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Do not expect the rib meat to fall off the bones. Mushiness is not why our teeth crave the sensation meat: texture is. Mashed potatoes are tender, inexpensive and don't require a lot of time or effort to cook. If you want tender, eat mashed potatoes. Meat ought to offer some resistance to the teeth - we pay extra for that. When the ribs are ready, the meat pulls from the bone with minimal effort, but it should still offer some resistance.

By this time, I will have been basting with my finishing sauce of the moment, thinned by a little of the basting sauce. It won't be a garish, brash, ostentatious sauce calling attention to itself, but a mellow sauce, blending like a relaxed barbecuer at a social gathering, melding, mixing, complementing the meat by adding another level of flavors and textures.

The consummate host will slice the ribs individually and serve them warm to table accompanied by a couple of versions of warm finishing sauces.

Smoky tip: After your appetite is sated, carefully taste a rib and record the taste and texture as well as any other pertinent information. If possible, wrap a couple of representative ribs in two layers of aluminum foil, label with date and put into the freezer for comparison later with future batches of ribs. There will come a time when it is so easy and natural, that you'll wonder why you ever did it.

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