Originally Posted by junction

There are many variables involved in cooking your ribs. Outside temperature, humidity, fuel load, grill cubic inches, etc.

Load your charcoal and hickory on one side of the grill. Once ashed and white, add your ribs to the other side. Place 1 lump of hickory on top of the ashed coals to produce great smoke. Close the lid, and don't open it! Check temp once an hour, and add coal / wood as needed. If you have a small grill, then cook time will be different. Also, if the grill is so small that the edge of the ribs are right near the edge of the coals, drape foil down from the grill grate to the bottom of the grill to direct the heat up and over. I generally cook 8 - 10 racks at a time in a very large grill. Cook time for me is different than it will be for you. You'll know they're done when you slide tongs half way down the rack, and the ribs start to break apart from the bone when you slightly lift up.



Boiling removes the natural juices from the meat and bone. A good amount of the flavor you get in the meat is from the bone. Boiling ruins all of this. Cooking low and slow cooks down the connective tissue. As long as you remove the silver skin, and go low and slow, your ribs will be fall off the bone tender.



I do a lot of BBQing. I just might make a rib video and post it this weekend.