First prepare rib rub by thoroughly mixing all rub ingredients. Store in airtight container. The night before smoking, trim your ribs of all excess fat. Place them in a large plastic bag and pour in Italian dressing to coat. Seal bag well. Refrigerate for 4 fours, turning occasionally. Remove and wipe dressing off. Sprinkle each rib with pepper then 1/4 cup of the brown sugar and 1/2 cup of the onion flakes. Wrap each rib in plastic and refrigerate overnight. The next morning remove from wrap and wipe sludge off ribs. Generously coat front and back of ribs with Rib Rub and using your hands, rub seasoning into meat and set aside. The smoking process will take 6 hours. Using a chimney charcoal starter get 15 briquettes red hot. Place coals on one end of the grill and place 1 pound of green hickory around coals. Use watersoaked hickory chunks if you can't get freshcut hickory. Keep internal temperature of the grill at 200 to 225 degrees. Add more charcoal and hickory chunks every hour as needed. Place ribs bone side down but not directly over hot coals. After 3 hours, remove ribs from grill and wrap in aluminum foil. Hold in covered grill at 180 to 200 degrees for 11/2 to 2 hours or until fork tender. Next build a real hot bed of coals over the entire bottom of grill. Be careful because this next step goes quickly. Place ribs back on grill to add char flavor. When meat becomes bubbly it is done. Make sure to char off bone side membrane until it becomes papery and disintegrates. Slather with Bbq sauce. Let heat caramelize sauce. This caramelizing along with the charring and slow smoking is the secret to tender smokey ribs just like the Championship pitmasters used to do down in the Deep South. There are no shortcuts to this timehonored way of barbecuing.
