I got some gorgeous boneless pork ribs from Safeway last night (I hate arguing with the bones). I was thinking of just slathering them with BBQ sauce and grilling them, and then I thought to myself “Hey, self - I bet the Dopers know just how I should cook these and do 'em justice.” Being an infrequent griller and chef, I looked at Alton Brown’s site, but my eyes glazed over at the list “pork ribs” produced. I know someone here can help me out…please?
Okay, here we go. This is a modified method borrowing heavily from a book called Eat What You Want and Die Like A Man by Steve H. Graham.
Hopefully you have a grill of some kind. Don’t panic, it is just to blacken the outside a bit before cooking in the oven.
We need:
8 oz of cider vinegar
4 oz of maple syrup
8 oz of BBQ sauce. EWYW and DLAM recommended Stubb’s which I bought and loved but a tangy sweet one you have may will work.
6 cloves of garlic
Pepper and Tabasco to taste (little or none if you prefer)
4 oz of Liquid Smoke
1 Tbsp of hot mustard (I used Gulden’s Spicy Brown)
bacon strips
salt (I used Kosher Salt as I like the flaky texture and I melts better
Aluminum foil. Preferably the wide, heavy type.
Lay out the foil long and wide enough to seal up the ribs the later. Salt the ribs well and let stand 15 min or more for the salt to soak in (trust me on this)
Mix all the ingredients into a sauce and spread on the ribs. Heavy. And let stand 30 min or more. The longer the better. I did and hour.
Now, if you have a grill fire it up and blacken both sides of the ribs. Don’t try to cook them as we are just getting the fire-taste so 3 minutes per side should work on an open flame.
Take them off the grill, place on the foil, brush heavily with the remaining marinade you made, lay the bacon slices on the side facing up ( the one with the most fat) wrap the foil in a loose seal and put them in the oven in the preheated oven at 300 degrees for 3 hours.
The best ribs you have ever eaten. And well worth the little bit of effort.
I posted this in a recent thread: Marinate at least a half-hour, or overnight in the fridge if you can.
Oil
Cumin
Mole powder
Garlic salt
Crushed garlic
Coarse black pepper
Lime juice or lemon juice
Grill over charcoal.
The Joy of Cooking’s recipe is like Nic2004’s, except it’s ultra-simple:
Brown the ribs in a skillet or under the broiler or give them a quick grilling.
Mix together BBQ sauce and Orange Juice (about 1.5 to 1 BBQ Sauce to OJ) I like to use a good spicy sauce or add a bit of red pepper to give it a kick. Optional, of course…
Put in a baking dish pour on the sauce mix, cover with foil, and bake at 300F. I’m not sure how long for boneless, as I use the country style ribs…those go for 3 hours…for boneless, probably only 2…then uncover and bake another hour (perhaps less for boneless) and let the sauce form a browned glaze.
One objection to Nic2004’s recipe: Any sauce on the ribs when they hit the fire is just going to burn. Either rub them, grill them, then sauce, or sauce them, wait, then cook them in the oven. They aren’t going to get any flavor but char from being on the grill sauced early. Sauces, especially sugar or tomato based ones, should only be applied to the meat the last 15 minutes of grilling.
It is supposed to blacken. As I stated, the amount of blackening will vary to taste but typically it is less than 3 minutes per side. some even use a torch to get extra blackening to those areas that are missed.
silenus I know, I know, I had my doubts as well but they are without exception the best ribs Ms.Nic or I have evah eaten.
WHERE DID YOU FIND THEM?!!? My dad and myself have looked in every bloody 7-11, Little George’s, Wawa, Walmart, Target, Martin’s, Giant, Super Fresh, SFW, Safway, Food Lion, Bruns and Merkle, BJ’s, and Sam’s Club from northern VA to Westminster, MD and haven’t been able to find them anywhere in the last 4 or 5 months. I had to settle for the boned ones last weekend for a cookout.
I saw some at the store yesterday. Big packages of five. And they’re cheaper if you buy ten pounds.
My local Kroger-owned supermarket has boneless pork ribs all the time. They’re delicious and relatively cheap. I boil them until they are pert near done, then I slather with BBQ sauce and stick 'em in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Tender and yummy.
Thanks for all the answers, folks. I think I’ll cook them tonight, using Nic2004’s method. And I got them at Safeway in Bellevue, WA. They have them all the time, too. I just never tried them before.
I think we had a similar thread a month or so ago but here is what I do: Mix up a bottle of BBQ sauce with a little molasses, liquid smoke, balsamic vinegar, sesame oil and whatever else sounds good at the moment. Brown the ribs lightly and put everything in the crock pot.
Now, wait for the deliciousness to happen. I love the ‘country stlye’ ribs since they are boneless and usually have a nice hunk of tenderloin attached. I noticed that they are on sale and in good supply at Kroger this week. Yum!
Or you could make carnitas. The traditional method involves a lot of home-rendered lard. Or you can use Rick Bayless’s easy method:
Serve with tortillas, guacamole, etc.
I should point out that boneless pork ribs, are in fact not a rib at all. Boneless or country style “ribs” are actually a Boston butt that has been cut with a band saw and de-boned. The rib thing is just marketing.
The Boston butt is the cut directly above the front leg of the hog. It is also known as a shoulder butt. Here is a handy chart
This cut has a lot of connective tissue, and will like a long cook at low temps to break down the connective tissue.
This is precisely why I boil them to doneness and then BBQ them in the oven.
Try a Korean-style marinade, then grill: soy, garlic, sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, ginger, chopped green onion, … I think that’s about it. Google finds lots of recipes; the one I have used came from Sunset.