Ribs

It is a cool, crisp Wednesday night in the heartland. The Cubs lost game one of their divisional series tonight, and frost is forecast for Western Iowa tonight. It really feels like October! This week has been pretty uneventful so far. I did take both dogs to the vet the other day for shots and checkups. I'm glad to say that they are both doing fine. the examination was a bit of a wrestling match with the vet, his assistant and I in one corner and two incredibly hyper dogs in the other. We are heading to Kansas City on Friday, so I figure I would celebrate with a little bit of a BBQ post. On Sunday after church, I grilled some ribs. I went ahead and took a few pictures. No, this is not the way the big-time BBQ teams do ribs. I don't have a smoker with a separate firebox, but I do have a decent-sized grill, and I've been turning out some pretty good ribs, brisket, and pork shoulder with it. This is also not strictly Kansas City BBQ style. With disclaimers out of the way, here is my technique for ribs:

This is a bit before noon. No lighter fluid was harmed in the making of these ribs. I filled the top part of my chimney starter with kindling and a little bit of natural lump charcoal (not briquets). In this case, the kindling is mostly some 1 to 2 inch thick pieces of crabapple branches, cut in the front yard a few months back. The bottom compartment is full of shredded newspaper.

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A few minutes later, we have fire!

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Meanwhile, I am preparing two large full slabs of pork spare ribs. The little bowl is full of rub I made. In general, it includes kosher salt (yeah, on pork), brown sugar, paprika, garlic, and mustard powder. Oh, and sometimes some other stuff.

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Here are the ribs, covered with the rub.

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Now the coals are ready, and I have dumped them into the corner of the grill. My grill has a movable fire-grate that raises and lowers. It is now lowered all the way, and the coals are far, far to one side. I have added some nice, big chucks of hickory (the first of many), and a pan of water to contain the heat and add some steam. The idea is to keep things at a nice mild temperature, with plenty of smoke.

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Now we're getting somewhere! The ribs are on the grill, the smoke is smelling great. It is time to sit back, enjoy the Kansas City - Denver football game on TV. It was a game, by the way, that shook my football allegiances to their very core. I am a Broncos fan, but since moving here, I have begun to feel an affinity for the Chiefs, a huge rival. So far, the Chiefs have been pretty bad, but they were great on Sunday. It was the fourth quarter when I realized I might... be...cheering...for...the...Chiefs? What is happening to me? Oh yeah, this is a photo caption. It should just say... "now some time passes."

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This is about 4 pm. Things are progressing, but very slowly. There is not much to do in this phase, except making sure the fire stays stoked with wood. Recent woods I have tried cooking with have included pecan (delicious) and pear (kind of unusual). This time,I am using good ole hickory, and a little more crabapple (not bad).

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Mmmmmm. This was after 7 hours. They are ready to be devoured, along with some late-season sweet corn and some Gates BBQ sauce on the side. There was plenty left over for a Tuesday night ribs and cornbread night, too. Another hour or so on the grill would have taken them very near perfection. I did have some pictures of what the ribs look like cut up, but it was out of focus, and certainly not even close to the standards of Smitten Kitchen food photography. Anyway, I thought I would share a bit of my BBQ hobby.