Serves 4 to 6

For easier pounding, cut any ribs that are longer than 5 inches in half crosswise.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Boneless country-style ribs present several cooking challenges. Each piece not only varies wildly from the next, but is also a mishmash of lean white meat and rich dark meat. Unfortunately, if the ribs are cooked to optimize the white meat, then the dark meat stays tough, and if they are cooked to optimize the dark meat, the white meat turns dry and chalky. To even out the cooking, we brined the ribs so that the white meat would stay juicy and pounded the ribs to an even ¾-inch thickness to “break down” the fattier dark meat. As for flavor, a double layer of barbecue spice and sauce and a quick smoke on the grill turned these ribs into something to sing about.

Makes about 2 cups

Fresh herbs are key in this cool and tangy sauce.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
We wanted a Yogurt-Herb Dipping Sauce recipe that paired well with grilled chicken kebabs but was versatile enough to work with any number of other grilled meat recipes. We used regular or low-fat yogurt for our Mediterranean-style sauce recipe, but stopped short of nonfat yogurt, which often contains stabilizers such as gelatin. Dried herbs didn’t fully hydrate in the sauce and tasted bland and tough, so we opted for fresh herbs—and lots of them—like basil and mint.

Ribs: Serves 4 to 6

The longer you leave the ribs with the spice rub the better (we recommend up to 2 days) their flavor, so try to plan ahead. We suggest homemade barbecue sauce, but if you’re short on time, Bull’s-Eye is the test kitchen favorite among supermarket brands. This recipe uses the oven, as well as a charcoal grill.

Sauce: Makes 3 cups

This recipe was developed using relatively mild Frank’s RedHot hot sauce.