To Precook Or Not To Precook
The rationale behind pre-cooking ribs is to tenderize the meat before it hits the grill. Then the grilling portion of the cooking process is more to add the char and adhere the sauce to the ribs. But is it necessary? If youre making side ribs, then yes, its a very good idea. As mentioned earlier, side ribs tend to be tougher than back ribs and benefit from some low-heat cooking to tenderize the meat.
Pre-cooking back ribs is optional it can make for an exceptionally tender rib, but it can be bypassed if youre not interested in cooking for hours. Do not precook country-style ribs if you intend on grilling them or they will be very dry.
How Do You Grill Ribs On A Propane Grill In Foil
Can I Cook Baby Back Ribs In The Oven
Yes! Heres how to cook our Smithfield baby back ribs in the oven:
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By Step How To Make Bbq Ribs Using The Oven And Grill
Grilling Diaries: Preparing The Spare Ribs
There has always been a controversy among people whether to tear the membrane or not. The membrane actually sustains the moisture within the spare ribs. Although many people find them unattractive if you remove it off, the moisture will drip out instantly. Before grilling the ribs, if you slowly rub the prepared mixture on it or either rub the spice mix this will leave the ribs to be completely infused with the flavor that you are craving for! If you apply mustard over the ribs, this will help tenderize the meat however if youre not a mustard mixture fan and actually dislike it, theres nothing to be worrying about.
You wont be able to have any clue that it had been rubbed by the mustard mixture. For the perfect flavor, marinate the spare ribs for about one day so that the spices, aroma and sassy edges can be infused in the ribs. Sweet potato pancakes are another delicious thing can be cooked smokelessly.
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How To Cook Tender Ribs In The Oven
In this recipe, the ribs are baked sealed, low and slow, for the most melt-in-your-mouth tender meat.
Serve with corn on the cob and of course Classic Coleslaw and Beans! Once you try this method, itll become your go-to!
TENDER RIB TIP
Once roasted, check your ribs a little piece with a fork. If the meat is not tender, they need MORE time. Seal them back up and add another 20-30 minutes.
If they are ready ahead of time, you can turn the oven off and let them sit for up to 1 hour if you dont open the oven.
Gather The Ingredients And Supplies
The Spruce / Leah Maroney
To oven-roast ribs, you will need:
The rack of ribs can be baby back or spareribs. Baby back ribs are smaller, have less meat, and will require a shorter cooking time. Two racks of ribs can be cooked simultaneously without altering the cooking time as long as there is at least an inch between them.
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How To Cook Ribs On A Charcoal Grill
Smoke the perfect barbecue pork ribs on your charcoal grill with our step-by-step recipe and guide. Cooked over indirect heat and applewood, this smoked rack of spare ribs will rival anything youve had before.
Any good BBQ chef knows his way around a good rack of ribs, but some fall short by thinking they dont have the right equipment. While ribs are traditionally cooked in a smoker or Kamado grill, they can actually easily be made on a charcoal grill as well.
Charcoal grills are often underrated for their flexibility, and unlike their gas brothers, they can actually be turned into brilliant smokers without compromising on that classic smoky BBQ taste.
Todays guide will walk through the steps on how to cook ribs on a charcoal grill.
Need a recipe? Check out our Texas Style Baby Back Ribs
Should I Wrap Ribs In Foil When Grilling
Wrapping the meat in foil will limit the amount of smoke on the surface of the meat thus yielding a better color and flavor on the final product. It also adds moisture and speeds up cooking time. Wrapping should be done about half way through the cooking process or when internal meat temp is 150-160 degrees.
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Adams Tip: Remove The Membrane
For the most tender ribs, we remove the thin membrane covering the rack. It can be a bit tough when cooked, and since we love ribs that fall of the bone, the membrane has to go. You might find that the butcher has already removed this, but just in case, heres how to do it yourself.
To remove it, gently slide a knife under the membrane, and then use your fingers to pull the membrane away from the bones. If it is slippery or difficult to remove, use a kitchen towel to take hold of it and pull.
As I mentioned above, you may find that the butcher or shop you bought your ribs from has already removed the membrane. Less work for you!
Also, keep in mind that removing the membrane is optional, some people prefer ribs with the membrane left intact. For ribs with some bite or chewiness, leave the membrane alone. Its all up to you!
How Do You Prepare Ribs Before Grilling
Directions Place spareribs in a large stock pot with barbeque sauce, onion, salt, and pepper. Pour in enough water to cover. Bring to a low boil, and cook approximately 40 minutes. Preheat grill for high heat. Lightly oil grate. Remove spareribs from the stock pot, and place on the prepared grill.
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How Long To Grill The Ribs
The length of time ribs should use in a grill varies depending on the grill and type of ribs. Therefore, there is no exact time for grilling a rack of ribs.
However, if you follow the standard grill temperature range, the estimated cooking time for medium-sized meat should be about 3 hours. For smaller-sized ribs, the estimated time to get it cooked is about two hours. A thick slab of ribs requires a cooking time of about 4 hours while you would need to add about 30 minutes to an hour to the cooking time for a thick slab with a vertical rack.
Why You Should Cook Your Ribs Past Done & How To Know When They’re Ready
As you already know from many of my Science of Barbecue articles smoking meat is a technique that slowly melts fat and relaxes the collagen in meat allowing water into the muscle fibers creating gelatin. This process is called rendering and it is the main reason why you should cook your ribs past their done temperature. If you are cooking pork ribs past the temperature of doneness, how do you know when the ribs are ready?
