So my wife bought “western-style” boneless pork ribs. I had never heard of them (but they were on sale!). They were big chunks of meat, each one maybe 2x2x8 inches. And they were not totally boneless — each had one small-ish bone that sure didn’t look like a rib.
I did a dry rub for a couple hours, then smoked them at 250-300 degrees. While the outside had a nice flavor, thanks to the rub and the smoke, the inside was dry and tasteless. And not just because I overcooked them (which I did — oops).
Maybe these should be brined? What are these things, anyway?
—Jim Rhinehart, Muncie, Indiana
Jim, the cut of meat you cooked suffers from an identity crisis. Dismiss the obvious oxymoron: boneless ribs. Ribs have bones. That’s why they’re called ribs. And “western-style” is neither western nor a style. It’s like calling a crappy family restaurant in a strip mall a “Texas roadhouse.” …
