How to make BBQ Ribs

The sun's coming. We swear to god the sun's coming. And when it does we're going to make so many barbecue ribs that Chinese restaurants the length and breadth of the country are going to want us investigated for monopolising the little porky buggers.

The reason for our new found and, admittedly, excessive enthusiasm? Last week we ate the finest barbecue ribs we've ever tasted, at The Big Smoke at Fulham's Elk Bar.

So good were these ribs (and the cocktails, oh lord the cocktails) that we tracked down head chef Paul Sowden, threw a hood over his head, dragged him to the nearest torture cell and asked him in no uncertain terms how he made these delicious meaty moments of joy. He squealed.

"One of the most important things you need to remember is the one thing that most people forget, you must remove the membrane from the concave side of the rack, this can be done simply with your fingers and a dry cloth.

"Then we dry rub both sides of the rib using (at the moment) Butt Rub, an American favourite. [Available here]. We let these then marinade for 4-5 hours.

"Place them on a hot (250 degrees C) barbecue for 3-4 hours. Regularly turning and regularly spraying with apple juice or beer. After about 3 hours we add a glaze.

"This glaze is a mix of BBQ Sauce, Black Treacle, Apple Juice, Bourbon, Chilli & Black Pepper [see quantities below]. Simply brush on plenty of the glaze - don't be shy with it - and continue to turn a little more frequently

"If you have the time (which we don't) after adding the glaze you can wrap in foil add some juice or beer and return to your BBQ to rest for an hour. This is how ribs are finished at competition level."

Glaze: 50ml Teriyaki Sauce, 50ml BBQ Sauce, 50ml Black Treacle, 50ml Apple Juice , 2 shots Bourbon , 1 finely chopped Red Chilli, 10 twists of Black Pepper