I really didn't know much about barbecue when I started this trial by fire. I owe a lot to a lot of nice folks who have taught me and helped me make this journey. Without them, this would not be possible. So a deep, sincere thanks to:
All you readers who have commented and criticized drafts online. As my Daddy said, "Praise is cheap, but criticism is priceless."
My wife, the saucy Lou, Ph.D., a microbiologist and food safety expert who fearlessly eats my cooking, well, most of it, offers great feedback on my recipes, and has patience with me. Most of the time.
My Mom and Dad, Norma and Jerry Goldwyn, and my sister Ann. Some of my first food memories are meals at their short-lived restaurant in Sarasota, Florida. When they bought the place, it had the romantic name of a local flowering bush, the Oleander. When they found out Oleanders are poisonous, it became Jerry’s restaurant. The food was good, especially the ice cream sundaes, and the paintings from the local artists that they hung were inspirational. They let me be a jerk when I was 13. A soda jerk that is. What a great start to a career in food, drink, and art.
Allen Kelson, my editor, who knows food, cooking, grammar, spelling, writing, and me... and makes me sound like a better writer than I am.
Garry Howard, who runs the SmokeRing List, a free email mailing list about barbecue and cooking to which I subscribe. The talented cooks who hang out with there offer merciless feedback and are an amazing fount of information. Many have tested my recipes and corrected them, and more than a few have dug up typos and other errors. Among them, in alphabetic order: Sandra Aylor, Lucy Baker, Kevin Cleek, Bruce Cook, Erv Crain, John R. Crowley, Gerry Curry, Buzz Dean, John Douglas, Dave Frary, Dan Gill, Ed Hood, Greg Hunter & Nancee Gell, Rodney Leist, Stan Marks, Bill Martin, Scot Murphy, Merrill Powers, Mark Stevens, Jack Waiboer, Candy Weaver, Joe Wells, "Big Jim" Whitten, and Jack Wimberly. I am sure I have missed several for which I am very sorry.
Marlene Atkins, formerly of the Cooking & Hospitality Institute of Chicago (CHIC). She hired me to teach there and mentored me. CHIC is the local branch of the French culinary bastion, Le Cordon Bleu. That’s where I met Chefs Tim Bucci, Mark Stanley, Tom Beckman, and so many others who answered my stupid questions as I started this project.
Keith and Renee Miller, my friends, neighbors, dogsitters, and candid critics. I can always count on Keith for an honest opinion and, as a captain in the Pleasantview Fire Department, he brought me feedback from the firemen who survived my experiments.
Lake High of the South Carolina Barbeque Association who made me feel important and taught me more than I bargained for every time I asked him a question.
Bronson "Bronnie" Smith, also of the South Carolina Barbeque Association, my guide to the joints of South Carolina. He matched me bite for bite all week long. He also took me to Jackie Hite's Bar-B-Que. And now I can die.
Natalie Longo, my wife's niece and talented songbird, whose warbling you can hear on my theme song "You Can't Hurry Ribs".
Barry Sorkin of Smoque BBQ in Chicago, the best pitstop for miles around, for sharing insights, tips, and lunch with me.
Hermann Zanoni, now retired, and my butcher of many years in Broadview, IL. He taught me a lot about meat, and made sure I got the freshest, meatiest ribs with which to practice.
Tom Marszelewski, my neighbor, whose trash talkin' and challenge to a cookoff in 2003 got my competitive juices flowing, and started me researching ribs.
The helpful librarians I have met, especially Barbara Cline and Elizabeth Hansen at the LBJ Library and Museum in Austin, the librarians at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago, University of Tennessee in Knoxville, the Library of Congress in DC, the University of South Carolina's Caroliniana Collection in Columbia, the Florida State Library in Tallahassee, and John Struble of the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY.
Myron Mixon, Chris Lilly, and the many other patient barbecue chefs I've met and quizzed at their restaurants and competitions across the nation.
Lynn and Tom Kimble of Leader Dogs for the Blind. They have been instrumental in helping us with our other great love, training dogs. Sport, Wags, Layla, and Jazz are now dragging blind people around, and they added so much to our lives when they lived with us.
Peter Parts, and industrialist and philanthropist, and amazing leader, who got me involved with Camp Good Days, an amazing summer camp for kids with cancer.
Jerry N. Uelsmann and John Paul Caponigro, my muses and guides to the world of art and creativity, and Kevin O'Connor who taught me some of the basics of food photography.
Julia Child, who, through the TV screen, told me in the '60s that I could cook. I remember watching her in black and white when I was in college and trying her recipes on my roommates. In her last television interview, with Sarah Moulton on the Food Network, in the summer of 2004, she said "I think food is important and if you don’t know how to cook, it’s tragic.” Amen.
Barry Sorkin of Smoque in Chicago where they make some of the best brisket anywhere for reviewing my article on the subject.
And the gods of grape, grain, and fire who have looked over me so far.
This page was revised 7/2/08
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AmazingRibs.com is all about the Zen of Barbecue, cooking ribs, and all kinds of BBQ recipes and techniques: Barbecue baby back ribs, spare ribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, chicken, smoked turkey, steak, lamb, barbecue sauces, rubs, and great side dishes, with the net's best buying guide to barbecue smokers and cookers. It is written, illustrated, and coded solely by Craig "Meathead" Goldwyn.
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Buy Meathead some meat so he can work up some new recipes.
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" and her dad, Mike "The Legend" Mills of the 
Product Reviews and Meathead's Hot Stuff Awards. Meathead's Hot Stuff Awards are highly recommended products that I have tested personally or that have been tested by reliable sources. Awards are based on features, quality, and value. Rest assured that when I recommend a product, it is really because I like it, not because someone has paid me to say so or because the company is an advertiser or sponsor. I purchase most products I review although occasionally suppliers send me samples.
With a $15 donation he'll send you a very cool embroidered iron-on patch.
or the 
from Amazon.
