Guava-Glazed Back Ribs

Beef back ribs are the bones the butcher takes out of a ribeye roll, which is both the appeal and the catch. When the loin gets trimmed for boneless ribeyes, the good meat leaves with the steak, so most racks in the case come out shorted — a thin veil between bare bones. Buy the racks with a visible meat cap and ask your butcher to leave a quarter inch on. A shiner rack cooks down to nothing but handles.

Once you've got a decent rack the cook is nearly foolproof, which is why this one is rated easy. It's intercostal meat and fat between bones, there's no big muscle to overcook, and a steady 250F does the whole job. Kiawe carries it well — hot, clean, mildly sweet smoke that suits guava better than hickory does.

Ingredients

• 2 racks beef back ribs, 7 bones each, with a real meat cap
• 2 Tbsp coarse salt + 2 Tbsp coarse black pepper (16 mesh if you have it)
• 1 tsp granulated garlic (optional)
• Glaze: 1 cup guava jelly + 1/4 cup shoyu + 2 Tbsp rice vinegar + 1 Tbsp grated ginger + 2 grated garlic cloves + 1 tsp chili pepper water, simmered 5 min until it coats a spoon
• Spray bottle: half apple juice, half water

Cook Sequence

1. Pull the membrane off the bone side — grab a corner with a paper towel and take it in one sheet. It never renders and it blocks smoke.
2. Salt and pepper heavy on all sides and let them sit 45 minutes until the rub goes wet and dark.
3. 250-265F indirect, bone side down, 3-4 kiawe chunks across the first two hours. After that let the coals carry it.
4. Spritz every 45 minutes once you're past hour two. No foil wrap — there isn't enough meat here to survive a braise, and it'll fall off the bone in the wrong way.
5. Around 3.5-4 hours the meat pulls back a half inch off the bone ends and a probe slides between the bones like warm butter, about 203F.
6. Glaze in the last 30 minutes: two thin coats, 15 minutes apart. One thick coat slides off and pools in the pan.
7. Rest 15 minutes, then cut meat side down so you can see the bone lines and land between them.

Round Out the Plate

• Hawaiian Macaroni Salad — the plate-lunch requirement
• Grilled Corn on the Cob — goes on while the ribs rest
• Coleslaw — acid against a sweet guava lacquer