Weekend Countdown

The kids and grandkids are coming for the weekend; possibly my niece and her boyfriend; maybe even some Aussie friends who’ll be in town. I’m planning a cookout for Sunday, and I’ve already started.  The menu?  Smoked pork spareribs, smoked beef brisket, baked beans, corn on the cob.

I wanted to show you how to remove the membrane from pork spareribs, so I asked Ditalini to take a photo of me doing it.  The trick is to grasp a corner of the membrane with a dry paper towel, then firmly pull it away in one direction.  Works like a champ!

I’m using a commercial dry rub on the ribs because I have a ton of the stuff . . . a good friend of ours is from Memphis and whenever she flies home she drops by Corky’s Barbecue and buys us a fresh supply. Some day I’ll experiment with my own dry rub recipes, but I’m in no hurry. Corky’s really is good stuff.

For the brisket, on the other hand, I’m using my own dry rub, which is based on brown sugar and chili powder. The last time I prepared a brisket, I cut away most of the fat from the back, and consequently had to use a mop to keep it moist during smoking.  This time I’m leaving the fat on, and will smoke it without a mop, as I did the first time.  I think that’s the better way.

Both racks of ribs and the brisket are now rubbed, wrapped, and stored in the fridge.  Yikes, I almost forgot to mention that I prepared a container of our favorite barbecue sauce!  Sunday morning I’ll set up my backyard Fortress of Smoke™ and get down to business.  Man bliss, ahoy!

Ahoy?  Hell, I’m already there!