Cooking ribs is easier than you think. You don’t have to start preparing them the night before or cook them all night. End to end you can have ribs ready to eat in less than 3 hours, or if you are cooking a larger batch maybe 4 or 5.
In this method of easily cooking ribs you start with a rub, which helps to break down the connective tissue in the meat. You then braise them in the oven until tender and finish them on the grill.
Remove the ribs from the packaging and rinse under water. Though it is unnecessary, I have occasionally found bone shards in my ribs and giving them a rinse helps to dislodge and bone stuck to the meat. Pat them dry with a paper towel.
Next, remove the membrane on the back of the ribs. Removing this membrane will result in more tender ribs which are easier to eat. You can do this by tucking you knife under the edge of your ribs and pulling the membrane away. Once you can get your fingers in there you can usually pull it off in one big piece. I actually find using a wooden skewer is the easiest way to get it started.
Once removed, very gently score the back of the ribs with a knife in a 1″ diagonal pattern. you only need to barely penetrate the flesh. If you see any excess fat trim it off quickly, but there is no need to fuss. Place in a large baking dish that can fit the rack (or racks) more a less flat. Cover with the rub of your choice, and really rub it in evenly. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and put in the fridge for an hour.
Preheat your oven to 300F. Once the oven is hot remove the ribs from the fridge and add 1/4 cup of your braising liquid( I like beer or white wine). Cover back up with aluminum foil and put in the oven. Bake for 90 minutes and check to see if they are tender. If not, return to the oven and check every 30 minutes. With only one rack 2 hours may be enough.
Remove from the liquid. When you are ready to eat, heat your grill to medium high and grease it. Coat your ribs in the barbecue sauce and grill on both sides, brushing with sauce to keep moist. Serve to happy guests.
Similar Recipes:
Basic Barbecue Sauce
Stout Braised Short Ribs
Barbecue Sauce Recipe
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I made some short ribs shortly before I became “pescatarian” and gave up meat. They were awesome! Seared on the stove, they were then cooked in the slow cooker with red wine and all kinds of goodies. Oh man! If I’d known I was going to suddenly decide to give up meat, I would have eaten things like this all week long and planned my “final meal”! So good and so easy!
Takes a lot less than 3 hours to devour these! Looks wonderful.
nfmgirl – I remember thinking that when I was a vegetarian – why didn’t I eat more bacon!? Alas it was not to be.
Belinda – yes, yes it does.
Has anyone tried an all-grill method?
It’d take much longer I suspect, but if done over charcoal they could taste amazing!
i’m intimidated of all “serious” cooking. is this really that simple? it seems like something i could do tonight haha
Mike – I haven’t actually tried this though I know it is a classic way to do it. I think you could easily use my method and instead of putting them in a casserole just wrap them in aluminum foil and do them over indirect heat.
You could do them directly on the grill but that involves quite a bit of basting so they don’t try out. Of course that is the classic way I think.
those look wonderfully sticky! short of 6 hours on a smoker, this is definitely the best way to make ribs.
I have been cooking for 40 years and these are the BEST ribs I ever made! Even better than my daughter’s and she went to cooking school!