Please read blog post prior to making this recipe
There's a papery membrane on the back of the ribs. Slide a butter knife under it to loosen, then pull it off with your fingers.
For the dry rub - combine all of the ingredients together and mix well. Set just under 1/4 cup aside for later.
Rub your ribs with the liquid smoke using your hands to ensure its evenly distributed. Rub the ribs with the spice mixture (except the small amount you set aside.) Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple of hours or, ideally, overnight.
And if you don't have time to refrigerate this - proceed to the next step immediately. Your flavour will still be amazing.
Preheat the oven to 250. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil. Place oven safe racks on top of the baking sheet - this way the air will circulate under the ribs and cook them more evenly.
Place ribs on the prepared baking sheet, ensuring there's at least 1 1/2 inch of space between the two racks. Cover the ribs with aluminum foil only covering the top, tucking it under the rib but leaving the bottom of the rib exposed. This will trap some of the steam, help it speed up the cooking, yet avoid that "boiled" meat taste you may get if you wrap the rack entirely in foil. Place in the preheated oven.
Leave the ribs alone for 2 hours. No peeking! We are trying to create the same environment as the smoker and not let any of the heat out. It will be hard to do, I know, as the ribs will smell amazing. But unless you suspect something is wrong and they are burning - resist the temptation to open the oven.
After 2 hours, remove the foil and leave your ribs completely uncovered.
The total cooking time will vary depending on the exact size of your ribs. For a smaller rack, 3 hours might do it. For a larger rack - you are looking closer to 4 hours. Obviously, if your ribs are exceptionally small, it may take a little bit less time.
I would think you should be pretty happy with your results between 3 and 3 hours 45 minutes.
Checking for doneness is the hardest part. The internal temperature won't help. "Falling off the bone" will result in overcooked dry ribs. So what do you do?
Option 1: The bend test. Look it up if you want and see if it can work for you. However, if you are experienced with bend test, I'm guessing you may own a smoker and have a killer rib recipe of your own already. Bend test for a home cook who doesn't make ribs often may be very hard to master, as such I do not recommend it.
Option 2: As bend test takes quite a bit of practice - toothpick/knife may work better. If you insert a toothpick - you should be able to do so with very little resistance. At that point, use a knife to push the meat away from the bone to see if it comes off - a well cooked rib should come off the bone cleanly. As your ribs cook, they become more tender and more "falling off the bone" but a lot drier... So is a fine balance between tender, juicy and dry.
By far, this is the most difficult part of this recipe but with a little practice - you will become an expert determining when your ribs are done.
Remove your ribs from the oven, preheat the broiler to high and set your oven rack 2" away from the broiler. In the meantime, sprinkle the ribs with the remaining rub that you set aside earlier and return to the broiler watching closely to avoid burning the ribs. Do not close the oven door - keep watching your ribs, moving them around as needed while trying to evenly crisp up the skin for an interesting textral contrast. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. The melted sugar on top will be very hot so do not touch with your bare hands. I love these ribs as is, perhaps served with a bit of barbeque sauce, but if desired, feel free to brush them with some barbeque sauce.
For Keto/Paleo version of this, reduce the amount of sugar in accordance with your allowed dietary allowance. Do not brush the ribs with the barbeque sauce. Instead spread with the remaining dry rub and broil. Serve.
Serve your ribs with barbeque sauce on the side, if desired.
NOTE:
This recipe is specifically for back ribs. Spare ribs have lower meat to bone ratio, are less tender and require more cooking time; they are less expensive than back ribs and not recommended for this recipe as back ribs produce superior results.
Ingredients
Directions
There's a papery membrane on the back of the ribs. Slide a butter knife under it to loosen, then pull it off with your fingers.
For the dry rub - combine all of the ingredients together and mix well. Set just under 1/4 cup aside for later.
Rub your ribs with the liquid smoke using your hands to ensure its evenly distributed. Rub the ribs with the spice mixture (except the small amount you set aside.) Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple of hours or, ideally, overnight.
And if you don't have time to refrigerate this - proceed to the next step immediately. Your flavour will still be amazing.
Preheat the oven to 250. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil. Place oven safe racks on top of the baking sheet - this way the air will circulate under the ribs and cook them more evenly.
Place ribs on the prepared baking sheet, ensuring there's at least 1 1/2 inch of space between the two racks. Cover the ribs with aluminum foil only covering the top, tucking it under the rib but leaving the bottom of the rib exposed. This will trap some of the steam, help it speed up the cooking, yet avoid that "boiled" meat taste you may get if you wrap the rack entirely in foil. Place in the preheated oven.
Leave the ribs alone for 2 hours. No peeking! We are trying to create the same environment as the smoker and not let any of the heat out. It will be hard to do, I know, as the ribs will smell amazing. But unless you suspect something is wrong and they are burning - resist the temptation to open the oven.
After 2 hours, remove the foil and leave your ribs completely uncovered.
The total cooking time will vary depending on the exact size of your ribs. For a smaller rack, 3 hours might do it. For a larger rack - you are looking closer to 4 hours. Obviously, if your ribs are exceptionally small, it may take a little bit less time.
I would think you should be pretty happy with your results between 3 and 3 hours 45 minutes.
Checking for doneness is the hardest part. The internal temperature won't help. "Falling off the bone" will result in overcooked dry ribs. So what do you do?
Option 1: The bend test. Look it up if you want and see if it can work for you. However, if you are experienced with bend test, I'm guessing you may own a smoker and have a killer rib recipe of your own already. Bend test for a home cook who doesn't make ribs often may be very hard to master, as such I do not recommend it.
Option 2: As bend test takes quite a bit of practice - toothpick/knife may work better. If you insert a toothpick - you should be able to do so with very little resistance. At that point, use a knife to push the meat away from the bone to see if it comes off - a well cooked rib should come off the bone cleanly. As your ribs cook, they become more tender and more "falling off the bone" but a lot drier... So is a fine balance between tender, juicy and dry.
By far, this is the most difficult part of this recipe but with a little practice - you will become an expert determining when your ribs are done.
Remove your ribs from the oven, preheat the broiler to high and set your oven rack 2" away from the broiler. In the meantime, sprinkle the ribs with the remaining rub that you set aside earlier and return to the broiler watching closely to avoid burning the ribs. Do not close the oven door - keep watching your ribs, moving them around as needed while trying to evenly crisp up the skin for an interesting textral contrast. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. The melted sugar on top will be very hot so do not touch with your bare hands. I love these ribs as is, perhaps served with a bit of barbeque sauce, but if desired, feel free to brush them with some barbeque sauce.
For Keto/Paleo version of this, reduce the amount of sugar in accordance with your allowed dietary allowance. Do not brush the ribs with the barbeque sauce. Instead spread with the remaining dry rub and broil. Serve.
Serve your ribs with barbeque sauce on the side, if desired.
NOTE:
This recipe is specifically for back ribs. Spare ribs have lower meat to bone ratio, are less tender and require more cooking time; they are less expensive than back ribs and not recommended for this recipe as back ribs produce superior results.
