First prepare rib rub by thoroughly mixing all rub ingredients. Store in airtight container. The night
before smoking, trim your ribs of all excess fat. Place them in a large plastic bag and pour in Italian
dressing to coat. Seal bag well. Refrigerate for 4 hours, turning occasionally. Remove and wipe dressing
off. Sprinkle each rib with pepper then 1/4 cup of the brown sugar and 1/2 cup of the onion flakes.
Wrap each rib in plastic and refrigerate overnight. The next morning remove from wrap and wipe
sludge off ribs. Generously coat front and back of ribs with Rib Rub and using your hands, rub
seasoning into meat and set aside. The smoking process will take 6 hours. Using a chimney charcoal
starter get 15 briquettes red hot. Place coals on one end of grill and place 1 pound of green hickory
around coals. Use water-soaked hickory chunks if you canÕt get fresh-cut hickory. Keep internal
temperature of the grill at 200 to 225 degrees. Add more charcoal and hickory chunks every hour as
needed. Place ribs bone
side down but not directly over hot coals. After 3 hours, remove ribs from grill and wrap in aluminum
foil. Hold in covered grill at 180 to 200 degrees for 11/2 to 2 hours or until fork tender. Next build a
real hot bed of coals over the entire bottom of grill. Be careful because this next step goes quickly. Place
ribs back on grill to add char flavor. When meat becomes bubbly it is done. Make sure to char off bone
side membrane until it becomes papery and disintegrates.