Friday, August 5, 2011
Barbecue Jonbalaya Catering at Woodbine Farmers' Market Saturday: Could These Be the Best Ribs in Nashville?
Posted by Jim Ridley on Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 12:27 PM
- JON HEIDELBERG
Holy smoke. These were the best ribs we'd ever tried in Nashville. When burly proprietor Jon Heidelberg (who proudly repeats his motto, "Never trust a skinny cook!") peeled back the aluminum foil and drew his knife between the ribs, they parted like Popsicles on a hot day. The meat was permeated with smoke and fell off the bone, and the crust had a spicy, faintly vinegary tang. One bite of this porcine crack, and I ended up taking home a $12 rack and wishing I'd gotten more. Good thing I thought to get some of those roasted ears of sweet corn that Heidelberg had sizzling on the smoker, along with a gooey slice of his amazing pina colada cake.
Heidelberg hasn't had ribs the past few weeks, but we hear that at Saturday's market he'll have those and something called "tiger wings," which sold out four dozen in 10 minutes the last time he brought them. We asked him to share something of his process, and he sent this reply:
After carefully selecting our baby back ribs — preferably from local sources — I rinse them, rub them with our own championship rub, then put them in the warm smoker. I prefer to smoke the ribs at 200-225 degrees, for a minimum of 6 hours. I use the 3-2-1 method that other competition smokers employ. So, for the first three hours, I smoke them openly in the smoker. Then, I baste them in our own homemade competition barbeque sauce and put them in a foil packet to continue cooking for 2 more hours. The final hour, they are uncovered, mopped again, and watched carefully, so they don't burn. It's a lot of work, but I haven't had anyone complain about it yet.I generally use a combination of hickory and cherry wood, purchased, again, from a local artist who makes furniture and artwork with the wood, then I get the scraps. My smoker is custom-made, by a man simply named "Smoking Joe." He himself is a champion pitmaster, so I knew I could trust his handiwork. I couldn't be happier with the wonderful rig he created for me, and it gets me a lot of attention!
Seriously, if you find ribs better than these in Nashville, I want a street address and a 50-gallon leaf sack full of WetNaps.
Comments (17)
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Those sound amazing! McEwen last weekend. Woodbine Farmers Market this weekend. It doesn't get much better than that.
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BW, I can't wait to hear what you think of these. I was knocked out. My 6-year-old would have eaten the entire rack. Good thing I keep a whip handy.
Thanks for the tip....damn fine ribs.
Nothing beats a slab at 930 in the morning under a tree lined bench.
My friend and I each got a half rack. Mine was not the best as it was disappointingly dry. Definitely not fall off the bone... I would not have guessed it was 3-2-1'd. On the other hand, my friend's half rack was much better with more fat that I am sure helped with the tenderness and a nice barky burnt end. Luck of the draw, I suppose.
On a positive note, the bark was incredibly good, the smoke flavor was very strong, and the price was very very cheap. I'll come back. It is hard to beat eating ribs for breakfast.
Jim, those were some dang good ribs. Thanks for the tip. I got there right before the storm hit. Also picked up some ghost pepper supplies and a watermelon. It was hard driving home with that smoky aroma filling the car. My only complaint was that they didn't remove the membrane from the back side of the ribs before smoking. That's a pet peeve of mine but I find that most place don't take the time to do it. No matter, they were solid and I will be back for more and to try the wings. Unfortunately, they weren't ready at 10:00 when I got the pigsicle.
Wait, you weren't standing behind me in line, were you? I was there right about that time and missed out on the wings too.
I had my doubts about the membrane too. I sampled my rack and then put in the fridge until dinner. When dinner time rolled around I took the ribs out of the fridge and preheated the oven to 375 for twenty minutes. I put the ribs still wrapped in foil to cook for twenty minutes. They were fall off the bone goodness. The membrane mattered not!
Same here. Just finished ours, and they were perfect. I dipped the strips of bark in the hot sauce from Sonny's Smokehouse at the West Nashville Farmers Market ... but that's a post for later this week.
Just finished ours too, and the membrane was no problem--in fact, it probably is what held them together. Have to agree with Pink--if they're not the best in town they're mighty close. Great taste, nice and smokey, still a little fight left in the meat for texture. Superb.
I may have been behind you. Right before the storm hit. It was me and my smokin' hot wife. (sorry, couldn't resist!) We actually had a big golf umbrella just in case but got to the car before the bottom dropped out.
As far as the membrane, it's not a big deal because everything else about them was awesome. I just like to remove it so more of the yummy smokiness gets into the ribs. We dipped our bark in Irish Picnic sause that I got last weekend in McEwen. I'll have to try the Sonny's Smokehouse. I'm assuming it's local? A man can never have too many barbeque sauces!
Ah, the smokin' hot wife! Now I remember. (I've got one of those myself.) I think we actually spoke and I didn't even know that was you! I was the fat guy in the obnoxious horror-movie T-shirt who looked like he hadn't brushed his hair since Carter was in the White House. I wish I'd known — your posts are great.
OT: Does anyone else get "meat sweats" after eating ribs? Eeeuwww. (Apologies for TMI.)
And I missed Nicki too? Damn! I hope Jonbalaya knows the cream of Nashville food-blog intelligentsia carted home his ribs. Next you'll tell me Lannae and Ezra Pound Cake were sitting at the picnic table with ElZ and Lesley (not eating ribs, of course).
I want to thank everyone for coming and trying our ribs. I admit, I did not pull the membrane this time, as i usually do. My family and i just completed moving about 3 hours before i fired up the smoker, so i decided to take a nap, instead of pull membranes! Please forgive me! I promise to make it up to you next week, and the TIGER Wings will be ready! (Please don't rain us out!) Thanks for the good feedback, and if you come next Saturday, I will give you a 100% refund if the ribs are too dry then!
I don't know where I got the name "Sonny's Smokehouse" from, but the place with the killer barbecue sauce (and barbecue) at the West Nashville Farmers Market is actually called Clear Creek Smokehouse. Will post more tomorrow.
@BW: What did you think of Banjamin's Ghost Pepper Elixer? I've gotten hooked on the stuff — I'm trying to convince them to have it at The Belcourt in a popcorn shaker.
@mr. pink, I loved it! I am a fan of the flame. There are plenty of sauces out there but it can be difficult to find a good shaker. I've already had it on eggs and pizza. Popcorn would be great. Surprisingly, it sneaks up on you. But them BAMB!
I really enjoyed meeting and talking with Banjamin, although I couldn't remember his name (I'm getting old!) His passion for his product is contagious.
Today I had the tiger wings — perfection. Very sweet sauce with a kick so understated you practically don't notice it; crisp skin, juicy meat. He doesn't separate the wing from the drumstick, so an order of 6 is essentially 12. And the ribs were even better than last week.
