Magnificent bastard ribs

Brine

Small

• 1 C cider
• 1 T salt
• 1/2 T garlic
• 1 t pepper

Large

• 1 qt apple cider
• 2 T minced garlic
• 1/4 cup table salt
• 2 T pepper

Sauce

• 1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 3 Tbsp. worcestershire
• 2 tsp. liquid smoke
• 1 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Whisk all ingredients together in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer (uncovered) for 20 minutes, or until the sauce has slightly thickened.

Rub

• 1 C brown sugar
• 1/2 C paprika
• 2 T black pepper
• 1 T garlic powder
• 1 T onion powder
• 1 t cayenne pepper

Mix everything in the food processor.

Ribs

• 1-2 slabs of ribs

1. Let the ribs sit in brine for 24-72 hours or pressure cook 10 minutes in cidar
2. Remove and coat with dry rub
3. Cook 7 minutes a side at 450F (let's try 5/side @ 550).
4. Place in pressure cooker with sauce for 10 minutes at pressure, open, move ribs around, 10 more minutes
5. Finish in the oven @550F for 5 minutes with a thick coat of the sauce

Cost Analysis

Did a batch with 2 slabs of spareribs. 8.59lbs was 26 ribs and cost $17.10 or $2/lb.

For 1 quart of brine (enough for 1 slab), cider: $1.25, garlic $0.26, salt: $0.06, pepper: $0.25 for a grand total of $1.82/qt

Which puts us right around $10.37 per slab or $2.20/lb for the meat+brine.

I need to weight the meat after it's done cooking - I don't know if it will weigh more or less.

Restaurants typically see around a 30% margin, so if sauce+rub bumps this up to $3/lb (and I don't lose much weight in the cooking), I'd need to charge about $4.25/lb to make it profitable, about $1.40/rib.

V2

Same rub, same sauce, optional brine. No pressure cooker. cut into 2-3 rib segments. Put on the rub. Cover in foil. Cook at 220F for 3.5 to 5 hours. Uncover and finish adding sauce every few minutes. I'd like to do that at 350F, but that's a guess.

V3

Pressure cook in cidar, or brine the ribs. Do the rub and cook in the oven at max temp for ~5 minutes on a side. Pressure cook in sauce for 15 minutes, then finish in the oven at max, adding sauce every few minutes.