streams of stuff like it came out of a Parkay squeeze bottle, which it did).

Many teams use margarine rather than butter because of its higher burn point. I saw Mike of Lotta Bull BBQ literally douse his chicken with spray margarine while he was cooking in the BBQ Championship Series (available on DVD) a few years ago. He says it gets the chicken with "bite through" skin that judges are looking for. BTW, his chicken won that day! I got to try his chicken and ribs and they were amazing... Best I ever had. Not sure what Mike put in his rib foil though as I didn't get to see that. The ribs didn't quite taste like candy so I doubt Mike used the honey/ brown sugar treatment and just stuck with apple juice.

As for the liquid that Johnny put in the bottom of the ribs, my guess is apple juice. This helps to steam and tenderize and flavor the ribs.

Now, as for that margarine/honey/brown sugar frosting on the ribs, beware that this will almost literally turn 'em into candy. That's great if you're only gonna eat a bite or two as you get the "Wow" factor that BBQ judges are looking for, but not so great IMO for a backyard BBQ wherein you'll be eating several bones. Rather, I just apply more of the BBQ rub at this stage if I choose to foil along with some apple cider. Most of the time, I skip foiling altogether and just mist with a apple cider/whiskey mix every hour or so. To each their own though... some people like candy. Any kids there would probably love the rib candy.

Lazy Qer wrote:

It was actually margarine he put in there, not butter. You can tell by the way it looks (streams of stuff like it came out of a Parkay squeeze bottle, which it did).

Many teams use margarine rather than butter because of its higher burn point. I saw Mike of Lotta Bull BBQ literally douse his chicken with spray margarine while he was cooking in the BBQ Championship Series (available on DVD) a few years ago. He says it gets the chicken with "bite through" skin that judges are looking for. BTW, his chicken won that day! I got to try his chicken and ribs and they were amazing... Best I ever had. Not sure what Mike put in his rib foil though as I didn't get to see that. The ribs didn't quite taste like candy so I doubt Mike used the honey/ brown sugar treatment and just stuck with apple juice.

As for the liquid that Johnny put in the bottom of the ribs, my guess is apple juice. This helps to steam and tenderize and flavor the ribs.

Now, as for that margarine/honey/brown sugar frosting on the ribs, beware that this will almost literally turn 'em into candy. That's great if you're only gonna eat a bite or two as you get the "Wow" factor that BBQ judges are looking for, but not so great IMO for a backyard BBQ wherein you'll be eating several bones. Rather, I just apply more of the BBQ rub at this stage if I choose to foil along with some apple cider. Most of the time, I skip foiling altogether and just mist with a apple cider/whiskey mix every hour or so. To each their own though... some people like candy. Any kids there would probably love the rib candy.

I was thinking along the lines that this would definitely turn them into some sort of sweetfest.

I've noticed that people (Tuffy) put their chicken in drip pans and fill it up completely with butter and let it cook like that, wouldnt you lose the flavor of the food/rub that way?

Again it goes back to impressing a judge who only has one bite. The braising of the chicken really tenderizes it and adds flavor. It also allows for chicken to cook quicker. when you're dealing with longer cooking pork, brisket, and ribs, a fast chicken recipe helps (but ironically, may penalize teams as you hear so much about up-and-down chicken scores).

- one of the original BBQ comp recipes was Jumpin' Jim's Chicken Thigh's- marinate in Newman's Own italian, cook indirect until you hit 160, then place in a pan with bbq sauce and siimmer until you hit 180. I guess this has been updated to a butter braise.

As rogerja said, cooking the chicken in butter in pans just braises 'em. You get more consistent results this way, but lose the grilled and smoke flavor, IMO. Adam Perry Lang details more of this method in his book, "Serious BBQ" in his competition chicken thigh recipe wherein he not only cooks the chicken in pans, but he covers them in tinfoil! I fail to see the difference here in that kind of cook and just throwing them into the oven. Again, it's all about consistency, and that's what the competitors are looking for.

Actually, one of the new trends on the comp circuit is injecting chicken (mostly a mix of chicken broth/butter/spices/etc.). They pretty much skip Jumping Jim's marinade now. IMO, not worth this kind of effort for simple backyard BBQing...

My favorite, go-to BBQ chicken recipe is a variation of Jumping Jim's: marinade your chicken overnight in Italian dressing (Newman's Own, or I go to Cash and Carry where they sell Bernstein's by the gallon. Much cheaper this way). Dry the chicken with a paper towel and apply your BBQ rub. Let the rubbed chicken sit in the fridge for a few hours before you grill 'em (this has 2 effects: it dries the skin out making for much crisper skin and it lets the rub soak in for added flavor). Grill indirect at 325-350 to avoid flareups. I also throw in a fist-sized chunk of hickory to get some nice smoke flavor. About 1/2 hour in, I dip the thighs in doctored up BBQ sauce: a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's combined with a cup of apricot preserves, a shot of Jack, and a dash of hot sauce and red pepper flakes for some heat (simmer over med. heat for 15 minutes to thicken the sauce and let the flavors meld). Put the chicken back in your cooker. Chicken is done usually around 40-45 minutes after first throwing them on the grill (check with your meat thermometer. Should read 170 for thighs). Great chicken every time...

Lazy Qer wrote:

My favorite, go-to BBQ chicken recipe is a variation of Jumping Jim's: marinade your chicken overnight in Italian dressing (Newman's Own, or I go to Cash and Carry where they sell Bernstein's by the gallon. Much cheaper this way). Dry the chicken with a paper towel and apply your BBQ rub. Let the rubbed chicken sit in the fridge for a few hours before you grill 'em (this has 2 effects: it dries the skin out making for much crisper skin and it lets the rub soak in for added flavor). Grill indirect at 325-350 to avoid flareups. I also throw in a fist-sized chunk of hickory to get some nice smoke flavor. About 1/2 hour in, I dip the thighs in doctored up BBQ sauce: a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's combined with a cup of apricot preserves, a shot of Jack, and a dash of hot sauce and red pepper flakes for some heat (simmer over med. heat for 15 minutes to thicken the sauce and let the flavors meld). Put the chicken back in your cooker. Chicken is done usually around 40-45 minutes after first throwing them on the grill (check with your meat thermometer. Should read 170 for thighs). Great chicken every time...

That sounds really good, thanks for sharing!

This does sound good... is this only for thighs? Would the same technique work for other parts of the chicken... thinking legs, wings, and possibly breasts?

jmartis wrote:

This does sound good... is this only for thighs? Would the same technique work for other parts of the chicken... thinking legs, wings, and possibly breasts?

Legs and wings yes, breasts not really. Braising works in similar manner to Q'ing. You're giving time for the fat/collagen to break down which will give a moist/tender sensation when eating the meat. The problem with breasts is theres really no fat or connective tissue to break down so you're most likely going to wind up with dry breast meat.

Here is a video of pretty much what Johnny Trigg does with his ribs. He doesn't use any broth when he foils. Just Parkay Squeeze, brown sugar, honey, and garlic powder.

http://www.lottabullbbq.com/video.html