Preparation / Directions:
These instructions are for beginning smoke/cooker enthusiasts. It should work equally well in the Brinkmann type of water/cookers as well as most other cookers. The main requirement is the ability to maintain the cooking chamber temperature between 180 and 250F and the cooker must have a water pan to maintain the humidity close to 100%.
Add all of the ingredients for the rub into a Ziploc bag and mix thoroughly. Add the ribs, shake thoroughly to ensure complete covering of the ribs and store in the refrigerator overnight.
About 5 1/2 - 6 hours before you plan on serving the ribs, fire up the smoker and make the sauce. To make the sauce, sauté the onion and garlic in a little oil until golden brown. Then add the remaining ingredients and stir frequently until everything is totally dissolved. Cook on simmer for about 30 minutes.
Once the cooker has settle down to a good bed of coals, place the ribs on the grill over a pan of cold water. Let smoke, covered and undisturbed for about 2 hours. At that point, open the smoker lid and basted the ribs well with the mop, taking this opportunity to check the coals in the fire pan and the liquid level in the water pan. Replenish as needed, adding wet wood for plenty of smoke as well. Cook the ribs for 3 hours more, turning and basting them after 1 hour and again after 2 hours. As always in smoke cooking, precise timing is not terribly important here. Just keep the smoke up and the temperature between 180 and 240F and be liberal with your mopping.
By the end of their 5 hours on the grill, the ribs will have long since reached the required internal temperature of 185 for fresh pork, but you can't overdo ribs by smoking, and the long, slow cooking will have rendered them tender to a tee.
About 10 minutes before you are ready to serve the ribs, treat them to a final mop, letting it set to a tantalizingly rich glaze over what may be the most succulent ribs you've ever tasted.
For finger-licking aficionados, provide yet more hot mop sauce served up in dipping bowls. A finger bowl for cleaning the hands will be appreciated and many, many napkins for cleaning up... Enj
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