The Perfect Rib Guide

One of the joys of summer is barbecued ribs. There's nothing like sinking your teeth into juicy, well seasoned meat. Yet prepping and grilling them takes some skill. Luckily there's a quick guide for rib lovers.

Steven Rajchlen , the famed PBS chef of such shows as Project Smoke, Project Fire, Primal Grill and Barbecue Grill wrote this must keep article in today's New York Times Food section. He gives six steps in which even the novice griller can produce juicy, flavorful ribs. The first step is selecting the right ribs. Keep in mind that one pig provides four different kinds of ribs. There are baby backs, sometimes referred to as top loin, spare ribs, rib tips and country style. Chef, Rajchlen recommends using the baby backs. They have the most marbling and the tenderest meat making them the quickest to cook.If possible buy them  from a heritage pork breed like Berkshire or Kurobuta or Mangalitsa. They do cost more but they have the best and most intense pork taste  For more bite it's then layering flavors.Start with a slather of Dijon mustard brushed on both sides. Next comes a rub. Chef Rajchlen uses a blend of brown sugar, celery seed, salt, pepper and chile powder. The third layer comes from apple cider which is spritzed on halfway through cooking., (Get a spray bottle for this). This keeps the meat moist. For the fourth layer or varnish, use a chipotle bourbon sauce. All these layers are featured in the article.

The third step is grilling over indirect heat.It's cooking the meat over charcoal. Chef Rajchlen gives the how to for different kinds of grills. Most home chefs have the basic barbecue where you put the meat in tin foil to catch the fat. Step four is applying the smoke. wood smoke is the unami of barbecue. What wood to use? There are several that would impart a good flavor. Think cherry,apple or hickory. Many go for mesquite because it has a strong earthy flavor that goes well with the pork. Soak the chips in water first to slow down the rate of combustion so the chips smolder and smoke. This prevents them from catching fire. if you have a pellet grill, the flavor and smoke are already built into the pellets. You can smoke ribs in your oven and they will turn out fine. As this is going on it's time to cook the sauce. Namely it's slathering on a homemade one on the meat the last twenty minutes of cooking. Move the ribs right over the fire so the brown sugar in the sauce caramelizes and sears it into the meat. The last step is knowing when the ribs are done. The sign is when the meat shrinks from the bone. A quarter to half inch of bone should be showing at the end of the rib. You should be able to pull the meat apart but there should be some resistance.

This is rib season. Make a delicious flavorful rack that chewy and tasty. It's easy with this simple and helpful guide.

The Old Fashioned Way Of Grilling

Before charcoal there was wood.It stoked the home fires and cooked deliciously flavored meats.Now it's coming back thanks to a new generation of home grillers. They 're discovering that a few chips or sticks can make a big difference in a barbecue's success.

Steven Raichlen,  the host of the  shows Primal Grill and Project Smoke and  the guru on anything smoked wrote this in depth article for yesterday's New York Times Food section.As he points out this new trend is nothing new. Wolfgang Puck and Alice Waters have been using wood fuel for decades.This new generation of chefs are embracing it with an almost religious zeal. A growing number of home cooks are also making the switch. Grilling over wood is healthier and won't raise the  risk of getting cancer.The other plus is the taste.It comes from the high dry heat of a wood fire which caramelizes proteins in meat and the plants sugars in fruits and vegetables. Another plus is wood smoke contains more than a thousand flavor producing compounds., according to Dr. Nathan Myhrvold, once a Microsoft executive and now promotes modernist cooking. The list of chemicals include creosol which gives Scotch whiskey it's smoky peaty taste , syringol, responsible for the clovelike flavors and vanillin - the source of the vanilla sweetness in smoke. It's much more effective than charcoal in flavoring meats, However, he warns avoid evergreens like spruces and pines which emit a black, sooty smoke that has the repulsive taste of turpentine.

Before home chefs get on the wood bandwagon, there are a few things to keep in mind. According to another grilling expert, Aaron Franklin, use one kind of wood  When you mix wood, you really can't pinpoint the flavor. Keep in mind that different regions of this country use different woods that actually define then. Southerners use hickory, which is always associated with their outdoor cooking. The Southwest  along with Hawaii and Northern Mexico uses mesquite which not only gives grilled meat a distinctive flavor but also provides the added fun of pyrotechnic sparks. The Pacific Northwest has a fondness for cherry and alder. Any fruit tree will do. Home grillers should use split seasoned, appropriate logs (or hearty sticks). They should be between ten and twelve inches long and  two to three inches wide. Use seasoned, older wood instead of younger or green wood because it burns more effeciently. Also make sure it's split because it burns quicker. Grill affectionados may also want to get a parilla grill, This is a huge investment but worth it .It's basically building an outdoor kitchen in the backyard. You can also buy a smaller version from Home Depot or Lowe's.Wood grilling is also versatile. You can grill over flaming logs, like cooking on a campfire or over glowing embers like with a charcoal grill.

Wood grilling is a popular method for creating tasty barbecues. Try cooking over a fragrant wood for a delicious spin .It may be old school but it has a decidedly modern flavor.