That time Myron Mixon told me to stop basting and I argued back

I was at a competition in Memphis a few years back and ran into Myron Mixon at a team meeting. He saw me basting my ribs every 20 minutes and straight up told me I was washing off the bark. I got defensive and said that's how my grandpa did it and my ribs were always juicy. Well I ignored him and ended up placing 17th out of 40 teams that weekend. Ribs had good flavor but the texture was mushy and the bark was basically gone. The next year I tried his way just dry rub and a spritz every hour and a half. I took 4th place and my bite through was way better. Anybody else get stubborn advice from a pro and then eat crow later?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_derek1mo ago

Beth nailed it with that "washing off the bark" thing. That was exactly my problem too, I thought I was keeping em moist but really I was just stripping away all that good crust. Once I stopped basting and let the rub do its thing, I got that crunchy outer layer that actually holds up when you bite into it. The texture difference is night and day once you stop messing with it every 20 minutes lol.

beth_baker691mo ago

That "washing off the bark" comment really stuck with me too because I used to think basting was the whole secret to tender meat. You changed my mind with that 4th place story, makes me want to try dry rub only next time.