Shake 'N Smoke Ribs

Note from Cheri: The recipe and text below is reprinted, with permission, from Where There's Smoke There's Flavor by Richard Langer, 2001, Little Brown. This book teaches you everything you need to know to turn your backyard grill into a smoker cooker, including lots of delicious recipes. Click here to learn more about the book and for more sample recipes!

In the classic American barbecue, two separate steps — apart from the long, slow smoke, naturally — supply the distinctive flavor. First there’s the rub, then there’s the mop. Now this is different from seasoning meat by either a vinegary marinade or a dusting of spices before smoking. It’s different, too, from simply basting the meat with barbecue sauce as it smokes.

A rub, sometimes referred to as a dry rub, draws a portion of the juices from a cut of meat to the surface, there to mingle with the seasoning and with it form a crust encasing the rest of the meat’s juices and flavor. The secret to concocting a good rub lies in not skimping on the ingredients. The mix must be ample enough to coat the meat completely, sealing it in spices. One way to help achieve this objective is to dump both rub and ribs into a Ziploc-type plastic bag and shake the bag until the ribs are well covered with the seasoning. The bags designed for the freezer are a bit stronger than the regular storage ones, and I recommend this sturdier version for the aforesaid activity. Nothing spawns a sneeze storm quite as spectacularly as the sudden ripping of a gyrating bag full of peppery ribs.

2 1/2- to 3 1/2-pound rack of pork spareribs The Rub 2/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar 1/4 cup paprika 2 tablespoons garlic powder 1 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper 1 tablespoon ground black pepper 1 tablespoon ground white pepper 2 teaspoons ground coriander 1 teaspoon salt The Mop 1 tablespoon butter 1 medium-size onion, finely chopped 8 cloves garlic, peeled and minced or put through a garlic press 1 can (12 oz.) tomato paste 1 cup red wine vinegar 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup molasses 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 3 tablespoons chili powder 1 tablespoon dry mustard

Serves 3 to 4 A day in advance of your planned barbecue, set the ribs out on a cutting board or a butcher block and slice between them one-third of the way in from both ends so that the rub can be worked in between the ribs. For the rub, measure the brown sugar into a small mixing bowl and mash out any lumps with a fork. Add the paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne, black, and white peppers, followed by the coriander and salt. Blend these ingredients well and pour into a Ziploc-type plastic bag large enough to hold the ribs comfortably. Add the ribs and shake the bag until they are thoroughly dusted with the rub. Refrigerate, tightly closed, overnight. Shake the bag once before going to bed and again in the morning. About 5 1/2 hours before you plan to serve the ribs, fire up your smoker and start putting the mop together. For the mop, melt the butter in a medium-size stainless steel or flameproof ceramic saucepan set over low heat. Stir in the onion and garlic and sauté gently until golden. Add the tomato paste and mix well. Blend in the vinegar, water, and molasses. Add the brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and, a little at a time, the chili powder and dry mustard, stirring well after each addition. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes, or until the sauce is thick. Remove from the heat and set aside until needed for basting. Once the fire in your smoker has settled down to a good bed of coals that will last for a number of hours without too much tending, add a few chunks of wet wood or chips and put the ribs on the grill over a pan of hot water. Let smoke, covered and undisturbed, for about 2 hours. At that point, open the smoker lid and baste the ribs well with the mop, taking this opportunity to check the coals in the fire pan and the liquid level in the water pan. Replenish as needed, adding wet wood for plenty of smoke as well. Cook the ribs for 3 hours more, turning and basting them after 1 hour and again after 2 hours. As always in smoke cooking, precise timing is not terribly important here. Just keep the smoke up and the temperature at 200 to 240 degrees F. and be liberal with your mopping. By the end of their 5 hours on the grill, the ribs will have long since reached and passed the internal temperature of 160 to 170 degrees F. recommended for pork. But you can’t overdo ribs by smoking, and the long, slow cooking will have rendered them tender to a tee. About 10 minutes before you are ready to serve the ribs, treat them to a final mop, letting it set to a tantalizingly rich glaze over what may be the most succulent ribs you’ve ever tasted. For finger-licking aficionados, provide yet more hot mop sauce served up in dipping bowls. Note: If you're new to smoking, click here for indirect smoking instructions.