Ever done ribs over open fire?
Elk
I would really like to make the ribs over an open fire if (when) we kill an elk this year.
Have you ever done that? Just how did you go about it?
I have smoked elk ribs and they are great! Low and slow till the meat pulls back from the bone. Usually 225 for about 6 hours.
Cook them high up, slow and low to med rare at most. 125 internal temp! Coals are better than a ragging fire, just keep it stoked and burning. Yummy! Bring some BBQ sauce you like and braise about 10 minutes before removing from fire. Tell me where you will be and I will cook all the elk you want if I get to eat it:) Don't forget the heart, it is awesome cooked in bacon grease with onions and taters! I soak it in milk or beer for 12 hours or so. take it out and wipe or rinse it off. cut it in 1/4" thick pieces, remove anything white. Cook your taters and onions first in the bacon grease. remove taters and onions and cook the heart in a hot skillet, about 2 minutes a side should do just fine! Now my mouth is watering!
I’ve actually done this before Hawaiian pit style. Season the ribs, wrap them in foil.
Dig a hole about a foot and a half deep that the ribs will lay flat it.
Build a fire and get a good bed of coals.
Shovel some coals in the pit until their is a good layer of them and lay the heavily foiled ribs on top. Followed by another generous layer of coals on top of the ribs.
Cover them with a few inches of dirt and let them sit for 4 to 6 hours and when you carefully dig them out and unwrap them they will be fall off the bone.
If you cook them over an open fire they are tasty but really tough.
Good luck!!!!!
What TravisScott said,over an open fire they tend to be tough.Wrap em' in foil with a little seasoning and cook them amongst the coals ,really slow.Good Luck!
Low (temp) and slow ( time) or they will be very tough and chewy.
I've cooked ribs over an open fire and it wasn't a good method. Not the meat's fault. They just got dry and tough.
Dang Jordan! that was "Special"...
There’s nothing like eating fresh meat over a fire. When in Alaska, we’d cook fresh ribs, heart, blackstrap, and tenders over a fire. Took a while with ribs but man! Coat them good with lots of seasonings and put on a spit.
Lmao! Yeah Jordan I’ve seen that one before. They showed it in hunter safety when my boys went a couple years ago.
Love that song solo. Haven’t heard it in forever.
It is true the ribs will be tough! I meant to ad that and forgot, but they still taste good:) I remember that video! Dang, that would suck!!!
Travis’s method works great if you have the right place for it. Used to do a wild pigs like that in Texas. Kind of like a pressure cooker.
Couple of things about cooking in the ground:
Make sure you have your foil sealed up air tight - don’t have any holes in it. Hard to do with elk ribs.
The heavyweight foil works better. Fold the foil together on the edges several times to make a larger air tight sheet to wrap the ribs in. Double wrapping and using additional foil or something on the rough bone edges to keep from tearing the foil helps.
Use some wire to mark the depth to the package so you don’t tear it with the shovel when you dig it up.
Dig out the last bit with your hands. A good pair of thick leather gloves will protect your hands.
Put enough soil over the top so that no smoke is coming through.
If you’re at base camp bring a bag of charcoal. It’s much easier to keep your heat low and slow. You’ll be cooking faster too. It takes quite awhile to build a fire and let it burn down to a bed of coals to cook on. A Dutch oven helps regulate heat too.
Going to be really tough and have to be constantly watched to control flames.
As mentioned the key is low and slow wrapped air tight in heavy-duty foil. We'll bake them that way for 2-3 hours over coals. When the foil bag starts to balloon, they are getting close. We finish them off with a spicy BBQ sauce over a hot flame.
Or, you can fire up the generator and Sous Vide, them. ;-)
Matt
Thanks everyone - I figured they would be tough, that's why I posted, hoping for some secrete that would "tenderize" them some how.
