Don't be scerrrrrd of ribs.....

I'll start by saying ribs aren't the easiest but it's pretty hard to mess them up.  Hell, even if they are overdone, they still taste good imo.  I had two racks of babybacks.   I tried two different marinades, a dry rub and a wet sauce. Both were equally yummy however, I like the crust that develops from a wet marinade better.  Just sayin........anyhoo.......................

The dry rub consisted of cayenne, brown sugar, garlic salt, paprika, and cumin. It was a bit spicy. I tend to have a heavy hand with the cayenne. 

No need to measure, just toss in ingredients and taste.  If you like it, it's good. 

 The wet rub was the sweeter of the two and included thyme, molasses, vinegar, olive oil, garlic salt, cayenne and jamaican allspice. I let them both marinate for about 4 hours.

The trick with ribs that I haven't mastered, is the heat.  Ribs should be cooked low and slow.  Place the coals on one side of your grill and a pot of water on the other side.  This creates steam.  The ribs should go above the cool side.  They should be cooked for a few hours until the meat is pulling away from the bone.  While I have accomplished this feat, it was purely by accident.  Most times, the ribs end up a bit overdone.  I'm still perfecting my technique and if you have any tips, let me know!  However, they still taste damn good. 

While they are cooking, I make bbq sauce.  I hate store bought bbq sauce, it tastes gross. Even as a child, the KC Masterpiece my mom bought just didn't taste good to me and in my house, it was thought to be the best.  I didn't understand why the bbq sauce at the grocery store tasted so different from the bbq sauce used at actual bbq places.  THAT was gooooood!  For a long time, when bbq-ing, Ryan and I would buy the sauce from Baby Blues BBQ.  It's so good, I could literally pour it on anything just to act as a vessel for getting that sauce in my mouth.  Spicy, tangy, sweet....so many flavors at once. I decided to try to make my own. It couldn't be that hard but it did seem like a daunting task.  If the grocery store brands couldn't get it right, why should I be able to? Well, I tried and I must say, the sauce is soooo good and soooo easy. 

I didn't use a recipe.  I took the basic ingredients, vinegar, molasses, tomato sauce (canned as tomatoes aren't in season)  and added spices.  

I added garlic, cayenne, pepper, oregano, thyme......I adjusted to my spice level.....more cayenne.  Then to Ryan's spice level.....more molasses :)  Eventually we reached the perfect balance of heat and sweet.   In about 15 minutes I had made a sauce that Ryan said was as good as Baby Blues. 

Now the ribs were a tad overdone and not falling off the bone how I'd like......the coals were still too hot I guess.  However, the marinades were awesome, the sauce was delicious and it wasn't a total loss at all! We ate both racks in one sitting.  Hello,  delicious babies.....