Our barbecue uses gas from the house supply, by way of an outside tap. It is an almost unspeakably better arrangement than the bottled kind, which always gives out at the most inconvenient time.

The sticky sauce version of pork ribs is most common in Canada, but once I had tried the dry rub technique I could never go back. It’s less messy, and far less likely to scorch.

That said, I never turn up my nose at barbecued ribs, however they’re dressed. That would be beyond foolish.