onto the Grill (Dry Ribs)

I'll be working on getting a few posts up by the end of this weekend including a photo history of Maxwell Metz, a potential concert piece, and likely one on the pumpkin patch we'll be visiting Sunday.  Could be a busy weekend around the Metz house.  In the meantime, I cooked up some ribs on the grill last evening.  I don't usually eat ribs any way but smoked.  Smoking ribs can take upwards of four to six hours so it's not always the most practical way to prepare them.  What to do if you see Ribs on sale, but don't have a weekend day to burn for smoking them up right?  Enter the old Weber grill and dry rib preparation.

Preparation time:  45 minutes (this is really only to heat up the coals, if you're using gas count on 5 minute prep time)
Cooking time:  1 hour
Level of difficulty:  Easy
Ingredients required:  One slab pork spare ribs, 1/2 C BBQ rub, 2 C Apple Cider Vinegar, 2 C Water
Servings:  4 or so

This is a really easy way to prepare delicious ribs when you're constrained on time.  Take a look at the ingredients:

Very basic.  Ribs in front and, left to right in the back, rub, cider vinegar, BBQ pit sauce (optional for dipping), and beer.  My brother's in-laws were visiting from Argentina this summer and I was showing Angel (father-in-law) around the smoker and grill.  I told him:  Paso uno--cerveza.  Let that be a lesson to all of you as well--Step One--Beer.  You can not appropriately grill or smoke meats without drinking beer during the process.  This can not be debated or compromised.  It is the first and most important step.

On this evening I was enjoying Ad Astra Ale (in a bottle!) from the Free State Brewing Company in Lawrence, KS.  To keep it really local the pit sauce is concocted by my good friend, Grant.  Luck's KC Pit Sauce can be picked up at your nearest Kansas Sampler among other places.  Highly recommended.  The rub is from Head Country out of Oklahoma.  When preparing dry ribs I always feel like a southern rub (Memphis, Texas, or Carolina I suppose) is appropriate and Head Country was the closest thing I had in the cabinet.  The ribs were St. Louis style spare, but any pork variety will be fine.

Before prepping the ribs you'll want to get your fire started since this can take 30-45 minutes for the charcoal to get ready. 

Fire up a full batch of coals in your chimney

You'll also need wood chips and a water pan

While the coals are heating up you have some time to kill.  Walk your dog or make a beer run.  I chose to swing the boy.

You'll also want to complete preparation of the meat.  Rub the ribs generously.  Make sure each side is coated.  Pour your vinegar into a spray bottle and add some water.  I mixed in some Ad Astra as well.

Fill a foil pan with water and add a few handfuls of wood chips to the pan.  Once ready, dump your coals all around the pan and add some soaked wood chips for smoke.  I also added a few more fresh coals so my fire would be sure to stay hot throughout the cooking process which can take upwards of an hour. You are now ready to cook.



Ready for action

Place the slab over the center of the grill.  From here, you'll want to flip the slab every 3-5 minutes or so and give it a good spray of vinegar/water/beer each time.

Hot, smoky fire

Douse them good

Continue this process for approximately one hour and you're good to go.  I wrapped the ribs in aluminum foil after taking them off the grill.  Let them sit for 10-15 minutes and then you're ready to cut.

We prepped up some sliced peppers and mushrooms as a side item.

Traditionally you wouldn't add any sauce to the ribs, but I always like a little dipping.  I probably used a total of one tablespoon of pit sauce for dipping the four ribs I ate.  These won't be falling apart like a smoked rib sometimes is and you will have to bite it away from the bone.  They should still, however, be tender and juicy.  It's a little different take and I have to say I'm surprised by how well they turn out every time.  Living in Kansas City you would think all ribs have to be heavily smoked and sauced to be good.  Untrue.  They came out great and as you can see it's about as easy as it can get.  I'll be back with some more rib recipes at a later date, more specifically--a KC BBQ smoked rib.  Until then, happy grilling.