The Vitals: the recipe: Traeger Baby Back Ribs Vol 5 the smoker: Traeger Ironwood 885 the time: about 3 hours the full nelson: easiest traeger ribs yet

I don't know why I started my focus on Traeger mastery with ribs. Maybe it's because brisket takes way too long? Or that salmon just comes out so darn good like every time and there's not that much to master? Whatever the reason, I am committed to figuring ribs out and I think I might really be on to something here.

Use the best meat possible

In previous cooks, most notably Operation Traeger Baby Back Ribs Vol 3, I've used average quality meat. Look, I shop at the regular grocery store aplenty. But over the last year, where our dining out dollars shifted to home cooking, we have opted to shop at higher end shops. In some cases, the difference is extremely noticeable such as produce. This time I went to Salt & Time, a top shelf butcher shop in Austin TX for my ribs. Sure, these cost double what I would pay at say Costco, but one good rack was all I needed. Believe me, it was worth every penny.  

Pro Tips from Sasquatch BBQ

I enlisted the help of Sasquatch BBQ aka Matt Crawford. Matt is a BBQ pitmaster, Traeger advocate and all around good dude. A fellow Traeger sponsor, Matt is an accomplished Barbecue chef and has no shortage of advice when it comes to smoking on a Traeger or any smoker for that matter. Sasquatch recommended I hit the ribs with some yellow mustard and then the rub. He said the mustard was mostly for making sure the rub sticks and this is backed by a number of recipes. I totally caught the taste of mustard and I strongly suggest you do the same.

3 hour ribs

In previous cooks, I've spent up to 8 hours making ribs that were just on the verge of being smokey. I've used smoker tubes, apple juice spritz, and the "Super Smoke method": a feature on Traeger models like my Ironwood 885. The conclusion I have come to is that the time and effort just wasn't worth it when it came achieving a true smoked rib taste. So I asked Sasquatch for a faster method.

Set your Traeger to 275

Sasquatch had me set my grill to 275. Once it came to temp, I gave it a good 15 minutes before I laid the rack on there. I cooked it till the internal temp hit 165, which took about an hour and a half. Then, like many cooks before, I foil wrapped the rack in butter, brown sugar and more rub. He did suggest some apple cider vinegar but I skipped that as I was out. Then back into the grill till we hit 190, which took another hour and a half.

Cook first, then smoke.

After the rack hit 190, I opened up the foil and sauced it up. Once again I reached for a bottle of Aaron Franklin's BBQ sauce. The taste is classic Kansas City, thick, sweet and tangy, despite the word Texas prominently displayed. After saucing, I lowered the temp of the grill t0 225 degrees and hit it with the Super Smoke feature. This was to let the sauce the set, which takes about 10 minutes. I let it ride a little longer for sh*** and giggles.

And the verdict is . . .

I think these are tied for the best ribs I've made along with Vol 2. While that version was smokier, it also took 8+ hours whereas this only took 3+ hours. Mustard was a welcomed addition to Vol 5 and the meat quality from Salt and Time was outstanding. Traeger is known for a clean taste so the quality of your meat stands out. This can work conversely too. If you get that rack that has an off smell when you take it out of the plastic, don't expect the smoke to mask that funk. Frankly that's gross and I'm done with those days. I'd rather eat less and have better quality that a fridge full of leftover jank ribs. Now the only real flaw here is that I didn't eat them ASAP. We had friends coming over and a game to watch so I made these ribs ahead if time and held them in the oven. Baby Backs can dry out and while these weren't dry, I can only imagine them tasting better had I eaten them sooner. Regardless, as I type this I'm going to totally make this again and compare with a second rack cooked lower and slower to compare. For now though the takeaway and technique is this: high quality meat and mustard rub. A Traeger is a handy device but it can't create all the flavors, that's also on you, your pantry and your butcher.  

The Vitals: the spot: Il Ritorno 449 Central Avenue St. Petersburg FL 33701 the eats: Bucatini Pomodoro, Short Rib Mezzaluna, Squid Ink Garganelli, Bone Marrow with Yellowtail Tartare, Smoked Meatballs, A5 Japanese Wagyu Beef(seriously) the bucks: $$$ and worth it. I'd budget $75 a head with wine to do it right. Although to get a nice plate of pasta will set you back $20-$30 the full nelson: a splurge worthy Italian experience that isn't even that bad of a splurge. 

Throughout the entire five season run of Cheap Eats, St. Petersburg FL still stands out as a surprisingly impressive culinary destination. From the moment I got off the plane at Tampa International, any notion of a sleepy Gulf town was washed away. Florida is well populated and flush with tourism dollars, a combination that extends beyond Miami and the Keys. And that means there's good eats up and down this state. In February of 2018, I was taken to Il Ritorno by Chef Chris Fernandez from Red Mesa Cantina. Back then, as in now, I remain simply blown away by the food. Not gonna lie either, I got the star treatment. When Chef Chris toured me around the restaurants, I met chefs, sampled the fare and it was pretty much all on the house. The cameras probably should have been running for my after hours tour. Maybe that's why I've posted multiple times about my St. Pete adventures beyond what we featured on Cheap Eats. And here I am about to do it again.

When in Florida

My wife loves a poolside vacation with a view of the beach and St. Pete is a two hour flight from Austin, so it was only a matter of time. With Covid-19 easing up, we cashed in some airline points to make a quick domestic beach vacay. We stayed at a great hotel called Treasure Island Beach Resort, a 10 minute drive from downtown St. Pete. PS - get the bloody mary at Treasure Island + the wings were respectable for poolside fare.

