The following story is about an individual that meets that description!
John was born and raised in Manhattan. When he moved in next door his thought of BBQ was dropping some meat into a crock pot with BBQ sauce dumped over it, and then cooked for 8 or so hours.
The first time he had BBQ at my place he just HAD to know my "secret". He had never eaten ribs that were almost falling off the bone that had actually been cooked in HEAT and SMOKE without sauce... I informed him that he needed to come to my house the following weekend and I would walk him through the process one on one.
The following Saturday he showed up with cooking tongs, 3 bottles of different flavors of BBQ sauce, and a 12 pack of beer. Since he had beer I overlooked the other stuff.
We went into the house where I had 4 racks of fresh ribs (full spares untrimmed), and I handed him a printed copy of my workbook.
He started reading the 3-2-1 rib section and immediately started to argue. He told me that he didn't have 6 hours to cook ribs and said that we should just do it like his old neighbor used to; boil them for an hour, smother in sauce and then grill them until they were done.
I remembered the 12-pack of beer, bit my tongue, and said the following;
I asked him if his old neighbor's ribs tasted like mine and had the same tenderness. He said no, looked at me funny, and then went over to his house to let his wife know that he would be at my place most of the day.
When he got back I made him start the fire, prep the ribs, cook the ribs, and then take all of them home to his family when complete.
He pulled the membrane, slathered them up with mustard and rub, put them on the pit, mopped as required, foiled as needed, pulled em out, mopped as required, and then pulled them off the pit when ready! I even told him what was in my mop sauce! My WIFE doesn't even know what all is in my mop!
Prior to that incident his wife had only acknowledged me a little bit, even when attending a BBQ at our place with other neighbors. The Sunday after he took the ribs home she not only made a point to say hi to me when I was outside, but she thanked me for showing her hubby how to cook! I felt good about that!
Well, here comes the cranky portion of this... This past Sunday he brought over his latest creation from his GRILL, not his smoker but his GRILL, ribs just like the old neighbor used to make... Tough, covered in so much sauce that you couldn't even make out a meat flavor... He was proud, I let him walk away thinking all was well... My wife got a call from HIS wife that same night... She doesn't like his old neighbor`s ribs either!
That boy seems to know it all and is going to make a brisket this weekend using a recipe he found on the web where he only has to cook it for 2.5 hours. The recipe states that he needs to season the brisket, put it in a pan with water 1/2 way up the side of the meat, place it on a grill over hot coals, cover with foil and let BOIL for 2 hours, after boiling, take the meat from the pan, cover in sauce, and then cook for 15 minutes on each side... We WERE invited over for supper... Since I HAVE TO COOK this weekend we declined the invite...
Like I said, I'm a bit disappointed in my protege...
But, on a good note, his wife wants 10 pounds of the ABT sausage for her family reunion next month! BUT, she also wants me to show John how to make sausage, said she'll buy what ever equipment he needs... I'm screwed!
Charlie
