On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 22:21:32 GMT, "George B. Ross"
> wrote:

>Alton Brown of the Food Network's "Good Eats" recently did an
>episode on ribs. It involved wrapping the ribs in foil and
>adding a little liquid to the packet before baking in an oven.
>He used a dry rub before baking and sauce made from the
>meat drippings after.
>
>Now, how is it that I come to believe that Alton Brown is OK.
>Near the end of the show as he started munching on his ribs, he
>said
>
>"Notice that I never called these barbecued ribs, because they
>aren't. Barbecuing involves wood and smoke, which we didn't
>do."
>
>Yes, they were basically steamed ribs, but they did look tasty,
>and it was a reasonably simple process that anyone could do on a
>day when you didn't want to fire up the smoker. I applaud Mr.
>Brown for not propagating the idea that what he made should be
>called BBQ.

AB actually did an episode on smoking ("Scrap Iron Chef"). "He" built
his own smoker and actually discussed direct and indirect heat, hot
and cold smoke and also the finer points of the components of a
smoker. He brined and smoked bacon on the episode. I haven't used his
recipes for brining bacon but I have used his techniques for great
Pecan Smoked Bacon. I did learn early on that the heavier tasting
wood you use the less time you should smoke it. Any longer than 3-3.5
hours is overkill when using oak firewood. Pecan can go 4-5 hours. I
haven't tried hickory or applewood yet since they are scarce in South
Central Texas (and Mesquite is out of the question).