The night before you cook your ribs, prepare the spice rub, ribs, and sauce.

First combine all the ingredients for the spice rub in a small sealable container.
Note: A little bit of cayenne pepper goes a long way. Use more or less to achieve desired heat level.

With the lid on, shake vigorously to combine all the ingredients.
Note: Old take out containers work great for this.

Rinse the ribs under cold water to remove any unwanted bits.

Using the tip of a knife, pull up a small piece of the membrane on the back of the ribs. Then use your fingers and a paper towel to pull off and remove the membrane.

Cut racks in half if necessary to fit the ribs into your smoker.

Sprinkle the ribs with the spice rub. Use your hands to spread and massage the rub into the meat.

Wrap each rib portion in plastic wrap and store in the refridgerator over night.

For the sauce: Combine all the sauce ingredients in sauce pan over low to medium heat.
Note: White Pepper can add quite the heat factor, use cautiously.

Simmer sauce over low heat stirring occasionally, until it has thickened, approximately 20 minutes. This sauce will not be a very thick sauce.

The next day (about 5 to 6 hours prior to eating) light off your smoker to achieve 200 to 250°F. The Minion method of loading unlit charcoal and topping it with a thin layer of well lit charcoal and a few large chunks of hardwood for smoke (hickory or fruit woods are a good choice) works well for this. If you do use this method, be prepared to throttle your dampers to an almost closed position.

Once your smoker is up to temperature, place your ribs inside the smoker and evenly space them out. Cook like this for about 3 hours. If your smoker is closer to 200 F, smoke for the full 3 hours. If your smoker settles out around 250 F, cook for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. There is no need to baste, spray, or mess with your ribs during this time.

After the first phase of cooking, remove ribs from the smoker. They should have a golden color and an aromatic and meaty smell.

Place a rib portion in the middle of a large piece of tin foil. Form a small boat with the foil to hold liquids.

Add about 3 slices/pats of butter to the top of the ribs and pour in about 2 ounces of orange soda on and around the ribs.

Close the foil securely around the ribs. Rolling the top seam down to the rib and folding in the sides works well.

Return the foiled ribs to the smoker.

Remove the ribs from the foil. Be carefull, as the ribs will be very tender and may start to fall apart on you.

Brush the front and back of each rib portion with the orange soda sauce.

Slice the ribs into 3 bone portions. This seems to be about right for each person. Additionally, 3 bone segments reheat better (less tendency to dry out) than single bone portions.