Make Mouthwatering Ribs All Year Round
Your Oven is the Best Place to Cook Melt-Off-the-Bone Good Ribs
The most serious smokehouses, BBQ joints and rib shacks in the country are equipped with wood-burning pits to maximize the flavor smoked into every rack of ribs. The same smoky, savory flavor plus fall-off-the-bone tenderness can be achieved by using any standard oven.
Spring for Quality Meat for Taste that Can't Be Beat
The quality of meat can make a noticeable difference in the texture of the ribs. Ribs that are too chewy are difficult to pull off the bone, and ribs that are too tough taste more like mini bone-in pork chops. For the recipe below, the best ribs to use are babyback pork ribs, available at most grocery store butcher counters. Whole Foods offers a wide selection of organic meat, and their racks of ribs are only a few dollars more than regular grocery store ribs.
It is by no means necessary to go organic when cooking ribs. However, to ensure the freshest meat possible, ribs should be selected at the butcher counter, and not from the shrink-wrapped meat case. Many of these come pre-marinated, and half the fun in cooking ribs is deciding for oneself which seasonings to use.
Season to Taste
There are rib lovers who swear by a favorite BBQ sauce, and others who prefer as much natural meat flavor as possible, with just a little salt and pepper thrown on top. If the hickory wood flavor is desired, that can't be recreated with a bottle of sauce, no matter what the label promises. Instead, hickory wood chips can be purchased at most grocery stores. A few handfuls of these can be spread liberally in a baking pan, covered with about two cups of water, and put in the oven with the ribs. The water will make the wood chips smoke, simulating a wood-burning smoke pit right in any conventional oven.
The seasoning on the meat is the cook's personal touch. If simple salt, pepper, and a little BBQ sauce is all that's desired, use a coarse salt, like a sea salt, as opposed to simple table salt for a more sophisticated touch. "Dry rubs," or a mixture of various dry seasonings, can be applied to a rack of ribs in lieu of (or in addition to) sauce. Everything from cinnamon to Chinese Five Spice to chili powder--basically, anything found in the spice cabinet--has been and can be used in ribs. Pre-made dry rubs are usually available at grocery stores and farmer's markets, and many famous rib places sell their signature rubs and sauces at the checkout counter.
Ingredients
- One rack of babyback pork ribs
- Desired seasonings or sauces
- Coarse salt (i.e. sea salt)
- Black pepper
Tools and Utensils
- Cookie Sheet
- Aluminum foil
- Baking pan
- Hickory wood chips
- Meat brush if using sauce
The Secret: Cook 'Em Slow & Low
- Pre-heat the oven to 225 degrees.
- Place a few handfuls of wood chips in baking pan, cover with three cups of water, put in oven.
- Season or sauce the ribs to taste.
- Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, set the rack of ribs on it, and place them in the oven.
- Cook for four to six hours.
- After four hours, one rib can be removed from either end and tasted to see if it is cooked to satisfaction. If they are not quite tender enough, give them another 30 minutes to an hour.
This is not the recipe for anyone expecting dinner to be ready in an hour.
Ribs can be safely cooked at this temperature from four to six hours. They won't burn, because the oven is deliberately set low enough to cook the meat through without overdoing it. The fat and juices in the meat will keep the ribs nice and tender, and cooking ribs long and low keeps that moisture from evaporating and the meat from burning.
Serve these ribs--with plenty of napkins and wet wipes--and you'll never need to use your charcoal grill again.
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