Pellet Smoker Cooking: Pile of Brazilian Caipirinha Ribs

Apr 17 2015

Ever since Cliff and then Tommy, fellow members of LTBBQ, posted their pile of ribs I knew I had to try it. Cliff said he got the idea from the BBQ Pit Boys video on YouTube. Their idea was to be able to do a bunch of ribs in a smaller space by cutting the ribs and smoking them in a big pile.

I just happened to have a recipe for some Brazilian Caipirinha ribs I wanted to try and adapt to the smoker. The recipe was by Denise Browning at honestcooking.com. His method of cooking was to cut some baby back ribs in single rib sections, marinate them in the fridge 8 to 12 hours, then brown them all up in oil and then add them to a stove top pan along with the reserved marinade and steam them. His marinade of white rum, lime juice, garlic, brown sugar, parsley salt and pepper sounded great to me. He said typically the Brazilians did not add the honey at the end but he said he liked it to offset the acidity.

I thought this is perfect to try the pile method. I made up the marinade but didn’t have annatto powder; it is mainly for color but it does have a slight flavor. I pulled the membrane off and cut the 12 ribs. They went into a small roasting pan and poured the marinade over turning to coat well. They were covered and in the fridge for 12 hours turning half way through. Tasting the marinade I felt it did need the honey at the end of cooking. I had some local raw honey to use.

I placed the pile of ribs, and 3 slices of bacon on top in my Traeger that was preheated to 220 deg.F for 1 ½ hours, 230 for an hour, 240 for an hour and 250 for an hour. I turned them and brushed on some marinade every 45 minutes. With 40 minutes left I brushed with honey and turned; then once again with 20 minutes left.

My side was sliced up white yam, Dutch baby potatoes cut in half, sliced onions, red and green peppers topped with butter and in a foil pan. I had planned to do them in the oven covered for a half hour at 350 deg. and then uncover and move to the smoker for an hour. When I checked them the potatoes were not done enough so I just left them ride in the oven.

We had some Ciabatta buns for bread and butter. Sure was good, but with a cold I don’t think my taste was up to par. My wife said they were her second favorite ribs I ever made. To me the ribs had a nice crust all over with a little soft meat left. I thought a little heat may have helped the flavor for me.

Once again I was very happy with my Savannah Smoker V3 controller keeping the temps within 10 deg. of the set temp.

Click here for my recipe

Click here for original recipe

Ingredients for marinade