Hi,
Just a newbie here, been lurking for a while. I've just recently
discovered the joys of barbecue (thanks in large part to you folks) and
thought I'd share the story. :-) Just to give you an idea of the
background to this adventure, I grew up in typical suburbia. On all the
requisite holidays, my parents would have "cookouts" in the back yard. I
remember helping my mother very carefully line the grill with tin foil
on the bottom, and then double wrap the grates with same. It made the
cleanup after so much easier, she said. (stop laughing!) My folks did
"barbecue" like that all their lives... I suggested removing the foil
once, (I just sensed it was wrong) and got amazed looks. "Do you *know*
what kind of mess that would make?!?" I guess it's the same logic behind
the folks that cover their furniture with plastic...

Fast forward a few years. I met and moved in with my S/O. His folks
liked to have "cookouts" all summer, too. More fond memories, but this
time of his mother bringing out big platefuls of chicken and ribs that
she'd boiled the day before. At least they didn't cover the grate with
foil...

Fast forward a bunch more years, to a few weeks ago. His folks have
passed, and we're living in their house. In the interim, I've developed
an interest in cooking, and like to think I'm pretty good at it. Been
told I've got a magic touch with spices. :-) Not much interest in
barbecue, though. Don't even own a grill. (ducking for cover) So I'm
watching the Food Network, and they start their "Grillin' and Chillin'"
series of shows. Looks like good stuff. One of the first things I
watched was one of Paula Deen's shows on barbecue. When I saw her take a
cooked pork butt and just slide the bone out, and that same piece of
meat just fall apart in her hands, I just sat there and stared. I'd
tried "pulled pork" in restaurants. Dry stringy stuff. (My local paper
just ran a recipe for it that started with a tenderloin...) But this
thing on TV just looked wonderful and my mouth watered for it. But I
didn't have a barbecue rig. Fortunately Paula obliged with an oven
recipe that looked good to me. Got a butt (hard to find!) and cooked it
up in a my cast iron dutch oven. Took about 3 hours, I think. Pulled
that thing out of there and it fell apart, just like on TV. And oh, it
was good. But by this time I'd watched a lot more barbecue shows, and
knew this was most definitely *not* as good as it could be! Time to
start studying...

So one of the next shows I see is "Good Eats" and Alton built that
amazing looking ceramic smoker. Sounds good to me, so I made one. This
time I tried country style ribs. No good. The temp in the smoker
initially went up to about 220, but after the meat went on I couldn't
get it any higher than about 170 or so. And we're in the middle of a
scorcher of a heatwave, it was 120 degrees in there even without the
burner... So I screwed with it and screwed with it. And the ribs got
drier and drier... But oh the wood smelled good. I should mention here
that I got both mesquite chunks and a bag of Jack Daniel's barrel
pieces. :-) Anyway, I think maybe that the burner isn't strong enough. I
ate the ribs, after finishing them in the oven. They were mostly dry,
but where the fat pockets were, were hints to the greatness that could
be there...

Fast forward to this past weekend. Gonna do spare ribs this time, and
do 'em right, if it kills both me and my very patient (and vegetarian)
S/O. I figured a better burner would do the trick with the ceramic
smoker, as would preheating it longer. Uh-Uh. I still don't have any
idea why I couldn't get the temperature high enough. (Comments welcome)
But I did know I wasn't going to waste these gorgeous spare ribs. By
this time, I had trimmed them a little and given them a light rub with
Emeril Essence. Not the store bought stuff, but a duplicate using my own
fresh spices. It's really a good blend.

I remembered seeing my in-laws' old grill behind the shed, and
dragged it out. It's an old Meco Swinger, all beat up, but still
serviceable. I figured with indirect heat and some careful watching,
this could be done. Got the coals going in one side, when they burned
down, plopped the ribs on the other side. At first, the temp went
through the roof. (too many coals) But after screwing around with the
vents for about an hour, it settled down to about 230. Added a chunk of
mesquite and a handlful of the Jack Daniels chips at this point.
Definitely time for a beer.

So I expected to have a lot of problems maintaining the temp, but I
really didn't. About once an hour I added new coals, that I kept going
in the top part of the ceramic smoker I'd made. It stayed between
225-250, which seemed fine to me. Oh, and every so often I added
handfuls of fresh herbs from my garden, as well as more wood. I strongly
recommend trying lemon basil, it made the most wonderful smelling sweet
smoke. My S/O even added a couple of his veggie-dogs to the grill for
the last hour. :-)

So the ribs finally reached th point where they tore easily, after
about 5 hours or so. They were a gorgeous dark mahogany color. I didn't
mop or baste them with anything, they never looked like they needed
it... Onto the plate they went. Took a bite, it was like butter, so
tender, and omigod, the taste. I've never in my life tasted anything
this good, I don't think. I got out a little store bought sauce and
tried it. Immediately decided that it was an insult to these delectable
things and ate them without. The outside had the most wonderful sweet
flavor. I think maybe this was from the fresh herbs I added to the fire.

A couple of observations, I only saw a smoke ring on one side, I
think I need to pay more attention to turning them the next time. And
the bit on the ends where the grain runs the other way seemed tough. I
think I'll trim that off next time. And this morning I ate the last two
ribs for breakfast with my eggs. Here's a link to a picture for the
curious:

http://www.wtv-zone.com/nutfish/ribsneggs.jpg

So this coming weekend I'm going to be trying a *real* barbecued pork
butt. If I can find one, that is. All I can find lately is picnic cuts,
but I guess that'll do as well, right? I'm just absolutely amazed at
what I've apparently been missing all my life. I never imagined barbecue
could be this good. I'm looking forward to getting a real smoker and
trying other things as well. It's like a whole new world of cooking. I
can't wait to try brisket and pastrami, or maybe a turkey... Many thanks
to the people on this group, I've learned a lot here, and couldn't have
made those beautiful ribs without you. :-) Sorry this was so long, I
just couldn't seem to stop typing...

Robyn
(who is trying to figure out a way to justify the purchase of a WSM to
her vegetarian S/O)
--
To avoid grizzlies, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game advises hikers
to wear noisy little bells on clothes and carry pepper spray. Also watch
for signs of activity: Black bear scat is smaller and contains berries;
grizzly scat has little bells in it and smells like pepper.