Independence Day Pork

The last few days had been such a whirlwind that we thought we'd have a quiet Fourth. But we still had to eat.

It's been something of a "low and slow" summer, at least as far as our grill is concerned, so I thought that rather than par-boiling or baking the ribs and then finishing them on a hot grill, I'd cook them for a long time over indirect heat, until they were ready to surrender.

That's the way to go. I gave two racks, each cut in half, two hours. I also flavored the hell out of those ribs, first with a dry rub, and then with a sauce (I used the rest of our bottle of Hunt's ketchup for that one, plus a puree of onion and garlic and chilies, along with white vinegar and some other goodies). I also used hickory smoker chips. Over the long cooking time, the rub and the smoke really worked their way into the ribs. When we took a bite, we could see that a rosy red color had penetrated pretty far into the meat.

But despite all the flavorings, the ribs, basted gloriously by their own melting fat, held onto their essential porkitude. Thank goodness. It would have been a terrible mistake to suppress that. I'd have no choice but to pick up some more racks and try again.