Tonight we fired up the charcoal grill to cook ribs, the first time in a long while. Ribs is the journeyman dish of barbecue; just enough challenge to be rewarding, but not so difficult that you need professional training to get it right. It's also time-consuming, but well worth it.
Some day (after we make our first million, I routinely joke to Karla), I'll get a dedicated meat smoker. These wonderful devices make ribs, pork loin, and many other smoked meats a cinch. For now, though, we use our Swiss Army Knife of grilldom, the 20" Weber Charcoal Grill. What's so great about the Weber? For starters, it's round, which I believe facilitates convection; it's cheap, simple, has few moving parts, and is weather-resistant. It's also almost always possible to squeeze "just one more" piece of meat on the round grill when you're grilling direct over the coals. For ribs, though, we use indirect grilling and let the convection carry the smoke through the meat. It's a bit of a juggling act to do this with the Weber, but it's not too hard if you have an extra set of hands.
We've found the best approach is to heap a bunch of coals on one side, almost to grill level, and place a disposable foil pie tin with about 3/4" of water on the opposite side. Once the coals are good and hot, we place 2-3 aluminum foil packets filled with soaked mesquite chips on the coals, give them 5 minutes or so to start producing smoke, and then place the ribs on the opposite side over the pie tin.
The trickiest part is controlling the temperature, which should be around 250 degrees if you want to be done in 3-4 hours. Our grill actually runs hot (275-300) for the first hour or so, but we've found that if we let it do this, we still have enough heat left during the third hour to finish the ribs without replenishing the coals. The trick comes if you find yourself below 200-215 degrees, or if your smoke packets run out (as they usually do during the second hour). You need a second person to lift the rack out with oven mitts while you replenish the smoking packets and/or the coals. The easiest way I've found to monitor the temperature is to drop an instant-read meat thermometer down through one of the vent holes. I like to micromanage all my grill adventures, but with ribs I have to content myself with checking the temperature every once in a while, since opening the lid too often (more than 3-4 times overall) to check on the meat can cause problems.
We mop our ribs with a vinegar-Worcestershire-spice blend every hour or so to help them stay moist. Then a quick brush with barbecue sauce once they hit 180 internally, and they're ready to serve.
Karla and I put away a full rack this evening (Spencer, as yet lacking molars, isn't really a big fan of meat in general at this point), along with some homemade fries. Certainly worth the effort!
2.07.2009
2.05.2009
Job Seekers 101
Lately I've seen many things that remind me how grateful I am to be employed in a good job. To the general employment malaise we learn of with every news report on the economy, I can add my own experience: I currently serve as the employment specialist in my ward, and there are a lot of people in the neighborhood who are looking for work. I'm also on one of the few teams in my company that is actually still hiring, so we are seeing many applicants. This past week in particular I have reviewed a large quantity of resumes and sat through numerous interviews. I hope nobody reading this is currently on the job market, but I'm sure you know someone who is. As a hiring manager, let me share some helpful tips in hopes they will filter through the population of job seekers. I'm in the IT field, but I think this is generally applicable stuff.
First, the resume. Unless you're a C-level executive or college professor, limit your resume to two pages. Use a clear font and avoid fancy formatting that may not translate on everyone's computer. If you are experienced, include a brief summary (five lines or less) of your background and abilities. If you are new to the job market or field, use this space to describe your objective instead. Include full dates (months and years) for each position you have held. Explain any gap longer than 90 days with a brief, accurate statement. Be completely honest. Do not claim titles, roles, responsibilities, education or skills you don't have. For IT or other niche fields, list all your technical skills or technologies in a separate section so that they will be caught by database keyword searches, but not distract from human readability.
Next, the application. Apply only for positions for which you are qualified. Screeners and hiring managers don't appreciate wading through stacks of irrelevant resumes any more than job seekers appreciate spam from the job sites for positions that are completely unrelated to their searches. Just as important, don't apply for a job you don't want to do; even if you're qualified, you will have a tough job convincing the hiring team of your sincerity. If you are compelled to take a position at a lower pay grade than you had previously, be sure to find something that you will enjoy. If you can convince the hiring manager of your passion for the role, they may be less inclined to fear you will bolt to a better position once conditions improve. Include a cover letter that is customized to the position and that makes a case for your value to the organization.
