The temps are rising and Nashville is heating up! What better way to kick off the summer season than with a weekend barbecue?
Pitmaster Pat Martin, founder of Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint, shares recipes from his cookbook, Life of Fire: Mastering the Arts of Pit-Cooked Barbecue, the Grill, and the Smokehouse. Plus, see his tips on live fire cooking and grilling. Check out the 3 recipes below:
Open-Pit Spareribs
8 to 12 servings
- 4 slabs untrimmed spareribs (4 to 5 pounds each) or St. Louis-style ribs (21/2 to 31/2 pounds each)
- 1/2 cup Big Hoss Rub (recipe follows) or Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 gallon (4 recipes) Jack’s Creek Sauce
- Sweet Dixie BBQ Sauce (optional)
- Evenly coat the ribs with the dry rub and let sit for an hour or so before cooking so the rub can slightly cure the meat. If time allows, season the ribs the night before, then place them on a wire rack set inside a sheet pan and refrigerate.
- Prepare a bed of coals below the grill grate and let them burn down until they’re medium to medium-low (you should be able to hold your hand just above the grill grate for 7 to 10 seconds). Place the ribs membrane-side up (meat-side down) on the grate and let them cook, undisturbed, for 5 to 10 minutes. Flip the ribs over and cook for 5 minutes longer.
- Using a shovel, pull the coals below the grill grate toward the perimeter of the grill to make a four-sided bed of coals, about 4 inches high, around the grate. Lay a few logs or wood slats around the perimeter of the grill on top of the coals. At this point, there should be nothing but smoldering ash below the ribs; the heat radiating from the ring of coals will do the cooking from here on out.
- Flip the ribs back over, meat-side down again, and cook for 15 minutes. Rotate the ribs 180 degrees (without flipping). Wait 15 minutes, then flip the ribs over. After 15 minutes, rotate the ribs again. You’ll be repeating this pattern for a while.
- As your wood burns down, push or shovel some coals from the perimeter of the grill inward (about a half shovelful per side) and add new wood to the top of the coal bed. Adding the new wood produces additional hot coals for you to push in later. You’ll probably need to do this about every 30 minutes or so throughout the cook, more often on windy days. Check the ambient temperature around the ribs with your hand every so often; you’re aiming for 225° to 250°F, or 7 to 10 seconds with the hand test. If you can hear the surface of the ribs sizzling, that means your fire is too hot. In any barbecue, the only sizzling you should hear is the sound of juice or fat dripping onto a bed of coals; you never want the surface of the meat itself sizzling. If this happens, just flip the ribs over and let the coals die down a little longer before pushing new ones toward the grill, and push fewer coals when you do, until the sizzling stops.
- One hour into your cook, begin lightly mopping the ribs with the Jack’s Creek Sauce after every time you touch them. Flip the ribs, mop with sauce, wait 15 minutes. Rotate the ribs, mop with sauce, wait 15 minutes. And so on. Continue this process until the ribs are ready to eat. A rack of untrimmed spareribs will take between 3 and 31/2 hours to cook, and St. Louis-style ribs will take around 21/2 hours. I use my eyes and hands to know when the ribs are done. The meat will have a beautiful mahogany color (from all the mopping) and will begin to pull back from the ends of the bones. I can put on a pair of gloves, pick the rack up in the middle, membrane-side down, and the ends will bow down so the ribs resemble a frown. The rack should be flexible enough that I can break it into two pieces by giving it a hard wiggle. You can also test for doneness by pressing your finger between two ribs; if you can push your finger into the meat, it’s done. If you don’t trust your other senses and want to use an instant-read thermometer, insert it into the meat between two ribs (making sure not to hit any bones); they’re finished when the thermometer reads between 185° and 190°F.
- If the ribs aren’t finished, or if you lost your dentures and want super-tender ribs, continue cooking the ribs as before, checking them for doneness every time you flip or rotate.
- When the ribs are finished, transfer them to a cutting board. Using a sturdy knife, cut the flaps of brisket meat away from the ribs. You can snack on this bonus meat yourself, give it to your messy uncle, or use it to make a Rib Meat Sandwich.
- Cut the racks into individual ribs and serve—with barbecue sauce, if you like.
Jack’s Creek Sauce
Makes about 4 cups
- 1 3/4 cups apple cider vinegar
- 1 3/4 cups distilled white vinegar
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup Big Hoss Rub
- 3 tablespoons red pepper flakes
- In a blender, combine all the ingredients and blend until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 month.
Big Hoss Rub
Makes about 5 cups
- 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 cup garlic salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup sweet paprika
- 3 tablespoons lemon pepper
- 2 tablespoons chile powder (see note)
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 1 month.
Note: Not to be confused with chili seasoning, this is pure ground dried chiles. I like Santa Cruz brand, made from Hatch chiles.
Grilled Green Beans with Memphis Dry Rub
4 servings
- 2 pounds green beans, trimmed
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon fleur de sel or other flaky salt
- 2 teaspoons Memphis-Style Seasoning
- Prepare a hot grill (2 to 3 seconds using the Hand Test). Clean and oil the grill grates well.
- In a large bowl, toss the green beans with the oil and salt until coated. Transfer to a grill basket (or a wire rack set on top of the grill), piling them a few beans high so the ones on top will steam as the ones below char over the fire.
- Toss the beans every couple of minutes, just until they’re tender and slightly charred, about 10 minutes total.
- Return the beans to the bowl, add the Memphis-Style Seasoning and toss to coat. Serve immediately or refrigerate for later.
Memphis-Style Seasoning
Makes about 4 cups
- 1/3 cup fine sea salt
- 1 1/3 cups paprika
- 1 1/3 cups chile powder
- 1/4 cup ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground celery seeds
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground thyme
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground rosemary
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
- 3/4 teaspoon monosodium glutamate (MSG)
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 1 month
Maw-Maw Martin’s Pecan Pie
8 to 10 servings
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) salted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 3 extra-large eggs, beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 11/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
- All-purpose flour, for dusting Pie Crust, unbaked
"Most pecan pies are almost always too sweet. But this version—which comes from my mother-in-law, Nonie—has just theright amount of sweetness and really features the flavor of the pecans" says Pat Martin. "Nonie always called for chopped pecans because she didn’t like it when your fork would hit a whole pecan, smash the slice, and ruin it. She wanted it to look pretty while you were eating it."
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. In a saucepan, warm the butter over medium-high heat until just melted.
- Remove from the heat and mix in the sugar until thoroughly combined. Let cool slightly.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the corn syrup, eggs, and vanilla to combine. Slowly add the melted butter/sugar mixture, whisking constantly. Add thepecans and stir to combine.
- Make the pie dough, roll it out, and line a standard 9-inch pie pan as directed. Pour the mixture into the pie shell.
- Bake until the center of the pie reaches 200°F on an instant-read thermometer and a skewer inserted into the center of the pie comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes.
- Let cool completely (about 3 hours) before slicing and serving.
These recipes are shared with permission from Life of Fire by Pat Martin copyright © 2022. Photographs by Andrew Thomas Lee. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC.