Pork Rib Roast Cooked Over Wood and Charcoal

Pork Rib Roast Cooked Over Wood and Charcoal

You know, this is pretty good!

What’s the perfect meal to serve for Saturday dinner? Think about it for a minute. Don’t worry, there’s no wrong answer ... well, wait, if you said a Macaroni and Cheese from a box, that would be a wrong answer. Other than that, it's wide open.

My choice would be a pork rib roast, slowly roasted over a charcoal and wood fire. The roast takes on a pleasant smokey flavor and the gravy, well ... that’s so good it’s a sin. This is a feast fit for a king!

Why is this right for a Saturday afternoon? I’ll tell you. First you can prepare the wood for the grill while you’re doing your other outside chores. You want dry oak or maple, or other hardwoods like cherry or apple. You need to cut them in chunks about 4” long and around 2-3” wide. Chop up a nice pile of those. A tree saw is very handy for this.

When you are ready to light the grill, what you do is to place a piece of the hardwood on each side of the grill and then place a pile of charcoal by each piece. The two piles of charcoal should be on opposite sides of the grill with a big area between them so you can roast with indirect heat.

To light the coals ... NO! put that lighter fluid away! Instead, go out and gather a pile of dry hardwood twigs, thick and thin. Snap them up and place a pile of twigs on each pile of charcoal. Use a propane torch to light the pile the sticks. The burning twigs will light the charcoal as they burn down. Trust me, it tastes better this way.

Once the coals are ready and your roast is on, you can continue with your other chores and occasionally add  a chunk of wood to the coals to maintain a consistent temperature. 

1 Pork rib roast - 4 to 5 ribs

Equal parts of Cajun seasoning

         Onion Powder

         Smoked Paprika

         Fresh ground white pepper

1 Large clove of garlic, slivered

Fresh Rosemary

Several large sweet potatoes

Flour

1/2 cup red wine

Water

Wild rice

Preparation

Before you light the grill, take the roast out and place it in a cast iron pan. Take the garlic slivers and place each, along with a blade of rosemary, into slits in the roast, so the meat can absorb the flavor as it cooks. Next rub it all over with the mixed seasonings. Let the roast sit at room temperature while you light the grill and make the dough for some fresh bread.

Set up the grill as I described above and light it with your torch. When the coals are ready, place the roast centered between the two fires. Place the sweet potatoes around the roast pan so they can roast as well. 

I like to sip wine while this roasts. That's ok, right?

You want to keep the temperature somewhere between 300º and 350º so this can roast slowly for several hours. You don’t want to have the fire get too hot. Long and slow will provide lots of flavor. 

Every so often, add a chunk of wood to each fire to maintain smoke and temperature. I like to have the roast reach an internal temperature between 140º and 150º because you don’t want to over-cook this. If you keep the grill in the right temp range, it will be around three hours, depending on the size and depth of your grill, so an instant read thermometer is essential. Bake your bread and cook the wild rice in the meantime.

Once the roast is reached it’s internal temperature, remove it from the grill and let it rest on a platter. Don’t forget to bring the sweet potatoes in when they feel ready. They'll be done before the pork. 

To make the gravy, season the fat in the cast iron pan with some salt and pepper and place it on the stove over medium heat. Add enough flour so the fat is absorbed, but still very wet. Let it cook, stirring constantly for around five minutes. Add the red wine, stir to scrape up any scrapings and add water, a little at a time until the gravy is nice and smooth as it simmers. Taste it and adjust for seasonings. It will probably need some cajun seasoning.

Serving

Cut the roast between the ribs and place a rib slice on each plate. Stir any drippings from the roast into the gravy. Peel the skins off the sweet potatoes and place one on each plate, mash it a little and put a pat of butter on it. Set a heaping pile of wild rice on each plate. Now ladle gravy over the rice and pork. Serve each plate along with a nice crisp salad, fresh baked bread and a rich, jammy Zinfandel from California. 

The gales of November may come early, but you won’t care when you can enjoy a rich, smoky meal like this! Life is good.