The McDonald’s McRib will soon rear its ugly sauce-laden head, to remind us of the bad choices that we made as children. Now that we’re adults, we have to wonder why a better and less horrifying version of the McRib hasn’t been created. The Food Lab’s J. Kenji López-Alt is on it.

The Ribby McRibface is the adult version of the McRib that we’ve secretly pined for. López-Alt, fueled by nostalgia and mad culinary skills, creates a gourmet version of the BBQ pork sandwich using actual ribs. Spoiler… the McRib does not.

Then, not content with his sandwich’s “McRibbiness,” López-Alt creates a second version with actual ground pork… something else the McRib probably never did. Recipe and technique here.

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