(97.1 The Ticket) Mike Valenti knows sports, and he knows how to man a mean summer grill. Don't dispute.
Are you disputing?
Then you haven't tasted this. Valenti revealed in his latest podcast this week that barbecuing St. Louis ribs -- not baby back -- is his summer obsession. He's addicted.
"I wanted to try something that was just different, there was a flavor I was searching for," he said.
He hit gold when he made his own jerk seasoning with Scotch bonnet peppers and at least 20 other ingredients. "Ironic, I know, because I'm a jerk."
Valenti won't reveal his mix, but he recommends you buy your own pre-mixed jerk seasoning. Head to Penzey's spice shop along 13 Mile Road for the perfect option. Whatever you do, stay sugar free, sugar blackens the ribs and you don't want that.
Once you pick your favorite rub, do this:
"The point is oil your ribs up, nice thin little pat, you've got to hit 'em with this (seasoning). You've got to get in every nook and cranny, gotta to do this right."
He sets his smoker at 225 degrees and uses a combination of oak and cherry wood.
Put them on for three hours, indirect heat, and rotate halfway through. "Don't even look at it, don't do nothing," he advised.
At the three-hour point, you should see them pulling away from the bones and they should have a nice crust.
Then you take out your slab of ribs and put out a double sheet of heavy-duty Reynolds wrap. Spread cheap, squirt able margarine over the foil, then layer dry rub over it on the foil.
Take "a good amount" of Jamaican rum and pour it in the foil, then put in the ribs meat side down, and wrap it all up air tight.
Put them back on the smoker and leave them in the foil for as much as two hours if you like them fall of the bone, an hour if you want them more like Valenti's.
"The smell that was emanating from my smoker ... It was a combination of smoky, sweet spice, then 'Is that rum?' Unbelievable," he said.
Last step, unwrap the ribs and put them on the grill, heat on high, meat side down, for just a few minutes.
Then enjoy. Valenti pairs it with a good bottle of habanera Tabasco or Caribbean hot sauce.
"You only regret that you get full so quick," Valenti said, adding, "This is my summer addiction, I can't get enough of this sh**."
