Ok, men - school me on ribs

[Minnie]

Tomorrow is my husband's birthday, and I have roughly 4 pounds of ribs that I want to do. Right now, they're sitting wrapped up tightly, after I slathered them in a rub that he picked up in Vegas (Magic Dust?). I tried that dust stuff on a pork roast that I did in the slow cooker last week (pulled pork), and it was amazing.

Anyway, I typically do ribs in a slow cooker but I'm somewhat loathe to do them that way this time. I've never done them on a BBQ before and I don't know that I have enough time or patience to try them that way for the first time tomorrow. I have several appointments so I can't stand around and watch the grill.

I could cook them low and slow in the oven, yes? I have done a little reading around the 'net and there's quite a variance. Some say wrap them in foil, others don't. Some say do at 350* for about 15-30 minutes then turn down to 200* and cook for at least 5-6 hours. Does that sound about right? We will eat around 6, and I need to be able to leave the house for about an hour, just before 2, to take the kid to the doctor and run pick up some BBQ sauce.

Any advice? I don't want to ruin these.

[Dion]

I have nothing to add other than the wish that whatever you do I hope it is a huge success and you get lucky later that night.

[Red Slinger]

As it so happens I just picked up some ribs the other night and plan on feasting this very evening. Here's my ten step process:

1- Soak the ribs overnight in a brine (salt & water) solution
2- Remove the skin membrane (that's what she said, ba da dum)
3- Boil the ribs but don't over do it- this makes the cooking process quicker and locks in the moisture.
4- Work in a dry rub (that's what he said) -including salt, pepper, brown sugar, white sugar, cayenne pepper, oregano and cumin or whatever flavours float your boat.
5- I have a Weber BBQ so I just plop it on there on tin foil and a grate for about an hour. If you have a decent BBQ you should be able to do the same thing but you shouldn't put the ribs directly on the grills and exposed to the flames until after #6. Of course, you can use an oven but I find it dries them out somewhat. Slow cooker works too but I think you lose a little flavour in the process.
6- I also like to put Cattle Boys BBQ sauce on at the end for an extra kick. Just cook for 2 minutes on each side with the BBQ sauce. Don't use crappy BBQ sauce.
7- Devour: eat greedy my friend.
8- Wash face, neck, hands, hair, forehead to remove all traces of feast. If you're like me you'll also need a change of clothing. This may mean removing your "eating pants", which is unfortunate, but hey, you don't want to look like a slob!
9- Have a beer for recovery (in addition to the beer you had while eating)
10- Bow-chicka-bow-wow

Good luck!

[kermitology]

Ugh.. I'm sorry, but I cannot condone boiling ribs ever.

Also, they're not lean meat, so brining isn't going to do much.

I would sear, the outside for a few minutes on each side to get a bit of a crust going (no this doesn't seal the juices in, it builds flavour), and personally, I would consider doing a braise, either way they need to be finished low and slow. Braise them in something sweet, apple cider, some brandy, Dr. Pepper, something like that.

You can get away with just a couple of hours in the oven, on 300, but really, with good meat, you need to take your time and treat it right.

By which I mean, don't even think of boiling it.

[Red Slinger]

^Normally I would agree with you about never boiling meat. I've found it only works for ribs. And that's only if you don't over do it.

[Rathji]

Put a rub on.
Put them on a cookie sheet in half an inch of water about 5-6 hours at 175, covered (not wrapped) with tinfoil. Sometimes I do a brief stint at 350 in the beginning, especially if I don't want to go a full 6 hours, other times I forget entirely and it doesn't seem to really harm the process, so who knows.
Portion
BBQ for a couple mins on each side
Adding sauce towards the end.

I normally do the oven work the night before, and portion the ribs and put them in the fridge so I don't have to bugger with them all day and it doesn't get in the way of prepping the rest of the meal. That obviously increases the bbq cook time, but I haven't had it go south on me yet, I just make sure the BBQ is on really low temp.

[guzzy]

do not boil. I am a smoking enthusiast and all smokers will tell you the same thing. You remove flavour. Create a nice rub (many recipes on line). Remove membrane, smother in mustard (it doesn't transfer flavour it only helps the rub stick to the meat). If you don't have a smoker turn one burner of your grill on to low-medium. Heat grill to 200-225 F. Put a tinfoil pack of wood chips above flame/burner. Put ribs on opposite side of grill. Cook for 4 hours. If you want the "boiled rib" tenderness, pull the ribs after 2.5 hours, sauce them, wrap in tinfoil and put back on grill/smoker. Do not boil.

[Ark2]

Don't boil the ribs. Sure, boiling them will make them tender, but it will also leave the meat flavourless. I cover mine with a dry rub and then put them in the smoker for at least 7 hours using hickory or mesquite. Every hour I will spray them with a mixture of spiced rum and apple cider vinegar. Personally, I don't foil ribs when I do them. Foiling will make the ribs juicy and tender, but they will also be a bit soggy. Without the foil, as long as you cook them long enough, they should still fall off the bone and will have developed a nice bark (an outer crust).

