Blame it on the marketing guys who came up with the name  in the first place, but when I see the following item on sale I always smile – for two reasons. The first is they will be a great tasting meal. And the second is there is no rib bone in sight of these hunks of pork meat! I’m talking about “Country Style Pork Ribs.”

Last week I saw a newspaper ad for Country Style Pork Ribs on sale and I made a note to stop by and pick up a pack (or two!) for a meal.  While these aren’t really ribs I guess because they are cut cross-grain and into long steaks of sorts, they can look like ribs.  To tell you the truth – I’ve never even asked what the cut actually is and I suspect it varies from store-to-store or even by region.  No matter – because they are DEE-LISH-US when seasoned and prepared on the grill or slow cooked in a smoker.

I started out by assembling the ingredients for my pork brine.

I used several spices in the brine to infuse complimentary flavors: bay leaves, cumin, ginger and garlic. The gray sea salt & apple cider vinegar both help the brining process of 'osmosis' to infuse moisture & tenderize the meat.

A brine can be simple – just salt and water – or you can add other ingredients to help season the meat. I guess a that point you are making a marinade. The intent of this brine was three-fold.  First to ensure there was lot’s of moisture in the meat because I’d be grilling at high temperature to give the meat some browning for flavor and then finishing low & slow. Second to tenderize and the combination of sea salt and vinegar would do that.  Thirdly I wanted to experiment with some added seasoning to see just what difference it made, so I used a couple bay leaves, a Tbsp each of ground garlic, ginger and cumin.

The meat is inside a double sealed bag filled with the brine mixture and resting in a tray, to prevent spillage in case of a leak & to make it easier to move about.

Any time I put meat in a brine or marinade I’ve taken to double bagging it (when I use plastic) and also placing it in a tray or bowl. Leaks in the fridge of raw meat mixed with water and other liquids is a sure-fire way to ruin a bunch of other product and/or cause for a thorough cleaning of the mess. I brined the meat overnight, then removed rinsed and patted dry. (NOTE: wet meat won’t brown.)

When the meat had brined it was now decision time. Should I slow smoke them – and that would be a few hours at the very least or should I grill and then finish off of direct heat, as that would only take an hour or so.  Time was a factor so I decided to grill – I didn’t season the meat again as the brine was well seasoned, but I did spritz them with canola oil to serve as a lubricant to keep them from sticking.  (NOTE: I generally spritz the meat to be cooked, and not the grates – although I keep bare metal grates well oiled when not in use, as I do my cast-iron cookware.)

After the meat had browned on all sides, I removed it to a holding pan and ‘finished’ it using low and indirect heat. (NOTE: Read a post about the Sear & Hold technique - CLICK HERE.) During the final 10 minutes or so of finishing I brushed on a very light amount of BBQ sauce to add another layer of flavor to the meat.

Served warm with a side of potato salad and a cold refreshing beverage – yep, as I suspected:  DEE-LISH-US!

Happy Grilling!

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Here are several recipes for pork ribs you may want to try this weekend:

Country-Style Ribs

Grilled Pork Steaks with BBQ Glaze

Smokin’ Succulent Grilled Pork

CB’s EZ Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Barbecued Pork Steaks