BRITU - Best Ribs in the Universe

Printed with permission, Mike Scrutchfield

Dry Rub - Mix all ingredients thoroughly and store unused in moisture proof container :

• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 Cup Non-Iodized Table Salt
• ½ Cup Brown Sugar (Dried out lightly by exposing on cookie sheet room temp.
• several hours, or slightly warmed
• 5 Tablespoons + 1 Teaspoons Chili Powder
• 2 Tablespoons + 2 Teaspoons Ground Cumin
• 4 Teaspoons MSG (Accent)
• 4 Teaspoons Cayenne Pepper
• 4 Teaspoons Black Pepper freshly ground (important)
• 4 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
• 4 Teaspoons Onion Powder

Sprinkle Meat 2 hours before cooking with rub and allow meat to come to room temperature. Do not over-season. A good overall dusting of the spices is all that's needed. The spices will become a nice red liquid coating after sitting for about an hour, if you used the proper amount.

Basic Cooking procedure:

Smoke ribs in a "Water Pan" smoker i.e. Brinkman, or Weber "Smoky Mountain Cooker" (the best)

Start Charcoal (7-10 lbs.) and 4 chunks of White Oak and 2 chunks of Cherry wood (about the size of a tennis ball) at least 1 hour before cooking meat. All fuel should be started in a chimney style starter, no starter fluid and all the charcoal must be grey/white hot. Remove all bark from wood chunks, do not soak. Very little smoke will be visible. Don't worry about that you'll get the flavor.

Use straight water in the water pan and keep it full during the entire cooking process. Control oven temperature of cooker by regulating the bottom vents only. Never, ever, completely close the top vent! If  you don't have one, put a thermometer on your cooker. Cook ribs for 3 hours fairly cool at 225 degrees on rib racks. After 3 hours lift the lid for the first time, flip the slabs end for end, and upside down, and open all the vents on the smoker wide open.  Temperature of the cooker should rise into the 250 to 275 degree range. Peek every ½ hour to monitor doneness. Ribs will be finished when fairly brown in color, and the meat has pulled down on the long bones at least ¾ of an inch. (usually another 1 or 2 hours) Remove from cooker and sauce both sides before cutting individual ribs. I like K. C. Masterpiece BBQ sauce sweetened even more. ( 5 parts sauce, 1 part Honey), and so do the Judges! This basic cooking procedure is probably the most important of all, and works very well with other meats as well.

Forget about how much smoke is coming out of the cooker, if you've got the wood that you like in there burning up cleanly, the flavor will be in the meat. Smoke is nothing more that a smoke screen, and any coming out of the top of the cooker is flavor lost!