Smoky will be offering his talents, techniques and secrets discovered over the last 150 years, or so. He will be to the point, pull no punches and if you suffer through the process, you will become a much better outdoor cook, turning out masterpiece meals for friends and family alike.

In this column, Smoky works on the basic pork ribs that are mouthwatering good stuff. Hope this helps you folks! . . . . . take notes!

So, with no further adieu, we turn the mike to Smoky. You're on Smoky . . . . .

Barbecued Pork Ribs

Cities, like humans, develop characteristics that uniquely define their charms and faults. There are many facets to a city's soul and Ph.Ds may have formulae for divining its depths. But, a better way to judge a city is by looking at what its people like to eat.

Take for instance, ribs. Immediately three cities come to mind ­ Tuscaloosa, AL, Memphis, TN, Kansas City, MO. All are located on river banks and, except for Memphians love of pulled pork sandwiches, praise ribs above all other barbecue. St. Louis, Chicago and Detroit all have pretensions toward prominence as rib cities, but pale in comparison, although, St. Louis does have the distinction of having a particularly trimmed rack of ribs called the "St. Louis Style".

There is a pattern that emerges in the passion for ribs. Ribs are usually the first commercially available barbecue in areas outside that nursery of barbecue — the Southeastern United States. An Ol' Baster comes into town and opens up a barbecue pit. Bye and bye, folks will smell the smoke in come in to check things out. The tender, tasty ribs are in many cases the first exposure to barbecue and the experience is like a religious awakening.

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Smoky's 5th basic position for really great barbecue'n.

'According to Smoky' is © by C. Clark Hale
who is solely responsible for its content. Comments
should be addresses to cchale@bellsouth.net.