BBQ Ribs Assistance

**Professor** · 10-15-2007, 01:31 PM

So I love ribs. I have the dry rub pork ribs down pretty good and can even do some rigging to make them come out right on a gas grill. But I got some really good small batch BBQ sauce as a gift. Now I normally dont do wet ribs since I dont have access to a smoker. Any suggestions? I am thinking of putting them in foil to cook them over low heat 2-3 hours and then bring up the heat for a few minutes when I put the sauce on them. Or should I do them in a low oven first and finish them on the grill? Any help would be great.

And before anyone says it, I know "tech talk bitch". But everywhere else on this board has become infested with idiots, including tech talk.

**AsheanMT** · 10-15-2007, 01:42 PM

I find that baked in the oven at around 220 for four hours (covered) then finishing on the grill with sauce at the very end makes tasty soft ribs.

**BurnHard** · 10-15-2007, 01:52 PM

I don't know if I'm completely off and totally misunderstood the situation ...

... buuuut, a friend of mine makes some AWESOME awesome soft ribs - she boils a batch of ribs in water (slow boil) for ~1hour I believe, marinates them in BBQ sauce for a while, and then on hits the grill for about 10 minutes total. Makes for amazingly tasty and tender ribs.

Jong ahead if I'm missing the point

**Pura Vida** · 10-15-2007, 02:00 PM

Originally Posted by Bernardo

I don't know if I'm completely off and totally misunderstood the situation ...

... buuuut, a friend of mine makes some AWESOME awesome soft ribs - she boils a batch of ribs in water (slow boil) for ~1hour I believe, marinates them in BBQ sauce for a while, and then on hits the grill for about 10 minutes total. Makes for amazingly tasty and tender ribs.

Jong ahead if I'm missing the point

Don't BOIL! All the pork flavor ends up in the water instead of your mouth.

If using an oven/grill to finish method. Dry rubbed, slow and low in the oven wrapped in foil with a little bit of apple cider works for me. Once tender, finish on the grill. Sure not as great as smoked, but it still creates a good rib if a smoker is not an option.

BLOOD SWEAT STEEL · 10-15-2007, 02:04 PM

X2 for the oven/grill method. Only boil beef, not swine.

**Tele'ndaboat** · 10-15-2007, 02:08 PM

Get Steven Riachlen's(sp?) "How to Grill"... Absolutely amazing book that can teach you how to do anyhting on your gas grill you can do in a smoker. It is pretty easy to rig up a smoker box and cook them inderect slow style. That being said, The BBQ sauce is still mostly just a finishing element. The sugars in it will burn and create off flavors.

**milton** · 10-15-2007, 02:10 PM

My buddy just made some pork ribs the other night. Boiled in water and beer (50/50 i think), then threw them on the BBQ for a bit. Tasted pretty damn good too me.

**BurnHard** · 10-15-2007, 02:26 PM

Originally Posted by Pura Vida

Don't BOIL! All the pork flavor ends up in the water instead of your mouth.

If using an oven/grill to finish method. Dry rubbed, slow and low in the oven wrapped in foil with a little bit of apple cider works for me. Once tender, finish on the grill. Sure not as great as smoked, but it still creates a good rib if a smoker is not an option.

okeeeee ... I'm not a rib expert. Being Italian, I throw my ribs on the grill the way they come from the butcher plus salt and pepper, and grill them 'till they're black

**pappag** · 10-15-2007, 02:27 PM

My dad does them at I believe around 140-degrees for about 8-9 hours. Baste the ribs several times during the last 30-45 minutes. I have yet to have anything better.

**skuff** · 10-15-2007, 02:30 PM

I like to cook them in the oven first and grill for a few minutes with lots of sauce.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

I put the ribs in a large roasting pan and pour in one cup of water (the apple cider sounds excellent, I'll try that next time), cover with foil and seal tightly. Cook for 2.5 to 3 hours. Be cafeful of the steam when removing the foil after taking the pan out of the oven.

Place cooked ribs on platter and slather with bbq sauce. Place saucy ribs on hot grill until desired bbq/smokey flavor has been added.

Precooking them in the oven makes things easier for me.

