This recipe is no fail, and leads to the best ribs I have ever eaten, seriously.  I stumbled into this recipe by accident; I was fixing ribs with flavor, but the wrong texture; hence, finishing the ribs, covered, in the oven. The variable is the rub. Keeping the rub simple is best; find whether you prefer paprika or cumin, and let that be dominant.

• Rinse and pat dry a rack of spare ribs. It is not necessary, and I think a mistake, to ask for St. Louis cut.
  • Rub with good quality salt, and let sit for about a half an hour.
  • Rub with your rub (a simple mix of herbs and spices; stores have good rubs, but it is so simple to make it fresh, and so much better, that I strongly recommend it)
  • wrap and refrigerate while you prep the barbecue.

The trick to prepping the barbecue lies in what barbecue you own. You want the heat source away from the ribs, with the smoke washing over the ribs; that means having the ribs under your vent, and the charcoal away from the vent. Soak wood chips in water to maximize the smoke. Never let the barbecue get hot; 275°f is optimal; it is not hard to keep the temp very close with a little monitoring. Once you have the charcoals settled, and the temp stabilized, it is time to put the ribs on the grill. The total grill time is 2 hours.

• Scrape and oil the grill grate; place the ribs, fat side up, on the grill with a loose foil cover; add the wet chips to the coals, and close the lid.
  • after one hour, rotate, and flip, the ribs; with the meat side now up, brush with barbecue sauce; cover, very loosely, with the foil.
  • cook another hour on the grill, as close to 225°f as possible, adding wet wood chips a couple of times if you want, but not vital.
  • remove from the grill.

At this point, you can wrap the ribs and put them in the fridge over night, which really makes this recipe manageable for a backyard party. The last step is in the oven, which you can time perfectly, while you barbecue simple things for the crowd.

Pre-heat the oven to 350°f.

•  Put the rack of ribs on a perforated rack for a half-sheet; place the perforated rack with the ribs on a half sheet; pour a bottle of beer into the sheet. Cover the ribs tightly with foil over the baking sheet, and put in the oven for 2 hours.

Remove from the oven, place the ribs on a cutting board, and let sit; they are done. Eat with the barbecue sauces from this site; they are easy, and good.

Boston baked beans are a great accompaniment.