Attempting to cook like Alton Brown judged, found

A bit more challenging than initially thought.

Ever since watching the ribs episode of Good Eats, I wanted to try and cook ribs just like Alton.

Well, I gathered almost all the necessary ingredients over the weekend (minus one of the +1 parts of the dry rub) and gave it a shot Monday. I discovered that it's best to be completely prepared before starting. To the bullet points!

- I ran out of Worcestershire sauce making deer jerky (more on that in a moment) so I found a recipe online on how to make a decent substitute using ingredients I already had. It was close.

- Baking equipment. I need better stuff. Got too messy dealing with the braising liquid while adding it to the ribs and afterwards trying to make the glaze.

- The oven temp was in flux. Not horribly, but at times would get too hot. Too much heat is not good. And since the temp was in flux, I allowed some extra time for cooking.

Final verdict: fair to decent ribs. Not great, maybe not even good by some folks' standards, but I ate about half a rack and am still standing today.

Now I know what I need to use and need to do for next time. Oh yes, there will be a next time.

And speaking of that deer jerky. Again, I tried Alton's setup. Had all the necessary ingredients. Let it marinate for the appropriate time. Before dehydration, the meat was good and tasty. As for the dehydration? Well, I tried to replicate Alton's method. Only thing was, I don't have a box fan. So I figured the biggest fan we got on high could come close. Yes, I used air filters just as he did. I let it sit in the garage most of the evening and overnight. Just tried a piece and it is good.

Now on to my next Good Eats attempt. This one isn't as ambitious. In fact, it should be quite simple: croûtons.