Barbecue does not include foil or crockpots and bbq sauce is to be served at the table. Good barbecue ribs simply do not require and are not improved by sauce. As for rubs, I submit a recipe to get you started but salt and pepper work fine and you should find a mixture you like with salt and pepper as the main ingredients and the rest as flavorings. Not all of us have nor want a cinder block lined hole in the ground with a bedspring as the grill or a $1000 steel plate 3-chamber log burner (what I cook in). Adequate BBQ is easily made in a $30 Brinkman H2O Smoker or a Weber kettle. It cannot be replicated in one's kitchen. Nor is it a "recipe", it really is a technique. Some define it as poor cuts of meat that, when subjected to the proper combination of time and smoke, become sublime. That works for me. As for fuel, a small hot fire is better than a large smoldering one. The smoke should be wispy and blue, not billowing clouds and if you see dark smoke, you are choking it. In order of preference is hardwood logs, hardwood chunks, lump, and lastly briquettes and chips.

Method:

Let the ribs come to room temperature and start the fire. Rinse and dry rack. Trim flap and small end if desired. With the end of a spoon, lift off part of the membrane, grab with a paper towel and pull off as much as you can. Slather the ribs with some mustard. Don't fret about the flavor, it's just the mortar to hold the rub. I use a big spice jar with the perforated lid as a shaker to apply the rub. If you forego the mustard, just spoon on the rub and lightly press it into the meat. Both sides in either case.

When the temperature is stabilized in the pit, about 225* F, place ribs bone side up and cook approximately five hours.

If you use a kettle: Bank the coals to one half with a single layer on the other half. Put the ribs on the hot side and cook for about 1/2 hour turning often then put the ribs on the cool side, place the lid so the vents are over the ribs and cook about an hour. You may have to add more coals to the hot side. For fuel, lump is OK, as are chunks. A chimney starter can be used to pre-burn the coals for adding during a session.

To test for doneness, grab one end and try to fold the ribs in half, if they fold easily let rest for a few minutes and enjoy.

- Cuchulain Libby, San Antonio, TX , was known to his friends as "Hound"

-This was one of many recipes he shared freely with fellow BBQ'ers.

- Hound often said, "Vegetables ain't food, vegetables are what food eats"