Beer in the Headlights

I vote for the latter

I love ribs. Pork ribs. More specifically I love spare ribs. They have more meat and more flavor than their over-priced anatomical neighbors, the baby backs.

Spare ribs, like other cuts of meat that contain joints, bone and connective tissue are, on the norm, the most flavorful. They are certainly the most succulent. Collagen is the primary reason for that characteristic.

In order to get the most out of a hunk of animal containing significant amounts of collagen, a low temperature and often moist (or wet) cooking technique is required. With that in mind I'm going to share how I cook ribs for maximum flavor and texture.

When working with spare ribs I like to cut them St. Louis style. You can see how to do it here. (Save the long strips of meat without cartilage and bone for making a nice pork chili verde.) After trimming the ribs apply the rub of your choice. I prefer to use my own recipe that is lower in salt and sugar than most store-bought brands. Sometimes I'll apply a hefty amount of liquid smoke prior to the dry rub. Allowing the ribs to absorb the rub for a few hours before cooking is preferable.

Preheat your oven to 250. Place the ribs on a baking sheet and cover tightly with foil. Place the ribs in the oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. If cooking multiple racks of ribs use more than one baking sheet to keep the ribs at a single layer; two racks per sheet works well. At 250 the ribs will come up to temperature slowly and braise in their own juices. Be careful when removing the ribs from the oven and removing the foil, there will be lots of liquid in the baking sheet. You know they're ready when the meat pulls back from the edge of the bones leaving about 1/4" to 1/2" of the bones exposed.

When opening the foil the ribs will appear a little unappetizing. That's OK. The oven was just the first of two steps in cooking them.

Prior to removing the ribs from the oven preheat a grill to medium heat. Add soaked wood chips of your choice for added smoke flavor. Cook the ribs on the grill for about 4-5 minutes per side, basting with a sauce if you choose, and then serve. I do recommend allowing for the rub to "crust" a little before using a mopping sauce, this improves the appearance and texture of the final product.

You can transfer the liquid from the baking sheet to a fat strainer and reduce it in a sauce pan for making a basting or mopping sauce when finishing the ribs on the grill. Taste the sauce first, sometimes a little vinegar and/or light brown sugar along with some leftover dry rub enhance the flavor.

I prefer my ribs served dry with some sauce on the side in which to dip them. Masking the flavor of properly seasoned and cooked pork with excess amounts of overbearing sauce is just plain wrong.

Some folks swear by smoking their ribs for hours. That can dry them out. Others cook them on direct medium to high heat. That can lead to toughness. This technique of cooking ribs is terrific for a cookout with friends or family as it allows for plenty of other prep time and socializing while the ribs are in the oven. It's not legit for BBQ competitions and there are some who will howl in disapproval with what I've detailed.

Big deal.

At least I don't boil the ribs like some folks do; that sucks a lot of the flavor out of the meat. The end result of cooking ribs the way I've detailed will win you some praise as they will be tender, juicy and flavorful. That's what folks expect from ribs.