Pork Loin Country Style Ribs - Down and Dirty

Boneless pork loin ribs seasoned with salt, pepper, and cumin

Cooking down and dirty is ridiculous good.  I have cooked New York Strip steaks, T-bone steaks, and have mastered the Ribeye steak, both bone-in and boneless.  So I decided to get creative and see what other kinds of meat might work well being cooked directly on the coals.

I picked up some fairly thick pork chops from the grocery the other day, seasoned them with salt, pepper, and cumin, scruffed them and threw them on the coals, basting them with barbecue sauce after every flip. They were stupid good.  The kids loved them and I will definitely cook them again.  But for some reason I still wasn't completely satisfied.  And then I remembered the boneless pork loin country style ribs.

This really is a great cut of pork.  Done correctly, this cut of meat is tender, juicy, and has a great flavor.  The grocery had full length and half length cuts.  I went for the half length cut because I wasn't looking for a ton of meat; just enough for my wife, three kids, and me.  I think I walked away with a pack of nine pieces for about five bucks.

I seasoned the pork with salt, pepper, and cumin and let it sit while I worked on getting the coals ready.  I did not scruff these cuts of meat.  I might try it next time just to see if there's any difference, but decided not to this time.  Not sure why, I just didn't.

I got the coals going just like I always do, filling my chimney starter full of hardwood lump charcoal, letting it get white hot, but this time dumping it into my new down and dirty cooker.  I found an eighteen inch square portable grill on sale at Lowe's for $19.  When I put it together, I followed all of the assembly instructions except for the part that says to attach the lid to the body with the supplied hinges.  I did not attach the lid to the body of the grill because I wanted to be able to completely remove the lid.  It works like a champ!

Before I laid the meat down on the coals, I got my basting brush and a bowl of my favorite barbecue sauce ready.  I also laid my wire cookie cooling rack down over the coals to make basting and flipping easier.

Internal temperature for pork should read at least 145 degrees

I put the meat down on the coals and let them cook for about a minute and then flipped each piece.  After flipping, I basted each piece with the barbecue sauce.  After about a minute, I flipped again and basted.  I continued flipping and basting about four more times.

All of the flipping and basting turned out to be about six minutes of cook time.  I then took the meat off and let it rest for about ten minutes before cutting and serving.  

These guys go very well with macaroni and cheese, baked beans, or a salad.  I went with a cold pasta salad, boiling a box of whole wheat pasta, rinsing with cold water until cool.  I added a can of strained and rinsed black beans and sweet corn, some fresh chopped cilantro and a diced red bell pepper.  I then squeezed two limes into the bowl, seasoned with salt, pepper, and cumin and gave it all a good toss.