Tips for BBQin' Ribs

Ever go to somebody's house for a barbeque and you don't know what they are serving but they are really great friends and you decide to take your chances on their cooking? You get there and find that the main item on the menu for the night is pork ribs. If you vegetarians haven't clicked away by the time you've read the first sentence I suggest you do so now.

Are they all gone???

Oops, there is still one left. Hold on it looks like they are interested...no, no...looks like they are playing it smart and clicking the back button. Good. O.k. Now I can continue.

One way to gauge a barbequers expertise behind the grill is to be there and observe the first time they put a rack of ribs on their grill. Now I am talking about the standard grills one would buy at a store like Wal-Mart, Target, Big 5. Propane or charcoal, it doesn't matter. Just your run of the mill, average back yard barbeque. Most guys when cooking a slab of ribs for the first time do one thing right...they coat the ribs with sauce. After that they go downhill from there.

They usually do many things wrong after that. The first of which being that they throw the ribs on the grill without wrapping it in aluminum foil. This is a cardinal mistake and if you have ever seen someone do this, you instantly wish that you had brought that pound of burger with you from you house so you could whip yourself up some patties. No matter how many times they flip it over and re-apply the sauce, they still aren't going to save the rack from burning and the bad thing about it is that because of the bone in the rack...it takes longer too cook and the burn crust just builds up. I find it odd, but some people don't mind eating a rack of ribs this way.

The other common mistake is using too high of a heat setting. The experienced charcoal griller may be able to avoid the problem of cooking them on too high of a heat but will still struggle at times because it isn't always easy to keep a consistent heat pattern in a charcoal grill. The inexperienced charcoal griller AND propane griller will make this mistake (guaranteed) for the first rack of ribs they throw on the grill. If they were lucky enough to get a tip to wrap the rack in foil...you can only pray that they were lucky enough to get a tip on the heat. Good ribs should not have to be torn off the bone when eating them. Good ribs will peel off the bone as if it is just dying to jump into your mouth. Ironically...it did die to jump in your mouth, HA HA! *slaps knee* See vegans...I told you to click away. Anyway...the best way to get the meat to peel off the skin is to cook it on a low heat setting and give it time. If you are in a rush, don't cook ribs. Be patient and give them time on the grill, it will be worth it.

Another common mistake comes from cooking time of the meat. Now this doesn't go just for ribs. It goes from anything you put on your grill. Anything! Corn, crickets, roadkill, filet mignon, shrimp, asparagus...I don't care or even want to know what some people grill up...but I do know that a good way to kill a good time is to serve overcooked or undercooked food to your guests. No matter what anybody tells you or no matter what you read in a recipe when it comes to cooking time, the only way to be sure is through trial and error. Experience and intuition are necessary. The cooking time and the cooking over the proper heat is the key.

My wife rarely cooks. If she does it is mainly breakfast on weekend mornings. The rest of the time it is me, outside, behind the grill. Rain or shine I am out there cooking some form of meat and have learned these things through trial and error over the twelve years my wife and I have been together. For the past six or so years...friends and family have always wanted to come to my place for barbeques and many of them have learned from me and hopefully some here on the net will too. Cooking on a grill is just like anything...the more experience the better and the good grillers develop their own style over time.

Good luck and enjoy the summer. Try out some ribs.