The Complete Guide to Cooking Ribs

Nothing brings people to the table like ribs, whether you are feeding a crowd for the holidays or having a small, intimate meal. The juicy meat practically falling off the bone, that enticing aroma of spices and marinades, and the rich, mouthwatering flavour of every bite make eating ribs a transcendent experience. Unless the ribs are cooked poorly, then you have a slab of tough meat that no amount of rubs, spices, or sauces can repair.

If you want to be known as an absolute rib master and not “that person who ruined the ribs on Christmas.” Check out the Big Dog Spices Complete Guide to Cooking Ribs.

The Complete Guide to Cooking Ribs

Perhaps you have a bit of experience with cooking ribs, or maybe you have never done more than lick the sauce off your fingers after eating ribs. This guide is a way to help novices as well as those who want to learn more about making the perfect rack of ribs.

First Things First – Purchasing

An enticing platter of tender ribs begins at your grocery store or butcher shop. Here are a few must-know tips to save you from buyer’s remorse.

• Ribs are sold in slabs, and each slab has approximately 11 bones
• One slab can only feed two people (or one very hungry person) because about half of the weight is bone
• Look for ribs that are pinkish-red and avoid pale ribs
• To ensure flavourful ribs, buy a package that is well marbled
• Do not purchase ribs that have dark spots on the fat
• Refrigerate ribs for up to three days
• Freeze if you plan to hold the ribs for longer than three days, they will keep well for about six months if frozen. Remember the ribs will need to thaw in the refrigerator for 12-14 hours
• Before serving, cut slabs into single rib portions for spareribs or St Louis Style. Cut single or double rib portions of baby back ribs. Any larger than two ribs, and your guests will struggle to eat them and stay tidy.

Getting Familiar

Before you can perfect your rib recipe, you need to know a bit about ribs, how to treat them and why they deserve special treatment.

There are three types of ribs that pork lovers universally enjoy:

• Baby Back Ribs
• Spareribs
• St. Louis Style Ribs

Each of these types comes from different sections of the same ribcage. Two points worth noting:

• Country-style ribs are not part of the rib cage, so, technically, these cuts are not ribs.
• Contrary to what some people believe, baby back ribs do NOT come from baby pig

Baby back ribs are from the top portion of the rib cage. They have more meat and take less time to cook than spareribs.

Spareribs are from the bottom portion of the ribs. With longer bones, they have less meat than baby backs.

A subspecies of spareribs, St. Louis style ribs omit the rib tips and brisket flaps of spareribs – yielding slabs of a uniform shape

Baby Back Ribs

We get baby back ribs from the top part of the rib bone that is connected to the spine below the loin muscle. Because these ribs are more tender, leaner, and tastier than other ribs, baby back ribs are extremely popular. The ribs are versatile and are delicious smoked, barbequed, baked in the oven, or cooked low and slow in a slow cooker or crock pot. Typically, there are between 10-13 bones in a rack of baby back ribs with a weight of 0.80 kg- 1.13 kg.

Spareribs

Extending from the edge of the baby back rib to the end of the rib bone, spare ribs differ from baby back ribs in that they are larger, more marbled, and have more meat between the bones. Spareribs are tougher and require longer cooking times than baby back ribs. You can enjoy spareribs by barbequing, smoking, cooking in a slow cooker, or baking in the oven. A rack of spareribs weighs between 1.13kg-1.5kg and has 12-13 bones.

St. Louis Style Ribs

The St Louis Style rib is not a cooking method from the American city with the same name. It refers to a cut of ribs popularized by meatpackers from St Louis in the 1980s. The style of ribs is simply the spareribs with the tips, and extra cartilage cut away. The once trimmed, St Louis Style ribs are straight and a bit shorter than spare ribs. You will find the same number of ribs in a rack of spare ribs with a few grams lighter weight. The same cooking methods used for a rack of spareribs will work well for St Louis Style. However, because of the uniform size and shape, these ribs are frequently bought by restaurants and are not readily available in grocery stores.

Proper Prep

Regardless of your cooking method, there are a few steps to get your ribs ready for the journey to deliciousness.

• Allow your ribs at least 30 minutes to come to room temperature
• Trim away any large chunks of loose fat or meat because this tends to cook quickly and burn
• You need to remove the thin membrane (called skin by some people) on the underside of the rib slab. The process is simple and takes two steps.

