Perfect ribs -- without fire

Cafe Society
1

My charcoal grill is very small – 12 inches in diameter. But I like BBQ ribs. (Cow, pig, ocelot… doesn’t matter.) Now, I know that I can’t make ‘perfect’ ribs without slow-cooking with fire. But how can I get nice, falling-off-the-bone ribs just using my oven? Or using the oven for most of the cooking, and putting a few at a time over the coals?

BBQ sauce: Please post your recipes; tomato-based and mustard-based.

Thanks.

2

My mom made the best spareribs in the world when I was young - cooked them in the pressure cooker with sauerkraut (I think this is called kapusta). But thats probably not what you’re looking for.

When I lived alone I cooked spareribs in the oven for 10 minutes at 500 degrees, then about an hour at 350 degrees after salting and peppering heavily (sometimes topping with slices of onion, which burned to a crisp…mmmm!..) and they came out crispy and chewy and delicious. No sauce needed, though you could put some on during the last half hour.

3

I’ve had good luck with Alton Brown’s braised baby back rib recipe. Basically you let them sit with a rub for a few hours, then braise them in a low oven for another few hours. You get a nice fall off the bone tender rib. I don’t use his braising liquid as sauce method though - I found it made the ribs too salty.

4

I second muldoonthief’s suggestion-Alton’s recipe works very nicely.

5

I get excellent results by using a rub, browning the ribs on the grill (you could also use your broiler) and then finishing them in a low oven.

6

I’m a user of the Alton Brown method. Rub, braise in foil in a low oven until nearly done, then finish and glaze on the grill.

I take the liquid and add it to homemade BBQ sauce (then reduce a bit), but my rubs tend to be a bit less salty than store bought, and plenty sweet to balance it all out.

My BBQ Sauce recipe is fairly straight forward:

Take a couple of sweet onions, and chop very fine. Simmer in a stick of butter. (This must be why it’s sooooo good. Add garlic 1/2 way through if you’d like). When they are transparent, and just beginning to brown, add:

{recipe from memory, but is fairly close}
2C Cider Vinegar
2C Catchup
1/2C Worcestershire sauce
1/4C mustard (I use my homemade version. Whatever version is onhand)
1tsp salt (add more to taste at the end)
1Tbs brown sugar (adjust towards end, other sugars work here too… Maple syrup, honey, etc)
cayenne pepper to taste
pepper to taste
liquid smoke to taste
1/4tsp cinnamon or allspice

Cook all this down to at least 1/2 volume. Blitz with the stick blender to blend out any solid garlic or onion bits (note, this may change the color a bit towards orange). Continue to cook until the desired consistency. Thicker for table serving, thinner for mopping on the grill. BBQ sauce is pretty tolerant of experimentation. Mine is never the same twice, but the above is the basics of my recipe. It’s sweet, fruity, and a little bit spicy.

7
  1. Take your racks and wash them, spread them out, and pat dry with paper towels.
  2. Cut along the bone line every third or fourth bone.
  3. Take each section and brush it liberally with your favourite barbecue sauce.
  4. Lay each section meaty side up on a piece of aluminum foil big enough that you can draw the sides up over top of the meat and roll them together or fold them over each other to make like an aluminum foil “pouch” around the meat. Whatever, the most important thing is that the seam will be on top.
  5. Put all of the wrapped pieces of rib meat on a platter. You may stack another layer on the first one if you need to, as many times as you need to, but the key is that YOU MUST LET THE MEAT MARINATE IN THE FRIDGE FOR APPROXIMATELY AT LEAST 18 HOURS OR MORE – 24 IS BETTER.
  6. About three hours before your meal, lay each foil pack on a cookie sheet, seam side up and put into a 350 Degree oven. Check one package after an hour and a half. If they seem to be cooking too fast for you, lower the temperature to 300. Monitor how far down the bone the meat is shrinking when it gets to about an inch to an inch and a half, they’re practically done. IN ANY EVENT, ABOUT A HALF HOUR BEFORE THEY WILL BE DONE IS A GOOD TIME TO START YOUR GRILL.
  7. When desired doneness is achieved, unwrap each piece of meat and put on a platter, all separate from each other, that is, not stacked on top of each other, and paint on some more barbecue sauce.
  8. Hopefully your grille is now going nicely. You are only going to use it to “scorch” the sauce a little, since the ribs are basically cooked. When you see little black marks starting to appear after a couple of minutes, turn them over, do that side, and then arrange onto a clean platter.

Serve with a cole slaw with a sweetish dressing and baked beans. Enjoy.

8

I’ll be over at 7 with a key lime pie and a six-pack of Blue Moon!

9

Sounds perfect!

10

Eh, I wrap each section of ribs in foil after getting them good and wet from being washed. Toss them in to my oven on low [about 250] and ignore them for 3 or 4 hours while I make slaw, potato salad and other various side dishes and desserts.
Remove from oven and let cool enough to handle. Pop on the grill after getting the coals perfect, drop the lid on them for about half an hour, then flip and grill roast the other side. Make up my barbeque mopping sauce, then lift the lid on the grill, swab down the ribs and cook for another 45 minutes or so, flipping and mopping occasionally. When the ribs are falling off the bones, pop the balance of the bbq sauce on a burner and bring to a boil to cook any random food juices that may have cross contaminated the sauce [not likely but all it takes is one bit of cross contamination to ruin your day] while the ribs are resting. Cut the ribs apart, pile on serving platter, toss on the table with the rest of the food and chow down.

11

I’ve been meaning to try this - they look soooooooo yummy on the show.