On a whim, Grillaz went to McKinnon’s and got some St. Louis Cut ribs. These pork ribs have the bone and cartilage removed, yielding some nice hunks o’ meat.  Mmmm, hunks ‘o meat.

We dry-rubbed them with Ad Hoc Sweet and Spicy BBQ Rub and let them sit in the fridge overnight.  Grillaz  has found through experimentation that a dry rub overnight imparts more flavor to the ribs than a liquid BBQ sauce.  It seems to penetrate and stain the meet more deeply.  We then baked the ribs in the oven on a cookie sheet with a little water and covered loosely with foil at 222 F for eight hours until they were completely tender. Then we smoked them at low temp with apple wood chips for two hours.

Finally, we mopped ’em good with Two Fat Guys Smoky BBQ Sauce.   Several times over the final half hour on the smoker, we coated with TFG and and let the mild heat barely caramelize the sauce.  Flip, repeat.  The ribs were unbelievable, especially when we doused them with extra TFG at the table. The sauce is a little sweet, little spicy, and a little smoky, all in perfect balance.  We used up the jar the following day as a sauce on our lunch.  By the way, Grillaz discovered Two Fat Guys completely by chance when buying amazing brats at Jones Country Meat when Grillaz was the Guest Griller for an Illinois Family Reunion.