So, you still don’t believe us that liquid smoke is a safe, easy and great way to make barbecue. Do you still believe it’s a nasty mix of unknown chemicals?
Well, here’s a nice little story you should read by NYU Chemistry Professor Kent Kirshenbaum Liquid Smoke What is It?
A few years back R.B. and I competed in a barbecue competition in Cookeville, Tenn. That 24 hour period of tinkering with smokers all day and all night in a parking lot probably sowed the seed for Cheater BBQ. It was tons of fun. We met lots of cool people. We also learned that we like sharing barbecue with friends more than we like rules.
Sometimes manning a smoker isn’t what the occasion calls for. That’s why we are true believers in barbecue diversity!
Just for kicks here are some photos from the Cheater archives documenting that September weekend in Cookeville. We called ourselves the Carolina Rhodies after R.B.’s home in Carolina, Rhode Island. Being in Nashville, we thought that was funny.
One more tip if you decide to enter a barbecue competition–don’t start your team name with THE, as we were alphabetized as a “T” instead of a “C.” All the veterans seemed to know this.
Here's R.B. looking all energetic and eager to get to Cookeville. He did not look like this the next day.
Look at R.B. remove that membrane on those ribs. You still should do this on cheater ribs, too.
R.B. is all about having top of the line equipment.
The most important thing we learned is to spend the money and get your own port-a-john. Thanks Randy for sharing.
G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S. I don't think this is what Fergie had in mind. There I am having a swinging late night. Actually, I spent most of the night in the truck sleeping while R.B. stayed up with the meat.
Here's our pulled pork in a regulation clam shell with only leaf lettuce--one speck of cilantro and we'd be disqualified.
Nice competition ribs, R.B. Don't you like how I arranged them slightly askew in the clam shell?
I still can't get over how perfect these smoky chicken thighs look. You have to lightly brush them with sauce and get it caramelized in the smoker or on the grill right before they go into the clam shell and off to the judges.
You can't tell us that this brisket doesn't look spectacular. Who knew we'd be doing this in the oven. The only difference is that cheater brisket doesn't have a pink smoke ring.
Good luck R.B., You're about to come in next to last place!
Here's a good looking cheater pulled pork plate that we actually got to eat! And we had fun with our friends.
Still Life with Liquid Smoke
When Cheater BBQ was published, we suspected that we’d be treated like Christopher Hitchens at a Baptist convention.
Why, dear purists, do you snub liquid smoke? Isn’t it true that we tend to fear and hate things we don’t know anything about?
Can’t we all just get along?
Sure, we enjoy an all-nighter around the smoker, but sometimes that’s just not practical or possible. What about the other 359 days of the year? What no barbecue? Forget it, we’re making Cheater BBQ with liquid smoke and loving it!
Liquid smoke is just smoke for smoldering wood, trapped, chilled and condensed into a liquid form. It’s just water and smoke, not smoke and mirrors. It’s completely safe, not a weird chemical from a factory somewhere in New Jersey, and they even sell it at Whole Foods. And it makes great barbecue–anytime, anywhere, in any weather! Sure is nice to have more time to spend with the side dishes.
Cheater BBQ makes a great Father’s Day gift.
slaw diversity -- it comes in all colors
When you get that copy of Cheater BBQ for Dad (and one for yourself), take note of the Cheater BBQ Slaw recipe. Having a good slaw recipe in your back pocket is important for any barbecue aficionado, cheater or otherwise. I like how the colorful, tangy, crunchy combo is just what a pile of smoky, brown meat needs.
There are a million variations of the two classics — creamy and vinegary. I can’t stop fiddling with the three main ingredients–sugar, mayo and vinegar. The add-tos are endless.
I call this Secondary Slaw because it’s a jumble of gorgeous secondary colors–purple cabbage, orange carrots, and green jalapenos and parsley. It falls into the vinegar category dressed in a simple sugar/rice vinegar/water combination. Vinegary slaws are particularly good with silky, rich (fatty) smoky meats. This dressing is also very much like Asian icy hot cucumbers and would be great served with Thai grilled chicken or beef satay.
Secondary Slaw
4 cups shredded purple cabbage (about 1/2 a small head)
1 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup thin slivers purple onion
About 1/4 cup chopped green parsley (or more if you like)
2 green jalapeno peppers chopped, or to taste
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
Combine all the ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Blend well. Chill before serving. Makes 6 servings.
Brendan Hammers Through Turn 5
Nor should you. Cheating is dishonest. And that’s not what we mean when we talk about cheating. By cheating we mean trying new things for the fun of it and trying old things in new ways for the hell of it, living out of your comfort zone, taking chances, living your dreams the best way you know how– every last one of them. Cheating is taking on the challenge regardless of the rules, the expectations, the conventional wisdom, the chance of disappointment or failure.
