Honey Bourbon Ribs Recipes

MELT-IN-YOUR-MOUTH BOURBON-HONEY GLAZED RIBS

Steps:

• For the Sauce: Combine all the ingredients (except for 1 tablespoon of the bourbon) in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook until reduced by 1/3, stirring often. Sauce should be dark and slightly thickened (about 20 minutes). Turn of the heat and stir in the last tablespoon of bourbon. Sauce can be made up to 4 days ahead and stored in the refrigerator.
• For the Ribs: Preheat the oven to 225º F. Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs. Slide a sharp knife under the white membrane on the back of the ribs and cut a hole into the membrane. Use your fingers to slide under the membrane and pull it away from the meat. Usually it helps to use a paper towel for extra grip. Remove all of the outer membrane and discard.
• Pat ribs very dry with paper towels and cut each rack in half (to make them easier to turn later). Sprinkle a good tablespoon of dry rub on each side of the ribs and press until it's well-coated all over. (you should use about 4 tablespoons for 2 whole racks).
• Lay a large piece of foil on a baking tray and place one rack on it, meat-side up. Fold up 3 sides of the foil to create a rim: pour half the apple juice into this pocket and then fold over and crimp the packet closed. Wrap the packet in a 2nd layer of foil. Repeat with the second rack. Cook for 4 to 4 1/2 hours. The ribs are ready when you can pierce them easily with a fork. Remove the ribs from the oven and set aside. Unwrap the ribs carefully and place them on a baking tray, meat side up. (Ribs can be par-cooked the day ahead and refrigerated at this point. If making the day ahead, let the ribs cool for 20 minutes, then take them out of the foil and place in sealable bags and refrigerate overnight. Let them come to room temperature before the next step).
• Note: Ribs can be finished in the oven or on a grill. Turn the broiler on high (or prepare a grill with medium-high heat) and set an oven rack about 6 inches from heat. Coat the the ribs well with BBQ sauce. Place the ribs under the broiler or on grill and cook until the sauce just starts to bubble (4-5 minutes). Take them out and apply another coat of glaze and cook again until glaze bubbles and browns (Do not walk away while broiling! They can burn easily so watch carefully). Remove from the broiler or grill, cut the ribs and serve.

HONEY BOURBON RIBS

Steps:

• Prepare the pork ribs by slicing them into individual ribs, I prefer a rib with a fair bit of meat on it (Often called a Chinese rib in Australia).
• Pour the honey bourbon into a saucepan with a lid, place over a small burner and simmer on a low heat, light the bourbon with a match carefully to burn off some of the alcohol and caramelize the honey. After 2 minutes turn off the heat, and cover the saucepan with a lid to extinguish the flame.
• Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine, then pour the sauce into a plastic bag and add the ribs, squeezing out any excess air and tying off the bag to place in the fridge for at least 6 hours but preferably overnight.
• Place the ribs and sauce into a baking tray and seal the tray with aluminum foil, then place into an oven at 90C for 4 hours.
• You can eat them at this point but I like to BBQ them for 2 minutes a side to get some nice grill marks on them and give it more of a smoky flavor.

SMOKED RIBS WITH HONEY-BOURBON GLAZE

Steps:

• For the ribs: Put the wood chips in a large bowl with the bourbon and add water to cover. Soak for 1 hour.
• Position a rack on the lowest level of the oven and preheat to 300 degrees F. Drain the wood chips and spread in the bottom of a large roasting pan.
• Stir together the brown sugar, salt, cumin, smoked paprika, coriander, garlic powder and black pepper in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture over the meaty side of each rack of ribs.
• Set the roasting pan over medium-high heat (see Cook's Note). Cook, stirring occasionally, until the wood chips are smoking. (This can take up to 5 minutes.) Set a metal roasting rack over the chips and arrange the ribs side-by-side. Seal the pan very tightly with several layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place the roasting pan on the bottom rack of the oven and roast 2 1/2 hours.
• For the glaze: Combine the honey, bourbon, vinegar and molasses in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the chipotle. Season with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt.
• After 2 1/2 hours, remove the ribs from the oven and carefully remove the foil. Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F. Place the ribs side-by-side on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the ribs with the glaze and roast until they are caramelized and crisp on the edges, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Transfer the rib slabs to a cutting board and cut between the bones to make individual ribs. Serve with your favorite barbecue sauce.

BOURBON-GLAZED BABY BACK RIBS

Steps:

• Whisk first 11 ingredients in small bowl.
• Do ahead: Glaze can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Place long sheet of heavy-duty foil on each of 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Sprinkle rib racks on all sides with salt and pepper. Place 1 rib rack on each foil sheet. Fold up sides of each foil sheet around rib rack to form boat-like shape. Pour 1/2 cup pineapple juice over each rib rack. Fold up foil to seal packets. Bake until ribs are tender, about 1 hour. Remove ribs from foil packets. Transfer to roasting pan; pour any juices from foil over and cool.
• Do ahead: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate.
• Prepare barbecue (medium heat). Cut each rib rack in half. Grill until browned, brushing frequently with glaze and turning often, about 10 minutes. Cut racks between bones into ribs.
• *An Indonesian hot chili paste; available at many supermarkets, at Asian markets, and from mingspantry.com.

DYNAMITE BOURBON RIBS

Steps:

• Process brown sugar, bourbon, soy sauce, and garlic in a food processor or blender to mince garlic with other ingredients. Pour over ribs, and marinate for several hours in the refrigerator.
• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat, and lightly oil grate.
• Place ribs on grate, and cover. Cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on thickness of your ribs. When finished, the internal temperature of the ribs should be 160 degrees F (70 degrees C) when taken with a meat thermometer.