On Fri, 13 Apr 2007 10:24:45 -0700, Nonnymus
> wrote:

>A friend and I were discussing the best way to cook ribs. He swears
>that adding liquid smoke to the water as he boils them gives the best
>flavor. I prefer sprinkling it on after removing them from the water,
>or adding it to the catsup. What are your suggestions, and what is the
>best brand of liquid smoke to use?
>
>Nonny

You've got the right idea, but the execution is all wrong. If you add
the liquid smoke to the boiling water it's too diluted and won't do
any good. And it's too strong if you just dunk the ribs in it after
they are cooked.

The right way to enhance the flavor of your ribs is with a dry rub,
but that can be improved with some liquid smoke. My favorite is salt,
pepper, and whatever ashes are in the fireplace. Add some liquid smoke
-- not too much -- and you'll have a tasty paste that you can cover
your ribs with. Yum. Save some of the paste to baste the ribs with
toward the end of cooking.

You can distill your own liquid smoke but why go to the trouble? The
store brands are all fine. I figure that if I put in the effort to rig
up a distillery, I'll want something besides liquid smoke coming out
of the pipe.