Charcoal Grill-roasted Bone-in Pork Rib Roast

[kirra]

Charcoal Grill-roasted Bone-in Pork Rib Roast

Ingredients:

1 (4 to 5 pound) bone-in blade-end or center-cut rib pork roast, tip of chine bone and membrane removed (see note)
4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 (3-inch) wood chunk
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 recipe sauce, optional (recipes follow)

Preparation:

Pat roast dry with paper towels. If necessary, trim thick spots of surface fat layer to about 1/4-inch thickness. Using sharp knife, cut slits in surface layer of spaced 1 inch apart, in crosshatch pattern, being careful to not cut into. Sprinkle all sides of roast evenly with salt. Wrap with plastic wrap and at least 6, and up to 24 hours.

One to two hours before grilling, remove roast from refrigerator to rest at room temperature. Submerge wood chunk in bowl of water to soak while roast rests.

Open bottom grill vents fully. Light large chimney starter filled with charcoal (6 quarts, about 100 briquettes) and allow to burn until coals are fully ignited and partially covered with thin layer of ash, about 20 minutes. Empty coals into grill to cover one-third of grill with coals steeply banked against side of grill. Place wood chunk on top of coals, position cooking grate, cover, and heat until grate is hot and wood is smoking, about 5 minutes. Scrape grate clean with grill brush.

Sprinkle all sides of roast evenly with pepper. Place roast on grate with meat near, but not over, coals and bones facing edge of grill. Open top vents halfway and cover grill, positioning vents over meat. (Initial internal grill temperature should be about 425 degrees.) Grill-roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of meat registers 140 degrees, about 1 1/4 hours.

Transfer roast to carving board, tent loosely with foil, and rest for 30 minutes (internal temperature should rise to about 150 degrees.) Carve into thick slices by cutting between ribs and serve immediately, passing sauce separately.

Note: For those inclined to gnaw on the bones, removing the membrane from the concave side, just as you would on a rack of ribs before barbecuing them, makes the experience more enjoyable. Knick the membrane at the edge of the roast with the tip of a knife to loosen, grab the loose bit with a sheet of paper towel (for grip) and slowly pull off the membrane. If it tears, repeat with the portion left on the bones. If you have a blade-end roast (sometimes called ‘rib-end’) it will have multiple muscles, so tie it into a uniform shape with kitchen twine at 1-inch intervals; tying isn’t necessary with a center-cut roast. For easier carving, ask the butcher to remove the tip of the chine bone and to cut the remainder of the chine bone between each rib (sometimes called ‘scoring’).

Gas Grill-roasted Bone-in Pork Rib Roast

Follow recipe for Charcoal Grill-roasted Bone-in Pork Rib Roast recipe through step 2 substituting 1 cup wood chips for chunk. Place soaked chips in 9-inch aluminum pie plate with 1/4 cup of water and set on primary burner of grill (burner that will stay on during grilling). Position cooking grates over burners.

Turn all burners to high and heat grill with lid down until very hot, about 15 minutes. Turn primary burner to medium-high and turn off other burner(s). Scrape grate clean with grill brush. Proceed with recipe from step 4, positioning roast on cooler part of grill, near, but not over primary burner.