Pork Ribs, Smoker Style

For Labor Day, I wanted to make pork ribs, but didn't want dry ribs. I decided to use a vinegar-based "mop", which I used to baste the pork ribs every 30 minutes.

To start:
Make a fire using charcoal or wood logs.

• We have a backyard smoker, so I used oak logs. You'll be waiting until the fire has mellowed to a low flame.
  
• You'll also want to make sure your smoker/grill/fire pit has a lid. This isn't necessary, but it will help you control the fire temperature and add more smokey flavor to the ribs.

Meanwhile:
Prepare the ribs. I used pork back ribs, St. Louis style. Baby back ribs are nice, but too small for me, and country-style ribs are too big.

• If you have the time, put a dry rub on the ribs the night before and let them sit in the fridge overnight.
  
• If you don't have the time, put a dry rub on the ribs as early as you can.
  
• Take the ribs out of the fridge about an hour before you're going to cook them (about when you've put the logs on the fire).
  

Ingredients:
- 3 racks of St. Louis pork ribs

Vinegar mop:
- 1 cup vinegar (I used white vinegar, but apple cider vinegar would be excellent)
- 1 T chili powder
- 1 T garlic powder
- 1 T onion powder
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 T salt
- 1 T black pepper

In a small sauce pan, heat the vinegar over medium heat with the other ingredients until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Set aside until you're ready to use it. Put it in a squirt bottle (like the ones they have at diners for ketchup) for easy application.

Dry Rub:
- 1/4 cup salt
- 2 T black pepper
- 2 T chili powder
- 1 T garlic powder
- 2 t cayenne pepper (if you like it spicy)

The flavors of the dry rub are really up to you. You could do a mole style rub with unsweetened chocolate, or a sweet rub with sugar. The possibilities are endless.

Ready to Grill?

• Once you're ready to grill, put the ribs on a platter and bring them to the grill.

• Stack the racks on top of each other on the grill (this lets the juice/flavor fall on to the lower racks of ribs and helps to keep them moist).
• After 30 minutes, rotate the racks, moving the bottom one to the top. Squirt the ribs with your mop, about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of mop.
  
• Every 30 minutes, rotate the ribs and add more mop.
  
• After about 2 hours, start checking the ribs for done-ness. They're done when you can rotate one of the rib bones and it starts to separate from the meat.
• When the ribs are done, remove them from the grill and let them rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Chop the ribs (I like to use a cleaver or anther heavy knife for this) and serve.
  
  
  

You may have noticed that I didn't put BBQ sauce on the ribs. I like to serve at least 3 sauces on the side of the ribs so that everyone can choose whatever flavor(s) they like. I use homemade BBQ sauce when I'm feeling up to it, or store-bought if I'm crunched for time.

Happy cooking!