Ribs, Ribs, and more Ribs

My family loves beef ribs. I know there are all varieties of ribs, short ribs, baby back, pork, boneless, and on and on. But my family loves beef ribs, so that is what I grill. Right now, in the Arctic regions, spring is in the air. The first bear sightings are happening and yearling moose calves are being chased off by their mothers in preparation for the birth of new calves. And more and more of my neighbors, whom I haven't seen in some months, are dragging their grills outside to cook.

Sometimes I feel guilty (a little) because I will see my neighbors as they pull in with their families and will raise a spatula or pair of tongs in greeting. Within five minutes they are dragging their grills outside to join me, but I digress.

My family loves beef ribs, and beef ribs are famous for two things; very little meat and a whole lot of flamage. What little meat there is makes it worth the effort getting to, but the flamage is something to be careful about. When a beef rib flames, it is like fire leaping to the sky in search of oxygen to live. If you happen to be only slightly bent over looking at your work you could end up with something akin to Patrick McManus' "Poof, No Eyebrows". If you are not familiar with Patrick McManus, well, you haven't sat around very many camp fires - at least not with a group of Royal Rangers.

So we know that beef ribs are famous for flamage, and we know that spring is in the air in the Arctic. The lesson from this is to turn down the flame! If you are a purist and still use charcoal (wish I had that kind of time), then make sure your fire is on the way down before you throw your ribs on. If you use propane, then turn that flame down and save your eyebrows.

A short word on prep - beef ribs being notorious for flamage, it helps to get a little of the grease out of the way first, and make sure your meat is going to be done when you take it off the grill. The best way to do that is to par boil it before you throw it on the grill. This reduces the grease content (but doesn't get rid of it entirely) and makes sure that just a few minutes on the grill does the trick.

Be careful though; if you boil your meat too long the grease is actually absorbed by the meat itself - in which case you might as well soak them in kerosene for a day or two and then put them to the flame - you achieve the same type of flame.

Well, that's about all for now. Keep those grills hot and I am always will to try a new recipe for sauce or marinade, so let me hear from you.