Simmered Spareribs

A one-pot camp method: the ribs steam-braise in their own liquid, then fry in the rendered fat once the water is gone. Nothing here needs changing except your attention to the pot at the end.

• The hingeEverything depends on the water reducing to nothing while the meat is still moist. The recipe says nothing about a lid; cover it for the long simmer if you like, but uncover for the last stretch so the liquid drives off and the fat is left behind for browning.
• Cut and quantityThree pounds is roughly one full rack of pork spareribs, or a little more than one rack of the smaller trimmed St. Louis cut. Serves three as a main course, four if there is plenty else on the table.
• Kettle sizeA kettle here means a deep pot. Cut the rack into three- or four-rib sections so it lies flat in the bottom; ribs standing on edge will not brown evenly at the end.
• Water is deliberately scantOne cup does not cover the meat, and it should not. This is a low steam braise, and the pork releases a good deal of its own liquid in the first half hour.
• Heat levelBarely a tremble on the surface, around 190F. A hard boil at this water-to-meat ratio will scorch the pot dry long before two hours are up.
• SeasoningOne clove of garlic and unspecified salt is thin for three pounds of pork. Two teaspoons of salt, several cloves, and a few peppercorns or a bay leaf will not offend the method.
• DonenessTwo hours brings the meat to the point where it pulls from the bone without falling off. Longer is fine and specifically invited by the recipe; longer still and the ribs will collapse when you turn them to brown.
• BrowningExpect a quarter to half a cup of rendered fat. Turn the pieces in it over a brisker flame for five to eight minutes until the surfaces are dark and set, then lift them out rather than letting them sit in the fat.