Take our good pal Brendan Thompson. At first glace you see a dude racing a Porsche. You can feel his concentration and focus. Even his attentive race prep is evident — fat tires and the nose condom, other stuff you don’t notice. Brendan loves that car, loves racing cars, and is a great driver. He usually places right up there with the best.
Behind the windshield and under the helmet that driver is also a lawyer, a dad, a husband, a son, a brother, a friend. A loyal guy with pile of Facebook friends. Brendan is living his dreams, racing being one of the many. And he is truly an excellent cheater race car driver.
So your friends at Cheater Chef, that being Mindy and R.B., urge you to give yourself permission to cheat, to jump in over your head. Free yourself. Live, love, cheat.
Cheat 'N Ride with Louis
There’s plenty of time for a spin through Leiper’s Fork. You’ll be back in time to feast on Cheater oven ribs.
Steve Richters Kicks Back with the Fam
Sure, no worries, relax at the beach. There’s a smoky Cheater brisket in the oven for later.
The Best Father's Day Gift of All -- Baby and Barbecue
Enjoy that beautiful baby while the Ultimate Cheater BBQ pork butt slow cooks in the slow cooker. Ahhhh, living the dream.
There's even time for a quick trip to Vegas. Take the kids!
These Cheater Funky Black Guys in Vegas would love Cheater BBQ! They’re mighty hungry after the show.
Dad really liked that Texas Tech flask he got for Christmas...But he really wants a copy of Cheater BBQ for Father's Day.
Cheater BBQ is the Ultimate Cheap, Useful and Fun Gift for Father’s Day !
And while you’re at it, throw in a couple of bottles of liquid smoke.
Dads of all kinds need a copy of Cheater BBQ…
Any Dad who wants to enjoy barbecue more often—Anytime, Anywhere, in Any Weather!
Check out these babies from the oven!
We’re in the supermarket meat section. Smartly Dressed Cool Guy in pressed khakis and tassel loafers eyes the ribs. He picks them up, cradles them, and sadly, puts them back.
Why does Cool Guy do this? Why hesitate? After all, we’re in Tennessee where anyone of us should be banging out better than competition ribs, on a whim, even in khakis.
He’s not alone. We’ve seen this fear of commitment too often. Could it be the mental scarring left after that last rib effort of bitter blackness and stringy meat petrified to the bone? Never heard the end of that, did you? Or, those rubbery, undercooked racks hinting of Green Hills Y sweatshirt?
Guess what? Those days are behind you. From now on anyone and everyone can make perfect ribs for the rest of time. Yes, the rest of time.
Great ribs need just a few things: a simple dry rub, natural smoke flavor, low steady heat, and a sauce, if you like. We’re here to tell you that a 325° F oven (or as low as 250° F), your own quick dry rub seasoning and sauce made from basic pantry staples, a small bottle of liquid smoke, and some heavy duty aluminum foil will consistently solve your rib anxieties. All we’re doing is replacing the wood chunks with liquid smoke (stay with us here) and using the consistency of the regular kitchen oven instead of the more finicky backyard smoker which is probably full of soccer balls anyway.
Hey, guys with bruised egos, here’s the best part: you can still use your clunky grill kit tongs, dull cleaver, and goofball “stay back men cooking” apron when you finish the ribs with sauce on your fancy stainless grill. We guarantee not only a Drop-Dead-Go-to-Hell glazed finish, but the surest way to the best party you ever threw with the least hassle. An oven full of foil-wrapped racks of ribs is a beautiful thing to behold.
Basically, our Cheater BBQ Oven Ribs kick ass.
Cheater Rib Cheat Sheet
Dry Rub—The three basic components of a dry rub are salt, pepper, and paprika—it’s really the smoke you want to taste. Make up your own mix or buy one already to go. We like to add a little brown sugar to a rub for ribs to add a little caramelized flavor to the meat.
The Ribs—Baby back loin ribs are short, spares are long. Meatiness depends on the rack. Both are good and get what you like. We usually buy them at Walmart or Costco. Open the ribs, flip them over bone side up, and look for the silvery membrane covering the meat and bones. If it’s still on there (sometimes they take it off), take your finger or a spoon handle and, holding the ribs with a paper towel, lift up the membrane and pull it off. It might take a few tries but you’ll quickly get the hang of it and your ribs will taste better without the chewy layer.
The Smoke—The all-natural smoke that will bring these ribs to life comes in a handy four-ounce bottle parked near the Worcestershire and barbecue sauces. Without a lengthy dissertation, know that liquid smoke is real smoke made from real hardwoods captured in water and filtered. Yes, they sell it at Whole Foods. We’ve all been enjoying it since the 1960’s in bacon, cold cuts, sauces, hot dogs, pizza crusts, and anything that lists “natural smoke flavor” on the label. It’s not a weirdo chemical from New Jersey, not that there’s anything wrong with New Jersey. A tablespoon per pound of meat is a good rule of thumb. No, that is not too much. Trust us.
Look how many racks of ribs you can fit in the oven. Party!