Finally, the interview. This is really what set me off to write this post. I have been amazed with this batch of applicants to find how few of them actually listen to the interviewer. Yes, the interview is the opportunity to sell yourself to the organization, but every good salesperson knows that listening is just as important as talking. Yet time and again, almost every applicant has launched into a rapid-fire delivery of their answer even before the questions is out of my mouth. Even if you have a good sense of what the hiring manager is asking, stop and take a breath before launching into your dazzling riposte. It's often helpful to restate the question to be sure that you understand and are answering what is being asked. The hiring team has two objectives in questioning the applicant. The first is to assess knowledge, skills and experience (the content of the applicant's answer). The second is to assess the applicant's personality and approach, which is revealed in the way they interact with the questioner and the care they take in answering the question. This metadata is at least as important as the content; it shows the depth of perception, interpersonal communication skill, adaptability, and host of other soft skills (a term I have never really liked, since there is nothing "soft" about these skills, especially in senior positions where decisions are made that can have a significant affect on the business). As a small-town motivational speaker once said, "Listening is key!" (This guy was hauled in to an annual meeting at one of my former employers, and however cheesy he was, he did have a point; just not one I'd pay an honorarium to hear.)
I've got six more interviews lined up in the next ten days. Here's hoping the folks in that queue have some of these interview concepts down.
First, the resume. Unless you're a C-level executive or college professor, limit your resume to two pages. Use a clear font and avoid fancy formatting that may not translate on everyone's computer. If you are experienced, include a brief summary (five lines or less) of your background and abilities. If you are new to the job market or field, use this space to describe your objective instead. Include full dates (months and years) for each position you have held. Explain any gap longer than 90 days with a brief, accurate statement. Be completely honest. Do not claim titles, roles, responsibilities, education or skills you don't have. For IT or other niche fields, list all your technical skills or technologies in a separate section so that they will be caught by database keyword searches, but not distract from human readability.
Next, the application. Apply only for positions for which you are qualified. Screeners and hiring managers don't appreciate wading through stacks of irrelevant resumes any more than job seekers appreciate spam from the job sites for positions that are completely unrelated to their searches. Just as important, don't apply for a job you don't want to do; even if you're qualified, you will have a tough job convincing the hiring team of your sincerity. If you are compelled to take a position at a lower pay grade than you had previously, be sure to find something that you will enjoy. If you can convince the hiring manager of your passion for the role, they may be less inclined to fear you will bolt to a better position once conditions improve. Include a cover letter that is customized to the position and that makes a case for your value to the organization.
Finally, the interview. This is really what set me off to write this post. I have been amazed with this batch of applicants to find how few of them actually listen to the interviewer. Yes, the interview is the opportunity to sell yourself to the organization, but every good salesperson knows that listening is just as important as talking. Yet time and again, almost every applicant has launched into a rapid-fire delivery of their answer even before the questions is out of my mouth. Even if you have a good sense of what the hiring manager is asking, stop and take a breath before launching into your dazzling riposte. It's often helpful to restate the question to be sure that you understand and are answering what is being asked. The hiring team has two objectives in questioning the applicant. The first is to assess knowledge, skills and experience (the content of the applicant's answer). The second is to assess the applicant's personality and approach, which is revealed in the way they interact with the questioner and the care they take in answering the question. This metadata is at least as important as the content; it shows the depth of perception, interpersonal communication skill, adaptability, and host of other soft skills (a term I have never really liked, since there is nothing "soft" about these skills, especially in senior positions where decisions are made that can have a significant affect on the business). As a small-town motivational speaker once said, "Listening is key!" (This guy was hauled in to an annual meeting at one of my former employers, and however cheesy he was, he did have a point; just not one I'd pay an honorarium to hear.)
I've got six more interviews lined up in the next ten days. Here's hoping the folks in that queue have some of these interview concepts down.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
