Spare Ribs Recipes

DAD'S SPARE RIBS

Steps:

• Place the spare ribs, cider vinegar, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sugar in a large bowl. Add 2/3 cup water and stir to combine. Place the spare ribs and the liquid in a large pot over low heat. Cover the pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until the meat begins to come apart from the bone, about 40 minutes.
• Remove the spare ribs from the pot using a slotted spoon. Increase the heat to high and let the sauce reduce until it looks glazy, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the honey and sprinkle with pepper and let the sauce simmer, about 1 minute. Pour the sauce over the spare ribs and mix to combine. Serve immediately.

TENDER PORK SPARE RIBS

Steps:

• Mix the brown sugar, fajita seasoning, and paprika in a bowl. Rub both sides of the pork spareribs with the brown sugar mixture. Place the spareribs in a 9x13-inch baking pan; cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat an oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Whisk together the beer, garlic, honey, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard in a bowl. Set aside.
• Tear off 2 large sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil and lay them shiny-side down. Place a rack of spareribs on each sheet, meaty-side up. Tear off 2 more sheets of foil and place them on top of the ribs, shiny-side up. Begin tightly folding the edges of the foil together to create a sealed packet. Just before sealing completely, divide the beer mixture evenly into each packet. Complete the seal. Place the packets side-by-side on an 11x14-inch baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the ribs are very tender, 3 hours and 30 minutes to 4 hours. Carefully open each packet, and drain the drippings into a saucepan. You may only need the drippings from one packet. Set ribs aside. Simmer the drippings over medium-high heat until the sauce begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Brush the thickened sauce over the ribs.
• Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source.
• Place the ribs back into the oven and broil until the sauce is lightly caramelized, 5 to 7 minutes.

BARBECUED SPARERIBS

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, place ribs and onion; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add enough water to cover ribs; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1-1/2 hours or until meat is tender; drain. , Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine sauce ingredients. Simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. , Arrange ribs on a rack in a broiler pan. Brush with sauce. Broil 5 in. from the heat for 5 minutes on each side, brushing frequently with sauce.

SMOKED SPARERIBS

Steps:

• Brine: In a 1-gallon container, combine water, salt, and sugar. Seal and shake to dissolve salt and sugar, about 30 seconds. Lay ribs in large container; add the brine, making sure the ribs are fully submerged. Cover and refrigerate 15-24 hours, optimally 20 hours.
• Smoke ribs: Light smoker and heat on 250 degrees F. (For smokier ribs with a pronounced internal "smoke ring," Pitmaster Jones suggest adding wood chips on top of the charcoal during the first hour of cooking.) Remove brined ribs and place on a flat surface. Par dry with paper towels on both sides. Sprinkle BBQ Spice Rub all over ribs on both sides; use your hands to work the rub in, making sure all of the ribs are covered.
• Place ribs bone-side down onto the grill. Cover and cook undisturbed for 3-3 1/2 hours. Check smoker temperature hourly; add charcoal and use vents as needed to maintain a temperature of 250 degrees F through the duration of cooking.
• Stack 2 large sheets of aluminum foil on a flat work surface. After 3-3 1/3 hours, remove ribs from smoker and place on foil, bone-side down. Spread a small amount of Sweet BBQ Pit Sauce evenly over the meat. Wrap and place back in the grill, bone-side down, 30 minutes.
• Remove ribs from smoker and remove foil. Place back on smoker grates and cook another 10-15 minutes. Remove, cut into individual ribs, and serve.
• BBQ Spice Rub: In a bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mix well to break up any lumps. (Optional: Use a food processor.) Makes about 4 cups. It will keep in a covered container at room temperature for several months. Before each use, stir the rub or shake well to re-distribute all the ingredients evenly.
• Sweet BBQ Pit Sauce, part 1: In a saucepan, combine the dry ingredients and mix well to break up any lumps. Add ketchup, melted butter, water, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring sauce to a simmer over low heat. Continue to simmer, stirring the entire time until the sauce has reduced and thickened, about 15 minutes. (Keeping the heat low helps prevent the butter from separating and the sugar from burning.)
• Sweet BBQ Pit Sauce, part 2: Sauce is done when it thinly coats a spoon and has reduced by about ⅓. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick to the bottom. Makes about 3 cups of Sweet BBQ Pit Sauce. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator. (It will keep for months, thanks to the vinegar.)

THE BEST OVEN ROASTED RIBS

Steps:

• Adjust one oven rack to low position, remove remaining oven rack, and heat oven to 250°.
• Mix a dry rub of the sugar, paprika, pepper, garlic powder and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a small bowl.
• Mix mustard and liquid smoke in another bowl.
• Lay ribs directly on removed oven rack and lightly sprinkle with salt.
• Brush both sides of slab with mustard mix and then sprinkle both sides with dry rub.
• Line jelly roll pan with a large sheet of heavy duty foil, extending foil so it covers oven rack.
• Slide rack with ribs into upper-middle position and place foil lined pan on lower oven rack, making sure that foil covers rack.
• Bake/roast ribs until fork-tender, 2-3 hours for spareribs and 1 1/2 hours-2 hours for baby back ribs.
• If coating ribs with barbecue sauce, remove foil lined jelly roll pan from oven and pour off excess fat.
• Transfer ribs to foil lined pan meat side up.
• Turn on broiler and brush ribs with sauce and broil until bubbly but not burned.
• Let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.