Momma's Mustard, Pickles and BBQ

Why wouldn't we want ribs with the meat falling off the bone? Why would I want something tough and chewy? And why would someone say we don't know what were talking about and they should be that way? That's fine. Serve tough and chewy ribs. We'll remember and not return. Really?

NO! There is a "happy medium" here, that I am afraid you are missing!

BBQ cooked "correctly" will have ribs exhibiting the ultimate of tenderness, yet the meat will not fall off the bone. Think of a wonderful beef stew . . . if done right, there are meltingly tender chunks of meat, while if over-cooked you end up with something resembling chili/shredded beef!

To truly get meat falling off the bone, one usually steams (or boils) the ribs first, then bakes them, and then finishes them on a grill. For "real" BBQ you cook the ribs (monitoring them throughout) for around 7 hours +/-, and may or may not finish them on a grill. It is extremely labor intensive, and requires skill to get them tender but not mushy, which is why many places advertise "fall off the bone", as it's too much trouble and takes too much time and skill to smoke them correctly!

Why wouldn't we want ribs with the meat falling off the bone? Why would I want something tough and chewy? And why would someone say we don't know what were talking about and they should be that way? That's fine. Serve tough and chewy ribs. We'll remember and not return. Really?

NO! There is a "happy medium" here, that I am afraid you are missing!

Bingo...and unfortunately it's not always a "slam dunk" to hit that happy medium (there are too many variables) but when you do there is nothing better than a good rib. Even after having cooked hundreds of racks of ribs, I'm still probably a 75% guy when it comes to hitting things right on....I will say this though, as much as I've pissed and moaned about "FOTB" I'd probably rather have an -overcooked- rib than an undercooked one.

To truly get meat falling off the bone, one usually steams (or boils) the ribs first, then bakes them, and then finishes them on a grill.

That's called "Chicago style" and while (some people) believe Chicago style pizza is dah bomb, cooking ribs in that fashion and calling it "BBQ" borders on sacrilege.

For "real" BBQ you cook the ribs (monitoring them throughout) for around 7 hours +/-, and may or may not finish them on a grill. It is extremely labor intensive, and requires skill to get them tender but not mushy, which is why many places advertise "fall off the bone", as it's too much trouble and takes too much time and skill to smoke them correctly!

I was out in the garage talking to my smokers this morning and I broke the news to them that we were "retiring" from the competition BBQ bidness. There was a bit of grumbling amongst the troops but when I promised them we'd spend the summer working on real down to earth "good eatin" BBQ as opposed to those candy-coated rib-cicles one has to serve up in competition they gave me the two thumbs....errrrr grates up.

Trim em, rub 'em and cook 'em on Cherry wood and this is what they look like.

Ribs1.jpg

Trim em, rub 'em and cook 'em on Cherry wood and this is what they look like.

To truly get meat falling off the bone, one usually steams (or boils) the ribs first, then bakes them, and then finishes them on a grill. [/quote]

That's called "Chicago style" and while (some people) believe Chicago style pizza is dah bomb, cooking ribs in that fashion and calling it "BBQ" borders on sacrilege.

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There's a Chicago chain called "Carson's", which has been around for 60+ years and is one of the largest volume rib places in the area (NOT the best, IMHO, but huge volume and long-lasting). They slather BBQ sauce on raw ribs, wrap them in heavy duty foil, and then slow-cook them, in essence steaming the ribs. They are plenty flavorful, but texture wise they are closer to over-cooked stew meat than true ribs! This could be the source of "Chicago style???"

I was out in the garage talking to my smokers this morning and I broke the news to them that we were "retiring" from the competition BBQ bidness. There was a bit of grumbling amongst the troops but when I promised them we'd spend the summer working on real down to earth "good eatin" BBQ as opposed to those candy-coated rib-cicles one has to serve up in competition they gave me the two thumbs....errrrr grates up.

Trim em, rub 'em and cook 'em on Cherry wood and this is what they look like.

Sorry to hear you're going off the competition circuit but glad to hear that you are going to start cooking ribs that taste good instead of score good! I've never liked the ones that score well in competition, they just don't taste right!

Ate lunch at the new location yesterday...and acknowledging my reputation as a BBQ snob, let me just say this is the real deal. I had the BBQ "Slider" combo, that is 1 Slider of each of the 5 meats they serve. The sausage as a bit under seasoned for my taste but everything else was spot on. Probably some of the best "pulled" chicken I've had in recent memory. The pork and brisket were both done very well and the turkey, while not rock star, was certainly acceptable. The potato salad was -really- good....kind of a doctored up version of some of the commercial brands...but like I say, very good. The baked beans weren't "special" but they were still pretty fair as well. For me the high point was discovering they use Head Country BBQ sauce (NO high fructose corn syrup)...There aren't too many good things that come out of Oklahoma but Head Country sauces are one of 'em...We've been using them for years.

OH !!!....and they have 20 beer taps (which unfortunately weren't licensed for use yet)...

Overall I'd give 'em a solid "90"....with the caveat that I didn't try the ribs, they are right up there with some of the best "Q" I've had in Louisville.