[rbochan]

If you go the oven route...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/a...ipe/index.html

[Northendzone]

DO NOT BOIL THE RIBS......REPEAT DO NOT BOIL THE RIBS........

cook em low and slow on the Q on some indirect heat and remove that membrane from the bone side. It is work to remove it (you will need a fork and possibly some pliers), but the result is some juicy juicy ribs - a small price to pay for some top notch meat......use a nice rub - alternatively you could get into a honey and brown sugar rub, but something typical is also good eating.......

[CaptainCrunch]

All I know is that all of you chicks owe me a rib, having given up one so you can be created.

You're welcome

[CaptainCrunch]

BTW Guzzy's method sounds awesome

[burn_baby_burn]

Check out this recipe. It has completly ruined me from eating ribs in restaurants (except for Oklahoma Joe's in Kansas City, their ribs are perfect everytime).

According to the guy who hosts the site "If you boil ribs, the terrorists win!".

http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/p...ribs_ever.html

[troutman]

http://www.cuisinenet.com/glossary/england.html

English food seems to have two distinct faces in the American culinary imagination. The first is the decidedly grey image of boiled meat. Indeed, boiled meat may be the paradigmatic emblem of loathed English blandness.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst...er-boiled-meat

[burn_baby_burn]

From the above site.

A lot of folks boil their ribs before grilling them and slathering on the sauce. The concept comes from Eastern Europe where Poles and Czechs prepare ribs by simmering them in water with cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and caraway seed, making a very nice pork stew.
But water is a solvent. It pulls much of the flavor out of the meat, and it can make the meat mushy. When you boil meat and bones, you make a rich flavorful soup. All that color in the pot is flavor that you can never get back into the meat. Boil meat too much and water can even dry it out by causing the proteins to contract and squeeze the moisture out of the muscle fibers.
People talk wistfully about meat that falls off the bone, but if it does, it has probably been boiled and denuded of its best flavors. What they're really loving is the unctuous barbecue sauce. That's why McRibs are so popular. They're just ground pork swimming in sweetened ketchup mixed with liquid smoke and some other flavors. Classic Southern ribs have the same mouthfeel and bite as a tender juicy steak and most important, they taste like pork, not just sauce. They tug off the bone rather than fall off the bone.

[King Hippo]

Don't ever boil ribs, EVER.
Are you making soup? No, you're making Ribs! It cant be said enough times to never boil ribs as it just takes away from the flavor.

here's a good clone recipe of Tony Roma's
http://pork.betterrecipes.com/copyca...mous-ribs.html

[Ark2]

I hear that Jamie Oliver has a great recipe for ribs...

[Hanni]

I do mine on the top rack of the BBQ for about 3 hours on 200-250. Usually a dry rub of brown sugar, paprika, cyan, pepper and whatever else seems good. On the bottom rack I put one of those aluminum BBQ trays to catch the drippings, I also usually put a beer, a couple cups of water, some Worcester and other seasonings. My theory is the liquid evaporates out of the tray and helps keep the ribs moist, it might not do anything but if nothing else it keeps the drippings off the burners.

After 3 hours I move them to the bottom rack and brush with sauce every few minutes for about 20 minutes. This crisps up the outside just a little and gets the sauce nice and sticky.

I tried saucing them on the top rack every 10 minutes for the last hour once and while they were still good, that much sauce over that amount of time leaves them with a molasses like glaze that was just too sticky.

I have done this once in the oven using the top and bottom racks just like the BBQ and the same temperature. After 3 hours finishing them on the BBQ and brushing with sauce. They were good but I still prefer the straight BBQ cook.

[King Hippo]

Originally Posted by Ark2

I hear that Jamie Oliver has a great recipe for ribs...

dont tell anyone else, it'll ruin his healthy FOOD REVOLUTION campaign

[blankall]

The secret with ribs is cooking them for a long time on a low temperature. You need to break down that tissue and fat. You can slow cook them in the oven or cook them on indirect heat on the BBQ. If you're not adding wood chips or smoke, there only isn't much difference IMO to either method. Searing before and after the cooking is always a good idea.

Make sure to work in lots of sauce. If I'm cooking in the oven, I'll smear on a new layer of sauce every 90 minutes or so. Most of the sauce will burn/caramelize off. My sauce is heavy in hot sauce though and relatively light on actually bbq sauce. Plus the vineger in the sauce will help break down the tissues.

The proper process takes 5-6 hours minimum.

And yes, pull off that layer of connective tissue on the bone side. It's not as hard to do as people are making it out to be. Usually you can just get a corner going and pull it off in one go.