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A look at a rack of ribs not trimmed and a rack trimmed.

A plate of beautiful finished ribs.

A look at a rack of ribs not trimmed and a rack trimmed.

A plate of beautiful finished ribs.

First of all, a sincere apology from me regarding the length of time it has been since I have shared a food column. Life simply got in the way.

I would start off each week with every intention of sharing a delectable dish or BBQ technique, only to see the days run out. I promise to do better moving forward.

Last night I smoked some spare ribs. I’m always curious to know the true opinion of those who eat the food I prepare. I mean, I REALLY want to know their TRUE opinion. So, this morning, I asked Liz what she truly thought of the ribs.

She said they were good, but that she likes ribs where the meat is falling off the bone. My mother-in-law likes them that way too.

As some of my long-time readers may recall, I’ve competed in a Kansas City Barbecue Society sanctioned event, as well as taking the class to become a certified KCBS judge. The KCBS definition of a perfectly cooked rib is explained this way: “A properly cooked BBQ rib should be moist and tender yet yield just enough so that when you bite into it you see a rounded bite mark with the bone turning white almost immediately.” Unfortunately a rib where the meat is “falling off the bone” is “overcooked.”

Last night’s ribs featured two rubs. One rack was served “wet” or “with sauce” while the other was served “dry,” or “without sauce.” In both cases the rubs were applied to the ribs in the morning and then covered with cellophane and placed in the fridge. For a few hours. This “dry brines” the meat. We went with spare ribs as opposed to baby back ribs. In my opinion spare ribs have better fat content and flavor. In fact, spare ribs are what is used in BBQ competitions. Don’t get me wrong. I love baby back ribs too.

I trimmed them and pulled the membrane off the bone side. The “flaps” that are trimmed off are also smoked, and are wonderful as leftovers or to be used in other dishes. We smoke the ribs at 245 degrees (you can really fine tune the temperature with a pellet grill) for roughly 2 ½ hours.

The “dry” ribs were then pulled off, and BBQ sauce was applied to the second rack of ribs. The pellet grill was then cranked up to 350 degrees for 15 minutes or so to firm the sauce up. The two rub recipes below are what we used and are my favorite.

The “rendezvous ribs” rub was Elvis’ favorite. They are served “dry” in Memphis. Elvis used to have them flown out to him on a first class airline ticket (this was before FedEx or UPS) when he was performing in Vegas. The only difference is that I smoked these ribs while in Memphis they cook them with charcoal briquettes. The second rub is more traditional, and can be served dry, or as we did, with sauce.

2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

2 Tbs coarsely ground black pepper

So which do you prefer? Fall-off-the bone or KCBS competition style?

If you like the first, wrap the ribs in foil and cook for another 45 minutes or so. They will self-steam and will be “fall-off-the-bone.” If you like the competition style, do them exactly as I did. Drop me an email and let me know which you prefer. Enjoy!

You can contact Dave Lobeck at davelobeck@gmail.com.

You can also visit their YouTube channel at www.YouTube.com/BBQMyWay.

The hundred-year milestone was recognized in a ceremony in the hospital's lobby Thursday afternoon.

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