We've been there quite a bit. And I have to agree, most of the time, they have top quality ribs and Q. Every once in awhile I've run into real fatty ribs that were sub par, (is that just par for the course?) and I'm not that crazy about the sides, but all in all, very good. Glad to have them in the neighborhood.

I am afraid I have to (partially) disagree with many; we went tonight (after reading all the prior comments I couldn't wait) and left very disappointed ;-(

First, let me state that our friends ordered the sampler and a 3-meat slider combo, and both were happy and would come back. Evidently, we didn't order right?

We started with the "best wings ever." They are not. They were tasty, but (unlike how the waiter billed them) they were not crispy in the slightest, and for smoked ribs we don't think Rootie's has to lose any sleep over them.

My wife had the half chicken. She found it uneven, with half the breast very dry and half juicy. Overall, while she thought it was good, it was no better than any of several other places in town.

When I saw the long beef bones on the menu, I had to order the beef ribs. I guess it's my fault for not asking up-front, but I was expecting beef back ribs partially frenched from the pictures, and expected four beef back ribs for the half-rack $14 price. No. These were beef SHORT ribs, just without the long bone being cut as is standard for short ribs. They were tasty, but not at all what I had wanted or expected. They were "fall off the bone" tender, which for short ribs is good, but again not what I wanted. Also, the four ribs was a full order and cost $28; again, $7 apiece may be justified for short ribs given the amount of meat on the order, but it still seemed quite high.

We did like the pickles (I asked to taste them, but the waiter brought them and gave them to our friends rather than to me) and the mustard (helped to jack up the flavor level of the short ribs). BTW, there was only one waiter in a full restaurant; the owner (?) started to help out just as we were leaving.

If someone pushed, we might go back, but would be much more likely to hit Smokehouse USA (which has real beef back ribs) or other places in town.

When I saw the long beef bones on the menu, I had to order the beef ribs. I guess it's my fault for not asking up-front, but I was expecting beef back ribs partially frenched from the pictures, and expected four beef back ribs for the half-rack $14 price. No. These were beef SHORT ribs, just without the long bone being cut as is standard for short ribs. They were tasty, but not at all what I had wanted or expected. They were "fall off the bone" tender, which for short ribs is good, but again not what I wanted. Also, the four ribs was a full order and cost $28; again, $7 apiece may be justified for short ribs given the amount of meat on the order, but it still seemed quite high.

There must have been some major confusion on your rib order. This is what I get when I order the $14 beef ribs.

image-3-a4c8e8f523.jpg

There must have been some major confusion on your rib order. This is what I get when I order the $14 beef ribs.

image-3-a4c8e8f523.jpg

You pictured what I got for the $28 full order, NOT for $14. Also, perhaps this could have been beef back ribs, but it was so overcooked that there was zero mouth bite, and the texture and flavor were that of short ribs that had been stewed and/or overcooked in a smoker.

We started with the "best wings ever." They are not. They were tasty, but (unlike how the waiter billed them) they were not crispy in the slightest, and for smoked ribs we don't think Rootie's has to lose any sleep over them.

How would smoked wings be crispy? Wouldn't they have to fry them or something to make the crispy?

I agree that Rooties wings are better, but I thought these were pretty good as far as the size of the wings and the flavor and the texture.

We started with the "best wings ever." They are not. They were tasty, but (unlike how the waiter billed them) they were not crispy in the slightest, and for smoked ribs we don't think Rootie's has to lose any sleep over them.

How would smoked wings be crispy? Wouldn't they have to fry them or something to make the crispy?

I agree that Rooties wings are better, but I thought these were pretty good as far as the size of the wings and the flavor and the texture.

Waiter told us up-front (before we ordered) that the wings are fully cooked in the smoker, and then fried for exactly three minutes so that they would be crispy when served to the customer. Not true! Had he not told us that, we would have been happier, but again he raised our expectations for a product and texture that was not delivered.

Ahh now i see what you are saying, I didn't have those crispy expectations lol.

They would be better fried up at the end with an optional hot sauce.

Bob and I had lunch at Momma's today and thought it was great! We both had the pulled pork--sorry, no wings or ribs!!!--but thought our sandwiches were fantastic and more than generous. For sides we had slaw, beans and potato salad and enjoyed them all. Bob loved the fantastic beer list and we can't wait to go again!!!

Got carryout from the Hurstborne location last night and was very pleased. Burnt ends were awesome, I thought the pork ribs were great (not fall of the bone, nice chew, good crust). Sides were all good (fries had a nice seasoning, potato salad good, slaw very good). I ordered a couple of the wings to try them out, and as a fan of smoked wings, I loved them. Maybe slightly salty, but very juicy and flavorful. And very good size for wings - not the puny ones you get most places. The pickles and mustard were great.

Only complaint - there was a piece of soggy toast in each meal that was barely toasted and fairly useless.

Side note: on a saturday night, the pace was fairly dead. I sat at the bar and waited for the takeout and saw maybe only one or two tables out of 15-20 occupied. So they need to get the word out about being open.