Marinating Ribs

I dont see the point myself. A good dry rub should be all thats needed IMHO.

Don't do it. My buddy marinated some spare ribs....brought them over and threw them on the smoker. They were the worst ribs ever to come off my smoker. I'm sure it had to do more with what he marinated them in rather just the marinating itself...but still. Dry rubs all the way.

I love a really good asian rib and those are marinated.

I asked myself the same question. I also added brining to the equation and did a blind taste test. Here was the test. I took three half slabs of baby backs and slathered one in a rub, one I marinated in apple cider, garlic, and black pepper, and the third I did in apple cider, garlic, black pepper and salt (a basic brine). I put all three in separate ziplocks in the fridge overnight.

The next day I rinsed off the ribs in the marinade and brine and patted them dry and applied the exact same rub that was on the first slab of ribs. Then I cooked all three identically. I've done this experiment twice now. Once on my in-laws (who, God Bless them, are my guinea pigs a lot) and then on my dad. Each time the tasting was done blind. The tasters had no idea which rib was brined, marinated or rubbed. All they saw was three identical looking ribs.

The results were the same every time. The ribs with the rub were good, the marinated ribs were much better and the brined ribs were even better but not heads and shoulders better than the marinating. The simple results were a marinade improved the ribs a great deal over a rub, and even a rub that was applied the night before.

Prior to this I'd marinated a few times and brined a couple times and really couldn't tell if there was a difference from my ribs that I only did a rub on. But with no control group, it's very hard to compare apples to apples. Once I did them side by side, the results were startling. I brine every single time now. Doing them side by side is the only true way to judge the results.

But that's just me. Maybe you will do the experiment and come up with different results. I wasn't sure myself which is why I did the experiment a second time, but after the second experiment, I'm sold.

I believe there is a recipe for marinating ribs in Myron Mixon's book, but I have yet to try it myself.

Great post. Thanks for the results of the taste test.

i am one who marinates ribs. but i just soak them in dr pepper or cherry dr pepper. then I rub them with my rubs before going on the smoker.

I did the Myron Mixon marinade 2 weeks ago. I was less than impressed. The flavor was mostly odd (for lack of a better description) and the folks I fed them to were surprised that they did not get their usual tasty ribs.

I've tried marinating in Italian Dressing following Famous Dave's recipe a couple of times. Here's a link to the recipe. http://www.food.com/recipe/daves-rib-rub-and-pit-barbecue-ribs-99872

I didn't notice any appreciable benefit in flavor or texture so I haven't done it since.

A friend of mine at work marinates his ribs in lite beer overnight. He told me that it tenderizes the meat. The flavor comes from the rub and smoke. I have not tried this method. I have marinated and cooked brats in beer. Anyone else marinate their ribs or anything else in beer?

I agree w/chefdad. Marinating aids in tenderizing. i've had ribs that were marinated in dales marinade and it was way too salty. As chefdad said, the flavor comes from the rub.

I implore everyone in this thread to do a side by side. One marinated, one not. You can't imagine how much better my grilling has become when I use a control group for trying new stuff out...

I've tired both ways. To be honest it was a 50/50 split on who liked which ribs and why. To me it's easy, experiment, experiment, & experimant....

I've brined ribs and had excellent results, but I'm reluctant to use a brine for ribs in a contest. Sometimes I get overly creative when I need to keep things simpler. Most of us will agree that it's all about the flavor of the meat coming through and everything else in the mix- rub, smoke, sauce, glaze etc. should compliment, not overwhelm. Being somewhat of a rookie in competing (6 so far), I am concentrating on just getting my meats consistent every time. For now, I will keep practicing and experimenting between contests and eventually I'll have a standard regimen and routine just for contests. If you are not competing, then by all means amp it up some. If you are confident in your brine, then use it. I don't have one I'm confident enough to try yet, so I'll just keep tweaking until I get there.

Best marinade is some concentrated (or regular) apple juice, or any fruit juice for that matter. Marinated one time for thirty six hours (schedule) and you got a hint of apple in them.

I also tried Myrons recipe and thought it was o.k. Dont think I will try it again.

I've read a couple of posts that say marinading aid in tenderizing the meat.

You should not need anything to help aid in getting a tender rib. If you're not getting ribs nice & tender, I would suggest focusing on proper cooking techniques before experimenting too much.

Focus on the simple things first.

I like the taste of pork...therefore I don't try to cover it up with things like marinades. IF you're going for other styles of food (Asian ribs were mentioned earlier), then sure...follow their techniques.

Agree with Cook

And if you over fark with your ribs, on either the acidic or especially sodium level, you end up with ham-sicles.

Nothing worse than a "hammy" tasting rib, which I think thats what a few up thread mentioned by an "off taste"

I now only rub them 10 minute before going on.

I use to do years of experimenting and rubbing hours, overnight, or full days before.

Simple is now best for me as if you don't cook them properly to begin with, all the farking with them is purely a waste of time.

Good luck BruceB (although, since this was a month ago, you probably already tried some method. What did you think?)

My thought is that the best ribs come from KC, Memphis, and me. Do they marinate? Cook has it right. But if you want a covered up taste have at it.