Recipe: Ribs

This is the first recipe because it's a badass God damn recipe!

Dude, these ribs rock the house!! They take hours, but they're pretty low-work hours, so that's a plus!

Ribs

INGREDIENTS

• Rib Rub (recipe follows)
• Baby Back Ribs
• Tin Foil
• BBQ Sauce (your choice - I prefer Open Pit)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Rinse the ribs under warm water and pat dry with a wad of paper towels.
2. Sprinkle both sides of the rack o' ribs with the rib rub. You don't need to drown the meat in that shit, but get a good even coating. Gently pat the rub to ensure it's sticking somewhat to the meat.

This is a decent amount of rub. Be sure to use your hands and make sure it's sticking to the meat

3. Wrap the ribs tightly in foil. The WIDE foil works best. My guess is that if you're not using wide foil this time you will be next time!

Ribs weep while cooking. Note how I place the ribs. I want to minimize the mess in my oven.

Collect the sides at the top, and fold/roll down. Done and done

4. Cook the ribs in a 225 degree oven for four (4) hours. This will gently heat the ribs-through while letting the ribs percolate in the rub. Mmm, that's God damn delicious.

You can fit two racks on a half-sheet pan

5. Time's up! Take-out the ribs. At this point, the next step is the grill. You can rest the ribs (preferred) and go attend to the heating of the grill, or take them straight to a ready-to-go grill: it's your choice. Personally, I rest them - because I'm lazy.
6. When it's grillin' time, cut the slabs into manageable-sized pieces (three pieces per slab is about right). Put onto grill (meat-side down first) and then dab the bone-side with some sauce. Cover the grill and walk-away for 5 minutes.
7. Return to the grill and flip the ribs. Dab the new side with some sauce. You should notice some char now: that's the flavor! Cover and walk-away for another 5 minutes.
8. Evacuate the ribs to a plate, put-on your eatin' clothes, and get to work. If you did it right, your family will now look upon you more respectfully - but not in my house: my respect level has already been maximized!

FAQs

• Open Pit? >> Yes, I said "Open Pit," motherfucker*! It's a classic for anyone growing-up in the 70's and 80's, before all the "fancy" sauces hit the market.
• Grill >> I use a charcoal grill, so it's blazing hot. If you have a gas grill, crank that up to high and prepare to burn!
• Why are you saucing and rubbing both sides of the ribs when the meat is conveniently located on one side? >> First, because I said so. Second, because you never know what people are going to eat. You might have a crazy carnivore at the table who wants to mouth-love the bones until they're clean and ready to be reassembled in a museum. Probably, though, they're going to be like my kids: eating only the "easy to get-at" meat, and then throwing-away a rib with enough meat to feed a Chinese village...
• How long do I need to rest the ribs? >> Well, you can rest them for zero minutes, or up to a few hours (I guess). There's no problem with a long rest - they'll get back-up to temperature on the grill. Just keep them in the foil packet. You can easily leave them in the oven (shut-off of course) until you're ready to use them. I'd stay-away from putting them in the fridge unless you're going to use them another day.
• What happens if they're so tender that a few bones fall-out on the grill? >> Well, you are now the rib master of the house. Go get yourself a reward beer for your troubles (and then another) and just be gentle with the boneless meat - it'll still char-up real nice.
• Eating >> Have some sauce at the table for those who like more sauce.

NOTE*: I have since tried “Sweet Baby Ray’s” BBQ sauce, and it’s pretty good. I suppose if you were to use that sauce it wouldn't be the worst thing that’s ever happened...


Rib Rub

Power-up this recipe to make more rub. This is just about enough rub for two (2) slabs of baby back ribs.

Finished rub. Mix all ingredients with a fork (pictured)

INGREDIENTS

• 8 Tbs Light Brown Sugar (tip: 8 Tbs = 1/2 cup)
• 3 Tbs Kosher Salt
• 1 Tbs Chili Powder
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1 tsp Thyme

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix all together. No shit. Note: use a fork to break-up the brown sugar - it has a tendency to clump together. Don't worry too much if the brown sugar doesn't completely disintegrate, little sugar nuggets will be ok for the ribs - maybe even recommended

FAQs

• What if I don't have all those ingredients? >> The first three are mandatory - the next three are optional AND customizable. You can go batshit crazy here and invent a new rib rub - just stick with the first three and your last three can be as weird as you want.
• Storage >> you can make a lot of this, and then put it in a cheese shaker (like me). To keep it from getting nasty, put a piece of wax paper under the cap of the shaker. This should stay reasonable fresh all summer (6 months max). But if it's in the cupboard for 6 months and doesn't get used, you’re disrespecting the institution of ribs, which is bad.