Ribs!

Listen, I'm not some professional BBQ pitmaster.  You won't see me on the competition circuit any time soon.  You won't see my trying to sell my rubs or my sauce or claiming that I make the best "Q" in the world.  But let me tell you one thing, I am hooked.  Obsessed even, all in, a certified smokeaholic.

When the smoker is running I'm hovering around checking temperatures, making minute adjustments to vents, and trying not to peek under the lid at what is going on.  When the smoker is cool, I'm watching videos, old reruns of BBQ Pitmasters on Destination America, or telling anyone who will listen about internal temperatures and rub application techniques.  Want to know how I know my wife loves me?  She keeps her eye rolls to a minimum and at least feigns interest when I start rambling on and on about the merits of brown sugar over plain old white sugar.

I think she's trying to wait me out.  This is my typical M.O. afterall, I go (pardon the pun) whole hog into anything that catches my eye, and before I know it, I'm in so deep I can't see anything but the topic at hand.  After I gain a working knowledge though, I'm done, I cast it aside ready for the next adventure.  My mother tells me that I have always been this way, and after 41 years on the planet, I haven't changed a bit.

Sooooooo..how about we talk about Ribs today, shall we?  This is a midweek smoke, and I was actually on a conference call in the kitchen while getting these ribs prepared for the smoker.  I'm going to add "Good at Multitasking" on my next performance review!

I made my own rub, leave a comment if you want the recipe, its nothing too fancy, but it does the job, and its cheaper, by volume, than anything you can buy in the store.  Essentially it has brown sugar, organic sugar, paprika, chili powder, and a few other odds and ends.  Got them rubbed down, and onto the smoker.  Here they are an hour later, I was just spritzing them with a 1:1 apple and pineapple juice mixture.

I wrapped them at the 2.5 hour mark.  I had them sitting at about 240 degrees on the smoker, with a few small chunks of cherry wood for some sweet smoke.  I wrapped them tight and added a little more brown sugar, some squeeze butter, and some honey.

Back on the smoker for an hour or so, then glazed with some Sweet Baby Ray's thinned with apple juice.  After glazing them, I let them sit for another 30 minutes and pulled them.

See that pull back from the bones?  Do you see it?  That means perfection from where I come from.  A quick slice with a sharp knife revealed a nice smoke ring and a moist interior.

I think they may have went about 20 minutes too long before I wrapped them, but they tasted good, and my son, who has become quite the rib connoisseur, proclaimed them good.  So there you go, the fruits of my current obsession.  Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go watch some videos, you know, because I haven't watched quite enough already.

Go make something with your hands instead of buying it.  Heck, go cook something even, anything at all.  You will love yourself and the way it makes you feel!