Page 116 - Amazing Ribs - Book

About the smoked Meathead’s Memphis Dust. To amp this up to 11, we make Meathead’s Memphis Dust with smoked garlic, smoked onion, smoked salt, and paprika. They are available in some stores or online.
About the sauce. You can use a store-bought sauce that has liquid smoke in it (most do) or our Kansas City Classic Sauce and add about 1/4 teaspoon of liquid smoke to the barbecue sauce after you taste it.
Note. If you use thicker, heavier cuts such as spareribs or St. Louis Cut ribs, add 1 hour to the cooking time outside the foil.
Method
1| Skin & trim. Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs and trim excess fat. Mix 1/2 cup water with the liquid smoke, and marinate the meat in this for an hour. We usually cut the slab in half and put each half in a 1-gallon zipper bag with half the marinade.
2| Season both sides with salt and Prague Powder #1 (if you are using it) an hour or two before cooking. Then sprinkle on the smoked Meathead’s Memphis Dust. Wrap the meat in foil. Put it in a pan to catch leaks and put the pan in a 225°F oven for 2 hours. This makes the meat very tender, but not mushy.
3| Roast. Now take the meat out of the foil, and put it back in the oven on a wire rack, meaty side up, and place the wire rack above a pan with a little water to catch drips. Roast for another 2 hours at 225°F. This will firm the bark.
4| Sauce and serve. Use the bend test to make sure it is done. When it is, turn the slab meaty side down. Slather the bone side with the sauce, turn the oven on broil and put the meat under the broiler so it is aligned with the heat source. Broil for 5 minutes until the sauce bubbles, watching closely to make sure it doesn’t burn. Repeat for the meaty side. This direct concentrated heat caramelizes the sugar and creates deeper flavors. Serve and be amazed!
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