BBQ Adventures 3: Pork ribs.

Last weekend I tried making pork ribs. This time I used the Memphis Ribs recipe from Steve Raichlen. It uses a rub and then a vinegar-mustard mop.

Again, I had to go with what was in the store, and they only had individual ribs, not a rib rack, but all that seemed to mean is that they probably cooked a bit faster than if they had been all joined up.

I used mesquite wood this time, so the smoke flavor was definitely stronger.

I forgot to take a picture of the set up, so all the pictures we have are of the finished article.



(By the way, those tomatoes are ones that came off of our own tomato plants. That was pretty exciting.)



I think they turned out pretty well. So far I think the ribs have been my favorite (though I tend to like ribs best, anyway). They weren't completely fall of the bone tender, but I do like to have a little bit of "chew" to them.

The potato salad was a bit too salty.

This was the first time I tried sugarsnap peas on the grill (I put them all together on a skewer) - they were really good. I would definitely do that again. I also tried putting all like vegetables on the same skewer together, rather than intermingling different vegetables. I think it did work better, because then you could control how they cooked more easily. It doesn't look as nice, and rather than just handing a skewer to a person, you have to divvy up each of the vegetables, but it's worth it to avoid overcooking some and undercooking others.

So far Mark liked the pulled pork best, then the ribs, then the brisket. I think I liked the ribs, then it's kind of a tie between the pulled pork and brisket.

Not sure what I'm going to try next. I really want to eat sausage, like at Spring Creek or Dickey's (by the way, just discovered that there's a Dickey's in Taylors, on the other side of Greenville, SC), but the problem there, of course, is sourcing the sausage. I don't know if I can get my hands on the kind of sausage that they use. I might try brisket again, or try something completely new out of the cookbook. Or maybe ham. At some point I'll try a whole turkey - but I think I need to get a stand first. Unless I try beer can chicken, which seems to have achieved cult status. I'll see where our appetites take us next.