Work a small knife (or your fingers) in between the membrane and the ribs and begin to loosen

Grab the loosened membrane and pull it away. Many say a clean paper towel helps when grabbing and pulling the membrane. Once it is removed, discard it, and you are ready to move on to cooking.

There are several tried and true methods of cooking ribs and even more opinions about which way is the best. Here are four ways everyone can (hopefully) agree on working well to create mouthwatering ribs.

1. Ribs in a Slow Cooker

Using a slow cooker for your ribs is a great way to make tender and tasty ribs with little hands-on cooking time.

Ingredients (6 servings):

• 3-Racks Baby Back Ribs or 2 Racks Spareribs
• 150 Grams of Your Favourite Spice Rub

Instructions:

1. Remove the membrane and coat both sides of the ribs with a spice rub.
2. Press the spices into the meat
3. Store in the refrigerator for 30 minutes
4. Place ribs in a slow cooker and cook for 4 to 5 hours on high or cook for 7 to 8 hours on low for a deeper flavour.
5. Ribs are done when the meat is tender and pulls away from the bone with no resistance

2. Oven Roasted Ribs

An easy way to get fantastic flavour without hovering over the ribs all-day

Ingredients (6 servings):

• 3 Racks Baby Back Ribs or 2 Racks Spareribs
• 150 Grams of Your Favourite Spice Rub
• 200 Grams of Your Favourite Barbeque Sauce

Instructions:

1. Remove the membrane and coat both sides of the ribs with the spice rub
2. Press the spice rub firmly onto the ribs
3. Refrigerate for 4 to 8 hours
4. Preheat the oven to 135 Celsius
5. Place ribs in a baking dish and cover tightly with aluminium foil
6. Roast in the oven for 6 hours
7. Brush with barbeque sauce and roast for 20 to 30 minutes longer
8. Check the doneness with a meat thermometer. The meat temperature should reach 90.55 Celsius

3. Boiled and Grilled Ribs

There are two distinct camps when it comes to par-boiling ribs before grilling. Some look at the practice as if it were heresy. Some see it for what it is, a shortcut to the grill.

Ingredients (6 servings):

• 3 Racks Baby Back Ribs or 2 Racks Spareribs
• The Juice of Two Freshly Squeezed Lemons Plus Rinds
• 250 grams of Table Salt
• 30 grams Whole Black Peppercorns
• 2 Bay Leaves
• Barbeque Sauce
• Water

Instructions

1. After removing the membrane, put the ribs in a large stock pot and add enough water to cover
2. Add lemon juice and rinds, salt, peppercorns, and bay leaves
3. Bring to a boil
4. Continue boiling for 25 minutes
5. While ribs boil, prepare your grill for high heat
6. Transfer ribs to the grill meatier side down and grill for 10 minutes
7. Flip ribs and brush the meatier side with barbeque sauce
8. Flip and grill for 5 minutes taking care not to char the sauce or the meat

4. Smoked Ribs

Many fans of ribs believe that smoked ribs are the pinnacle of rib preparation. They may be correct.

Ingredients (6 servings):

• 3 Racks Baby Back Ribs or 2 Racks Spareribs
• 150 grams of Your Favourite Spice Rub
• 45 ml apple cider vinegar
• 65 ml apple juice
• Wood chips for smoking and heavy-duty aluminium foil

Instructions

Prep the Ribs

1. Remove the membrane and coat both sides of the ribs with spice rub
2. Press the spice rub firmly into the ribs
3. Put ribs in the refrigerator for 4-8 hours

Prep for Smoking

1. Soak wood chips in water for 20 minutes for smaller chips and one hour for larger chunks of wood
2. Wrap wet chips in aluminium foil and cut four slits in the top of the foil
3. Light the grill and adjust the vents to keep the temperature under 149 degrees. 120-125 degrees is the ideal temperature
4. Place the wood chip packet on the flame

Cooking the Ribs

1. Place the ribs on the grill grate and close the lid
2. Mix apple juice and apple cider vinegar
3. After one hour, lightly brush the apple mixture on the ribs. Continue to do this every half hour until the ribs are fully cooked. 4-5 hours for baby back ribs and 6-8 hours for spareribs
4. 30 minutes before ribs are done, brush with a layer of barbeque sauce if desired.
5. Meat should reach an internal temp of 90-95 degrees