BBQ Pork Ribs and spice rubs

In addition to trying out a new cole slaw recipe, I also made my first-ever batch of pork ribs on the barbeque. I followed the cooking instructions from Cooks Illustrated with a full slab of pork spareribs.

The meat: The spareribs had too much bone and cartilege in them. It made them hard to eat. Although Cook's Illustrated recommended this cut of meat for BBQ ribs, I think I'm going to try baby back ribs next time.

The spice rub: I used the non-sugar-based 'Simple Sprice Rub for Ribs' from Cooks Illustrated, and was really disappointed. Next time, I will use a brown-sugar based rub recipe using Splenda as a sugar replacement to see how it goes. The problem with the simple rub I used is that it didn't result in a very savory, sophisticated flavoring of the meat. It made the ribs spicy, but not necessarilty 'tasty' or 'savory'.

I'm not sure how Splenday will hold up to 2.5 hours of grilling at 275 degrees, but we'll find out.