Grilling Season is Upon Us!

Wow...almost 3 years and finally doing my second post....I promise I'll do better!

It's Spring, and with Spring comes grilling season. So what is every one's favorite dish to grill? Do you prefer charcoal or gas? Low and slow or hot and fast? It seems everyone has an opinion about grilling, but one thing most can agree on, is that it is enjoyable.
 To me, grilling is relaxing and gives me an excuse to be outside with my son and enjoy an ice cold tea or beer. I have found that the more I grill, the more I can grill...there is very little I can't cook on the grill these days and not to brag, but it usually turns out delicious! Throughout this spring and summer, I will try to share with you the foods I am grilling on a particular day and how I cook it! Interested? I hope so...so here goes!
 My first grilling experience for this year are my ribs. You will need to prepare time wise for these, but otherwise they are fairly easy to prepare, and I promise they will be great! One important thing about ribs on the grill is that you have to know your grill. To get tender, juicy, and flavorful ribs you will need to maintain a temperature of 250 - 300 degrees throughout cooking. So now that you have your grill temperature managed, let's get started!
 Here is what you will need:
- Baby back ribs.
- A dry rub of your choice. ( I prefer a Kansas City style)
- Honey
- Barbecue Sauce of your choice. This is optional, some people like their ribs without sauce.
- Apple juice.
- Aluminum foil

The first thing we want to do is to peel the membrane off the back of the ribs. It's not a huge deal if you don't, but they fall off the bone easier if you do. If you choose to, you can brine or par boil your ribs, but you don't have to do either...I usually don't do either of these. Next we are going to coat the ribs with the apple juice. Occasionally, I'll use olive oil instead of apple juice, it just depends on what kind of mood I'm in; the apple juice will give you just a little extra sweetness in the end. So now that we have our ribs coated in the apple juice it's time to apply the dry rub...don't be shy with the dry rub, you want your ribs thoroughly coated. Now let's get cooking....wrap your coated ribs in aluminum foil, and place them on your preheated grill. One thing I recommend is to use indirect heat here, or use the upper rack on your grill if you have one.
 Now that the ribs are cooking, is the tough part...waiting. You are going to cook your ribs on low heat (250 - 300) for about three hours. Once the ribs have cooked for three hours, you are going to open the aluminum foil and add your sauce (if desired) and your honey; re-wrap and cook for another hour or so (if you like the charred crust on your ribs you are going to go about 40 minutes then unwrap and place the ribs on direct heat for awhile). Remove the ribs from the grill, let rest for about 15 - 20 minutes, unwrap, and enjoy! I've made these ribs so many times now and everyone loves them...I hope you do too.
 As far as my grilling preferences...I like both gas and charcoal, love my smoker, and prefer low and slow.

- Chris