The boy loves pasta

My kid is a freak for carbs. That kinda comes off sounding insensitive but seriously, he could eat steamed dumplings, ramen and pasta all day. Even though Il Ritorno is a bit more formal than what he is accustomed too, I had to take him to try Chef David Benstock's cooking. Previously I had a pasta dish he made for the James Beard house and it was simply epic. So much so that I submitted it for an episode of Best Thing I Ever Ate. Let's just say the nominee list is about to get a little more crowded.

Amuse Bouche: a taste of what's to come

"This is something from the kitchen" is music to my ears. It's more than a comp, it's showing off but in the best of ways. The rundown here: Crispy Polenta with A5 Wagyu Tartare and Osetra Caviar. If that doesn't cause your jaw to drop, google the prices on A5 Wagyu and Osetra Caviar. Sure one could argue whether anything is worth all that cheddar but I've eaten a lotta cheddar in my day and Wagyu + Osetra is way better. See what I did there?

These meatballs . . .

I had the smoked meatballs back in 2018 and with my kid in tow, they were definitely making a return. These meatballs were downright smokey and rich thanks to the smoked tomato sauce and Piave, an Italian Cow's milk cheese. You could make a meal out of this, some charcuterie and wine. But we had bigger fish to fry.

Trendy + Fred Flintstone approved

Bone marrow is everywhere these days. I swear people who I know swore off beef will order it for the sake of ordering it. It's easy to see why. This rustic dish has a primal like draw yer few homecooks would dare make it, me included. This, however, is not your average Bone Marrow dish. Named "Monti e Mare" which translates to Mountain and Sea, the roasted bone marrow is filled with Yellowtail Amberjack tartare. This combination might sound unusual but the two proteins go together like turkey and bacon on a club sandwich. Watermelon radish makes it very Instagrammable as well(insert eye roll emoji). Hey, if trends are tasty, I'm down.

Pasta Pasta Pasta

On to the pastas. As soon as I mentioned that I was going to Il Ritorno everyone and the magic 8 ball said "get the Short Rib Mezzaluna". Such is the way of dishes that seem to pack on one level of indulgence after another. Mezzaluna, the halfmoon shaped pasta(similar to ravioli) is stuffed with braised beef short rib and more of that Piave from the smoked meatball starter. Speaking of sauce, let's talk about the Truffle Fonduta. This fondue like sauce features Fontina cheese, lots of Parmesan and reduced tomato. It goes without saying that this is a dish to share. But we had more sharing to do. I have a very difficult time not ordering anything with squid ink or lobster. This has both. Garganelli pasta is made with Squid Ink and studded studded with lobster and bottarga, with a sauce that features orange and fennel. The proteins give the dish an intense taste of the sea, especially the bottarga which is a cured mullet roe, and a global delicacy that happens to be native to the waters of the area. The sauce gave the dish a surprisingly sweet taste though not overly so Still that sweet kick caught me off guard. I found it a little distracting. But I'm glad to have tried it as it seemed something ambitious to add. As the dinner would go on, I found the perfect compliment for that bite of pasta but more on that in a sec. Call me a simpleton, a Neanderthal, an absolute culinary novice but this was far and away my favorite pasta dish. Ordered for the kiddo in an attempt to play it safe; simplicity would win the day. They say pasta shapes are meant to be paired with sauces. I can't say why firm al dente bucatini went so well with this Pomodoro sauce but my God, was this so magnificently satisfying. Never sleep on the power of burrata cheese either. Once you pierce the outer Mozzarella exterior, soft cheese curds instantly add cream to the tomato sauce. Rich and tangy, familiar yet with execution so perfect, the experience is more Unicorn sighting than our Kid friendly intentions would lead us to believe. I'll steal one from Action Bronson: F*** that's delicious.

A5 Wagyu beef from Japan. Really.

So this is the part of the story that's just gonna come off as unfair. This is when the meal matches my honeymoon feast of 2008 ate when I ate back to back meals at Bartolotta and at Top Chef Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak in Las Vegas. Over the course of two dinners I had A5 Kobe beef from Japan(Craftsteak) and superb Italian food(Barlotta). Those meals together cost about a month's rent. And I would emulate the experience again at Il Ritorno, in one single meal for a fraction of the price. "Something from the kitchen" was heard once again. This time it would be A5 Wagyu Ribeye steak from Hokkaido and A5 Wagyu strip from Okinawa. Real deal melt in your mouth, break out the black AMEX beef. A little goes a long way both on the palate and the bill. Yes, it was comped. Yes I freaking died at how it good it was. Note the black and blue sear. Yeah, that's the way to play it. Also note the pretty dots of yellow and green. That's a Meyer lemon citronette and a green garlic emulsion. I traded off bites of the steak with bites of that squid ink Garganelli, a surf and turf of epic proportions that renewed my interest in the Garganelli and made me appreciate that slight sweet kick, the orange in particular.

A reasonable splurge

Look, I realize this kind of experience is a far departure from my M.O. but all of this added up to about $200(before tip) which also included a bottle of wine, two glasses of Sparkling wine and a Vanilla gelato. Yes, the Wagyu Amuse Bouche was comped as was the steak, but they were tasting size portions. When the dust settles, this kind of experience is never cheap. But for the sheer level of cooking and ingredients, Il Ritorno is a reasonable splurge. Additional props to the wine list as well. We had a bottle of wine for $45 which is pretty reasonable for a restaurant of this caliber. There was maybe 50 bottles on the list and 10 of them were priced around $50 or less, again pretty fair given the fact that real deal caviar and Wagyu beef is part of the Il Ritorno playbook.

Bottom line

Three years later and I'm still impressed. If you're in St. Pete and love Italian food, I'd put this on the list.