Low & Slow

Salt, pepper, smoke, time. That's the whole recipe. The rub is 50/50 coarse salt and black pepper. Everything else is cheating.

Boston butt, 12-hour smoke at 225F, apple wood. Bark is mandatory. Internal temp 203F and a rest in butcher paper makes it pull apart perfectly.

3-2-1 method: 3 hours smoke, 2 hours wrapped, 1 hour sauced. Fall-off-the-bone but with bite. Competition ribs don't actually fall off the bone.

Competition mac and cheese: velveeta base for the protein strands, sharp cheddar for flavor, 2 hours on the smoker. Gets a crust. Changes people.