35. Learn How to Grill Ribs

I woke up bright and early at nine in the morning. Okay, that may not be “bright and early” but I’m still fresh to fatherhood and this uninterrupted sleep thing still has its hold on me. Besides I was my mom’s house late sipping some vino and playing games.

Where was I? Oh yeah, bright and early… The Wife and Lil Money were still in dreamland. I tip toed out of bed and into the kitchen. Poured myself and nice glass of orange juice, pulp in, and went out back. As I shut the refrigerator door I could smell the mouth-watering aroma of baby backs that had been rubbed in the Good Shit. More on that later.

Texas mornings are cool but not the kinda cool where a light sweater is called for the kinda cool where you can feel moisture in the air. Yeah! So no time to waste. I began by prepping the grill, ridding it of day’s past of dusty charcoal and pecan wood. Once I had that squared away it was time to light the fire. Thanks to my brother David, I have an awesome new chimney starter that worked solidly. I loaded it up with mesquite and it began to burn right away, just the smell of the wood was enough trigger hunger pangs.

Once the chips were hot and glowing I dumped them over to one side of the grill and let them “cool” to a white ash. On the other half of the grill I put a bread pan with hot water (to maintain moisture in the grill while smoking). I put the top grill on, cleaned it and let it heat up.

It’s about ten o’clock now and time to put my Bar B Q’ing skills to the test. Note: this will be my first attempt at baby back ribs. So I pull the ribs out of the fridge, and dayamn they smell good. Thanks to a buddy of mine, Eli, I have some spice and Bar B Q sauce that he not only recommended but also provided. So the Good Shit covered ribs make their way out back and as they hit the grill I hear the coveted sizzle, this is gonna be a good day. I adjust the air intake and put the lid on the grill. And smoke away.

30 minutes later I check the status of the grill, gotta keep the heat just right and make sure it’s smoking. To my disappointment the mesquite chips aren’t maintaining enough heat, the meat is visibly being cooked but the temperature isn’t near what I think it should be. Lucky for me, my brospeh Joseph, cut a huge pecan tree from his backyard a season ago so I was stocked. I tossed a small log into the charred coals and… We have fire! I closed the lid again to cut airflow and it began smoking.

2 patient hours later, I return with Corky’s Bar B Que sauce, thanks again Eli, anxiously waiting to glaze these bad boys. The meat’s tender, with good, ready to eat color and as I grab them with the tongs I can tell the meat just wants to fall off the bone. Let the glazing begin and in 30 minutes we should be ready to eat.

And 30 minutes later, they were indeed ready to eat. Now, as I’ve said here before, I don’t have a camera so I didn’t capture any images of the process or ribs… Honestly I didn’t even think about pictures until I had already cut the ribs. By that time The Wife and I were ready to get our grub on. We plated up, with corn on the cob and baked beans. And if I say so myself, these were some DAMN GOOD ribs.