Teaching Kids to rub ribs (pt. 2)

In the first post of this series, we taught the young’uns to prepare country style ribs for the grill. After choosing their favorite rub, they applied it, put the ribs in bags and let them sit in the fridge for a day. The result was two fold, we had a lot of fun together and the ribs got well seasoned. Once the ribs had marinated for a day, it was time to teach them the second half of the process.

Lit lump charcoal in Weber chimney

Weber charcoal chimney with lit lump charcoal

Since I had decided to let these ribs grill or smoke for an hour or so longer than normal I chose to use some hardwood lump charcoal from Cowboy Charcoal. This charcoal has been burning a little cooler than some of the briquettes in our testing, but it tends to burn longer which makes it a great choice for this application.

We stuffed the bottom of our favorite charcoal chimney with old newspaper, after reading the comics of course. Then filled the top of the chimney with the lump charcoal. I didn’t let the young’uns light the newspaper since there was a stiff breeze and young’uns tend to not be as patient as your average Grill Master. (I am probably not as patient as your average Grill Master either, because I opted to use a Benz-o-matic torch to light the paper.)

Once the charcoal was ready, I explained that we were going to set up the grill for “indirect” cooking. They figured it out pretty quick and I poured the coals on one side of the bottom of the grill. Again something that is probably best left to an adult, especially since lump charcoal has a tendency to pop and spit sparks when it is being poured.

Putting ribs on the grill

Putting country style ribs on the grill

Once I had the grill setup for indirect cooking, the young’uns got back into the action. Racing in to get their own ribs that they rubbed, the young’uns were back at the grill in a flash. Once we had the ribs placed on the grill it was time for the long agonizing wait where the smells from the grill make you salivate like one of Pavlov’s pets.

After an hour we took a look at the young’uns handy work. We also added some recently cut applewood to get the smoke really rolling. At the two hour mark I added some more applewood and a few more lumps of charcoal. It was really hard to not sneak one of those ribs off the grill when the young’uns weren’t looking.

I am very glad that I didn’t sneak one of the ribs. Not only would the young’uns have been disappointed but so would I. The goal of grilling/smoking the ribs an hour or so longer than normal was to create a bark on the ribs. The flavor turned out to be absolutely amazing.

These ribs went so fast that they didn’t even get cool before they were gone.

Get out and grill,
Robert