"Last night I tried Steve Shaw's recommendation of starting a load of ribs in the oven and transferring them to the barbecue to finish. Disappointing, and I'm sure it was all my fault for letting the barbecue run too hot, or leaving them in too long, or something. The flavour was good, but the texture left much to be desired -- the meat at the bone was tender and moist, but just under the spice crust it was dry."

Well I had a stack of ribs that had already been separated (not ideal but it's what I had), and we enjoyed them muchly on the barbie tonight. I marinaded them for several hours in a very simple mix of tomato ketchup, a big dose of muscovado sugar, a dollop of hot English mustard, a good dash or three of Worcestershire sauce and a goodly heap of sweet smoked paprika. After that I put them in a baking dish with all the baste and covered the dish tightly with foil. They went in the oven for almost three hours at 150C. All they then needed was ten minutes on the barbie, basted with whatever juices were still left. They were very nice indeed.