Tag: spare ribs

Ladies and gentlemen it’s that time once again when we strive for tender ribs, tasty sides, and family time – it’s Memorial Day weekend 2014. Last year – you’ll recall – I smoked the ribs on the grill for 1 hour then oven-baked them for 3-4 hours. This year I’m going to reverse that process: oven bake first then finish up on the grill.

Inspiration from DeepSouthDish.com: Fall Off the Bone Oven Baked Pork Spareribs with Sweet & Spicy Homemade Barbecue Sauce

Well, I delayed getting the ribs a little too long this year, and Kroger (our local grocery store) put spare ribs on sale on the Wednesday before Memorial Day (Monday). Needless to say they were sold out by Friday. All I had to pick from was plastic-wrapped, marinated St. Louis cut spare ribs (Chipotle or Kansas City flavored); I work with what I got. This will be different. I’m starting off with two slabs of marinated ribs. What is Kansas City flavor?

Bake Them

Remove the membrane. Put the rubbed (or marinated) ribs, uncovered, bones down, in an aluminum-lined baking pan. I use a disposable aluminum pan. Bake at 250 F for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, pour off any fat/juice from the pan. Brush ribs liberally with your favorite barbecue sauce. Wrap (or cover them tightly) the ribs in heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake at 250 F for another 2 hours.

This time after 2 hours, check if the meat pulls away from the bone. If not, wrap them up and continue baking – check every 15 minutes – until you can pull on the bones and they start to slide out. Don’t exceed 1 hour on this step. When they’re tender pull them out of the oven.

Finish Them

You can finish them under the broiler in the oven or in a covered grill (outside). If you want to finish them in the oven, paint them with sauce, lay them in a baking pan, bones down, uncovered, about 6 inches from the broiler for 10 minutes.

If you want to finish them with a smokey grill, prepare the grill for indirect heat. When the temperature stabilizes (no flames with charcoal) place wood chips on the coals/flames. Place the ribs on the opposite side the grill from the coals/flames. Smoke the ribs for at least 15 minutes (YMMV). Check internal temperature or pull on the bones every 5 minutes.

Eat Them

Everything (except gramma’s beans) turned out great. Ribs were good and tender. The macaroni salad and potato salad were tasty. I cooked regular sausage, boudin, and andouille to go with the ribs; they were OK. We’ll try the beans again tomorrow.

Inspiration:

I like the recipe Oven Baked Ribs Spare Ribs from TheMeatSource.com, but I’m going to  add a twist: smoke in grill first, then finish in oven.

What You’ll Need:

• Spare ribs, preferably cut St. Louis style (I used two racks of ribs)
• Your favorite rib rub (I make my own sometimes)
• Your favorite barbecue sauce & a bottle of liquid smoke
• Roll of heavy-duty aluminum foil
• Disposable, aluminum baking pan, at least 3 inches deep
• Large paper bag (1 bag per 2 racks of ribs)
• Outside grill set up for indirect heating
• Wood chips for smoking in grills (hickory or mesquite)
• About 6 hours of your spare time (get it)

Step 1: Wash the ribs and remove the membrane from the bone-side. If you didn’t buy St. Louis style ribs, cut off “the skirt” (a small piece of meat on one side that sticks out) so that the rack of ribs look more rectangular. Sprinkle both sides of the ribs with your rib rub. Place the ribs in the baking pan, bone-side down, and cover the pan with plastic wrap or foil to keep the bugs out. Let them sit at room temperature for 1 hour.

Step 2: Now for the twist: smoke them outside in the grill. Add your favorite wood chips in the grill and stabilize the temperature between 225 and 250 Fahrenheit. Place the ribs in a rib-stand and place the stand on the side away from the heat – i.e. the indirect heat method. Keep an eye on the temperature and smoke them for 1 hour.

Step 3: Pre-heat your oven to 300 Fahrenheit. Place the ribs in to the baking pan and seal the pan tightly with aluminum foil. (I actually put some sauce on them before I sealed them in the pan.) Place the baking pan in the center of the oven. Bake ribs for 1 hour.

Step 4: Remove the foil from the pan, and drain any fat from the pan. Place ribs back in the baking pan, bone-side down. Leave the foil off. Bake ribs for 1 hour.

Step 5: Drain any fat from the pan. Slather both sides of the ribs with barbecue sauce. Bake ribs for 1 hour or until meat separates from bone. (This should not take more than 2 hours.)

Step 6: Turn off the oven. Remove the pan from the oven, and wrap the rack of ribs in foil. Place the ribs in a paper bag, and fold the top of the bag tightly closed. Let the bag of ribs sit at room temperature for 1 hour.

You are now a BBQ God! …so on the seventh hour, he rested, and enjoyed the fall-off-the-bone spare ribs. Amen.

Personal Notes:

I have a 3-burner gas grill and even 1 burner on low is too hot, so I bought an aluminum charcoal lighting box and put about 20 briquettes in it. It produced a lower, stable temperature. I could have kept feeding it briquettes, but I didn’t want to watch the temperature all day on my inaccurate thermometer.

(Originally published Nov 28, 2011)