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There Is A Distinct Difference Between Grilling And Barbecuing
The main difference? Time. Barbecuing is a long, slow process over low heat, producing deliciously tender, juicy meat from cuts that may be tough and dry when cooked more quickly. Grilling is reserved for chicken breasts and burgers, which are cooked over high heat for a short period of time.
Now, I understand that I am lucky to live in the great state of Texas where we know good barbecue from bad and most people have the luxury of space to hold at the very least a charcoal grill. Which is what we have in our backyard, alongside the trusty gas grill.
While it might be ideal to BBQ ribs in a smoker, those are a little harder to come by, even for Texans. The amount of use a smoker would get in our backyard just doesn’t justify the cost or amount of space it would take up. So the charcoal grill will do just fine. And that’s how we made these delicious baby back ribs.
I say ‘we’ because I am not the resident griller in the Table household. That job is for Mr. Table. He enjoys drinking a cold beer, manning the fire and cooking meat all day. And he’s good at it. So in this case, I’m just here to prep the food and explain what’s happening.
How To Check The Readiness Of The Ribs
Here are three quick methods you can use to check if the ribs are ready for munching!
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Traditional Barbecuestyle Ribs: 165f For 12 Hours
J. Kenji López-Alt
At 165°F , you end up with meat that’s a little more loose and shreds more easily, though it’s by no means dry. This is meat that pulls off the bone and almost melts on your tongue, washing it with porky flavor and leaving behind shreds with a more significant chew. The texture is very much like that of traditional barbecue, though a little bit moister.
You can extrapolate from these two temperatures and timings to figure out what other combinations in between will yield. Cooking at 152°F for 24 hours was a close runner-up, resulting in a texture that’s a little more tender than the 145°F ribs, but a little juicier than the 165°F ones.
So, while ribs cooked at 145°F will take about three times as long to tenderize as ribs cooked at 165°F, they’ll end up with a meatier, more succulent texture that eats almost like an extra-tender steak. Ribs cooked at a higher temperature will have a more traditional barbecue rib texture, with well-rendered fat and meat that shreds as you eat it.
Should You Cook Ribs Before Grilling
Another option to preparing your grilled ribs is to bake them in the oven or slow cooker and simply finish them up on the grill. This ensures that the ribs are tender but also have that great smokey char that the grill gives off.
Ive found that with this grilled ribs recipe, the ribs come out tender every time even if cooked on the grill from raw. I love the flavor that cooking the ribs on the grill for the full hour gives, but thats just a personal opinion. Really, either method works great for delicious bbq ribs!
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What To Serve With Ribs
Ribs call for classic BBQ side dishes like grilled corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, and coleslaw. However, since your baking your ribs in the oven, it might not be cookout weather. Luckily, these juicy ribs pair well with a wide range of side dishes. Serve them with other oven-roasted dishes like acorn squash or cauliflower.
The Next Best Thing To True Barbecue
The Spruce / Diana Rattray
In some parts of the country, making barbecued ribs is serious business where the ribs can only be cooked in a smoker. But if you are not of that camp and are open to some nontraditional cooking methods, then oven roasting may be for you.
The rib meat will pull away from the bone when you take a bite, but to get this result requires nearly perfect timing. Don’t be intimidated, though. The ribs can be forgiving, and the low temperature of the oven will help the ribs to slowly reach that state of fall-off-the-bone.
It is important to keep in mind, howeverand those serious rib barbecuers will agreeoven roasting isn’t barbecue. Barbecue needs smoke to chemically alter the flavor and surface of meats. The oven is not going to create that smoke and so, while these pork ribs are a good approximation of those BBQ joint ribs, they’re not exactly the same thing.
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Why Wrap The Meat In Tin Foil
The reason to warp your rack of ribs in tin foil before placing them in the oven to bake is that the foil traps all of the delicious juices and steam from the meat inside. This circulates and helps the ribs cook up nice and tender, rather than dried-out or tough.
Make sure your tin foil packet is well secured. If you notice a lot of steam or juices escaping from the foil during baking, you can add a second layer to ensure the flavor stays inside.
Best Way To Cook Country
Country-style ribs come from the blade end of the pork loin, close to the shoulder area of the hog. They may or may not include the feather bones and some of the shoulder blade, and you can find both boneless and bone-in. They are very meaty, meatier than many other rib cuts, and make an excellent grilling protein.
Country-style ribs are the perfect choice for adding layers of amazing BBQ flavor.
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Bbq Ribs On The Charcoal Grill
Nothing says summer like grilled BBQ ribs! These baby back ribs on the charcoal grill are simple, delicious, and sure to please a crowd with tender, fall off the bone meat and crispy charred edges.
Coming from a long line of Texans, and having lived here my whole life, I like to think I know a thing or two about barbecue. I grew up on baby back ribs and brisket cooked all day long on a smoker during my childhood weekends spent at our family lake house.
Then I married another long-standing Texan who also loves his barbecue. In case you’re confused, throwing some BBQ sauce on a piece of meat does not, in fact, make said meat ‘barbecue’. Neither does cooking meat outdoors.
How To Cook Ribs On The Grill
So youre ready to take the dive into the world of cooking ribs on the grill? I promise its easy and youll be obsessed with the finished product. Youll need about 15 minutes of prep time and an hour of cooking time. So, make sure you account for that when planning out your meal!
Youll want your grill preheating to low heat for about 15 minutes before youre ready to throw the ribs on. I use a propane grill, so 15 minutes is all I need. If youre using a charcoal grill, youll need more time for it to preheat, so plan accordingly.
You also dont want to put ribs on the grill that just came out of the fridge, or else the meat might get shocked. So, while your grill is heating up, let the ribs rest on the counter for about 15 minutes.
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