Each to his own, I suppose. You mention beer and liquid smoke, both are no-no's as far as I'm concerned. I don't like what beer does for meat and liquid smoke tastes artificial to me. I prefer natural apple wood chips to provide the smoke with pork, whichever method of cooking is involved. Meanwhile, maybe the fact that "cheating" is common in restaurants is the very reason we each prefer our own versions of baby back ribs over typical restaurant fare. For the record, plenty of pork flavor shines through when my wife does it her way, but as you said, eating is a matter of personal preference.