Makes 6 to 8 servings
Ultimate Cheater BBQ Oven Ribs
6 pounds (3 racks) pork loin (baby back) ribs, membrane removed
1/4 cup Cheater BBQ Dry Rub (or your favorite)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 small bottle (about 4 ounces) liquid smoke
1. Heat the oven to 325° F.
2. Mix the dry rub with the brown sugar in a small bowl.
3. Place each baby back rack on a large (24-30-inch long) sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil. Brush each rack with a light coating of bottled smoke. Spread the sweet rub over both sides of each rack.
4. If time allows, wrap up the ribs in foil and refrigerate them for a few hours or overnight.
5. Place the sealed racks on a couple of baking sheets and put them in the oven.
6. While the ribs are cooking, make some barbecue sauce and set it aside.
7. After 1 1/2 hours in the oven, pull the ribs out and carefully unseal the foil. The escaping steam will be hot.
8. Cut into a rib or two and check the meat for doneness and tenderness of the meat. We like the ribs to feel cooked, but not too loose. If you prefer more tender meat that pulls away from the bone with less resistance, reseal the foil and put the ribs back in the oven for 15 to 30 minutes.
9. Unseal the foil, pour off the meat juice and discard it. At this point, wrap the ribs and refrigerate to grill later. Or, get them ready to grill.
10. Lay the ribs on a cutting board and separate them into one-to-three or four-rib sections.
11. Heat the grill.
12. Dip the ribs in sauce and grill, turning frequently until well caramelized, about 10 minutes. Do not let the sauce burn.
13. Serve with additional sauce on the side.
R.B.'s (non-liquid) Smoke Source
I’ll admit that it took more than a few batches of chicken, ribs and pork shoulder to figure out that my little R2-D2 Charbroil smoker didn’t need to chug like the Mystery Machine at a Dead show. The informative little smoker manual’s recommendation to add a soaked chunk every couple of hours was a typo. No, I was after real smoke flavor and I used everything short of a chair leg to get it.
Supportive friends didn’t hold the bitterness against me. It was the early 90s, years before the stainless outdoor kitchen boom and the Big Green Egg, and we all got behind my backyard hobby.
Had anyone suggested I experiment with the much easier to manage liquid smoke, they would have been banned from the patio and I’d have carried the grudge like any good Irishman. Calling it “cheating” would have been a far nicer response than any I could have mustered. For me, barbecue was all-day or all-night or all-nothing.
In time, the barbecue got pretty good if I do say so myself. Like anything you practice, you get things dialed in, back off the seasonings, the smoke, and figure out your own sauces and rubs. But, outdoor barbecue takes time and if you don’t have it, you start missing the barbecue.
When my gal Min and I wandered off on a liquid smoke jag a couple years ago, everything changed. It helped to have the web and the chance to learn that liquid smoke is really just smoke in a bottle. We’ve all been enjoying liquid smoke since the 1960s, gobs of it, in bacon, cold cuts, beans, sauces, and anything that claims natural or real smoke flavor. Like most everyone we talk to, we thought liquid smoke was some synthetic concoction invented by people who make all the fake flavor dusts we eat. Surprise, surprise. The smoke of real hardwood captured, filtered and bottled. And it is really good.
Despite our shared, if unknown, love and acceptance of this all natural product, there’s some baggage attached to that little bottle parked near the Worcestershire sauce. That is why we wrote Cheater BBQ — to encourage anyone who loves barbecue to give themselves permission to drop a quick-seasoned pork butt and a bottle of liquid smoke into a slow cooker, close the cover, go to work or to bed or anywhere else, and return several unattended hours later to drop dead delicious smoky pulled pork barbecue.
Hop on the Cheater BBQ page at amazon.com and check out the reader reviews. We only know about half those people, no kidding.
It was late...they tasted really good.
Ultimate Cheater Pulled Pork Toaster Oven Nachos are a thing of beauty. It’s got to be common knowledge that the bag of tortilla chips/block of yellow-orange cheese toaster oven combo has kept many a hungry soul afloat till morning. Every one of us in this late night melted club honestly believes we invented this mini broiler treat. In fact, I’d bet that most of us never order restaurant nachos. We can’t bear to share the credit.
Cheese nachos take to all kinds of additions, mostly stuff hanging out in the fridge door crawling toward expiration. Not this batch.
Mindy and I had just divvyed up a recent batch of Ultimate Cheater Pulled Pork. By the time hunger rolled around the other night and the corn chips were calling, I remembered the Cheater pork in the fridge. The chips and pork heated a few minutes while I shredded some cheese. A quick broil and BAM! Ultimate Cheater Pulled Pork Nachos. I can’t say anything else. I’m speechless.
Barbecue for everyone, by anyone. Yes, anytime, anywhere, in any weather. Check out our book.
Pico Slaw tops our favorite recipe list. Serve it with smoky beef brisket, pork, or chicken tacos. 
Make Cheater Ribs for Dad this Father's Day!
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