Pirates of the charcoal: The quest for the tastiest rib

With Johnny Depp and friends being such a hit at the box office at the moment, we decided to pay homage to the men of the sea with dubious moral standards. “Buccaneers ribs” were chosen from Raichlen’s ribs book to help us in our quest.

In a break from the usual we decided to give baby-backs a go since they seem to require less cooking time, I attempted to remove the membrane, but it was going nowhere (much easier on spare ribs) so ended up slicing down it along the meaty sections to allow the flavours to penetrate. The marinade was made up and the ribs covered before we headed to the State Fair to see amongst other things some of the 40 different kinds of food on a stick!! The pigs were closed off when we got there, so our view of real life ribs was restricted to those on the racing pig athletes.

Anyway, I digress, the ribs were turned a couple of times in the marinade to ensure full coverage before being brought up to room temperature for grilling. The grill was set up as before with half briquettes and lump in both the chimney and the grill itself. After warming the grill to about 325, the ribs were placed on the grate, and some soaked woodchips on the coals. Whilst grilling, the Rumbullion sauce was made up – a nice rum-based sauce with fruity undertones. The ribs were turned every 30 minutes or so for one and a half to two hours, then brushed with Rumbullion sauce and placed over the hot coals to get the sauce bubbling. Finally the ribs were rested for 10-15 minutes before slicing and eating.

The results were sweet and juicy with a hint of smoke and fruitiness – I would certainly recommend them.