I've also mentioned (here, at least) that I am not a rib guy. But that didn't stop me from spending 5 hours making dinner last night, baking a rack of ribs low & slow before tossing them on a hot grill for a few minutes. Any vegetarians reading might want to skip this entry.
To start, a dry rub. I'm not sure what possessed me to do this, other than spending way too much time watching Food Network recently and thinking dinner preparation is a fine way to fill an afternoon. My simple choices? Sugar, salt, pepper, garlic.
The thing I like most about trying something new is not always knowing exactly what comes next. This was a monster rib. Rinsing made sense, but after that I didn't know how to start.
Lucky for me, two halves fit perfectly into the crappy pan I planned on using so on went my dry ingredients. A little water to line the bottom of the pan made sure that the ribs absorbed as much steam as possible to stay juicy.
Next, 275 degrees for the rest of the afternoon. It might not have been the smartest day to have the oven on all afternoon considering how hot it was, but I'm more of an open window guy anyway. Around the 90 minute mark, you could smell the sugar caramelizing and baking in. The rest of the afternoon was filled with a lovely pork smell. Positively delicious.
This was at the 4 hour mark. The charcoals went into the grill after 5 PM and while they were lighting I slathered on some bbq sauce. The meat was so tender a chunk came off while I was trying to pick one half up, exactly what I was looking for. I honestly don't think I've ever had ribs prepared this way, since my parents always just charred the shit out of them on a grill. Which explains why I was never a rib person, and why I didn't try this earlier.
Making bbq sauce from scratch would definitely fall in line with my "take as much time in the kitchen as possible" approach, but sometimes you've gotta draw the line. Sauce out of the bottle is fine with me. With the grill set, the ribs went on for just long enough to burn some of the sauce and get a nice smoke on the meat. 
And, the finished product:
Unfortunately, they looked better than they tasted at this point. A few more minutes on the grill would have remedied that, b/c they were closer to room temperature than I would have preferred. Other than that, these were pretty outstanding. Tender, juicy, and fall off the bone. 
Leftovers this afternoon, that's all that was left. Before or after a bike ride, I haven't decided. It might be a while before I make these again, but I might have to reconsider my stance on ribs in general after eating these. Awesome.
Current beer-scale: 5.8 but running on empty
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