Saturday, September 1, 2007

Oven-grilled Pork Ribs


I don't understand how some people can eat ribs with a fork and knife. For me, the entire point of eating ribs is so you can use your fingers, get down and dirty, and bite juicy, saucy chunks of meat off the bone. Maybe that's why I'd rather eat ribs at home than in a restaurant. At home, no one will stare if at the end of the meal, I'm wearing sauce on my face like some sort of war paint. And I can lick the sauce off my fingers and make smacking sounds to my heart's content :-)

My favorite way to make ribs at home is in the oven. I don't have the space for those huge grills that will allow me to cook ribs over indirect heat and smoke them with wood chips so I can't really say if that cooking method will give me superior results. But the oven gives me consistent heat and thus produces a tender and juicy product every time.

The key to falling-off-the-bone ribs is to use low heat. This principle holds true whether you use the oven or the grill. Some people like to boil their ribs to tenderize them. I used to do this a long time ago, but I've found that a lot of the flavor was lost during the boiling process. A low, slow stint in the oven breaks down all that connective tissue between the bones and makes the ribs succulently soft but not mushy.

Anyways, enough of the chatter. On to the recipe...

1. Rub the ribs (I used 2 whole racks) with a good steak seasoning or sprinkle with the rub ingredients below.

Rub:
salt
pepper
garlic powder
paprika

2. Wrap ribs in foil, place on a tray and cook in a 300 degree oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
3. Take ribs from oven and pour off the fat that is rendered. Increase oven temp to 450.
4. Glaze both sides of the ribs.

Glaze:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. sriracha hot sauce (optional)
1 tsp. smoked paprika
2 tbsp. hoisin sauce
2 tbsp. apricot jam
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
*Simmer everything in a saucepan for about 5 minutes.

5. Return ribs to oven, unwrapped, top side down. Cook for 8-10 minutes.
6. Flip ribs over and glaze the top a second time. Return to oven for another 8-10 minutes or until the sugar from the glaze has caramelized and you get a few dark areas.
7. Let ribs rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tip on tenderizing.this will be worth trying.

i had something to say about Creamy
Scones, too. You can just scroll back for this.