**Tippster** · 10-15-2007, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by milton

My buddy just made some pork ribs the other night. Boiled in water and beer (50/50 i think), then threw them on the BBQ for a bit. Tasted pretty damn good too me.

That's my method for cooking after work, since it only takes 1.5 hours. If I had the time to slow-roast the ribs I'd do it, but when you get home at 5:00 and the kids go to bed at 8:00....

BTW - I take equal parts of the boil (Beer/water/Cajun Spices/Bay leaves) and KC Masterpice BBQ sauce, mix, and slather that on before grilling over a hot fire with Hickory chips in a smoker tray. Gives you a bit more time before the sugars caramelize, letting the rest of the fat render.

**Pura Vida** · 10-15-2007, 02:40 PM

I imagine preparing them sous-vide and then finishing them on the grill could lead to some tasty results. Only issue is sous-vide is not something you really want to do at home unlesss you have the proper set up.

**Tippster** · 10-15-2007, 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by Pura Vida

I imagine preparing them sous-vide and then finishing them on the grill could lead to some tasty results. Only issue is sous-vide is not something you really want to do at home unlesss you have the proper set up.

uh..... no thanks:

Botulinum bacteria can grow in food in the absence of oxygen and produce deadly toxin: sous vide cooking must be performed under carefully controlled conditions to avoid botulism poisoning. To help with food safety and taste, relatively expensive water-bath machines (thermal immersion circulator) are used to circulate precisely heated water; differences of even one degree can affect the finished product.

**Pura Vida** · 10-15-2007, 03:17 PM

Originally Posted by Tippster

uh..... no thanks:

The same can happen in a smoker, cooking at low temps and something you should be careful of, but yes sous-vide is not something you want to do unless you know what your doing and have the right set up and products.

**Professor** · 10-15-2007, 03:56 PM

I guess I am going to have to do the oven/grill finish. The only time I have done that in the past is by following another recipe I have. That one calls for pork ribs resting on onions instead of water and cook them for 4-5 hours at a low temp. This works really well even with a dry rub, but I was looking for something "magical" since I really want to do it up right with the BBQ sauce I was given. Oh well, guess all I can do is try. I will let you know how they turn out. I might even make some for Particle since he is in town this week. Although if they are good, maybe I will eat them all myself

**grrrr** · 10-15-2007, 04:26 PM

No. no. no. Boil is bery bery bad. Oven is bery bad. Ribs must have smoke first. Even on a gas grill, turn the heat way way down and put a pan of wet chips in.

If you need to use the oven, put the ribs in the oven AFTER they have been smoked.

**nesta** · 10-15-2007, 04:44 PM

well whaddya know I have some ribs in the slow cooker right now. After 5 or 6 or 7 hours have elapsed I'm going to slather on some BBQ sauce and finish them on the grill. So tender and so tasty. Some corn, some taters...man it feels like summer still.

**lemon boy** · 10-16-2007, 08:15 AM

Dry rub your ribs do them the best you can and then serve the warmed sauce on the side for dipping. Let's not make this tooooo complicated.

**soylent green** · 10-16-2007, 08:24 AM

Try marinating them in Coke overnight. It really tenderizes and flavors the meat. Then rinse before you use a dry rub. You will like it.

**Professor** · 10-16-2007, 09:10 AM

Originally Posted by lemon boy

Dry rub your ribs do them the best you can and then serve the warmed sauce on the side for dipping. Let's not make this tooooo complicated.

What part of "trying something different" did you not understand?

I want to try doing a "wet rib" not just the same dry rub ribs and sauce on the side. I guess I will just have to eat at the one good BBQ place around here (not great, but good) and see what I am shooting for since they dont do dry ribs at all. So we will see.

**Tele'ndaboat** · 10-16-2007, 09:19 AM

If you want to do wet ribs, the best style to emulate is asian ones... though that doesn't do shit for using your sauce buit it's damn good, and doesn't ruin the sauce. My opinion, and most expert bbq'ers I've met at the competitions I compete in(I am no expert, just do them for fun), is that the sauce is for late in the cooking or afterwards. If you want to do it the authentic way there are many resources to find out what that is. Start by figuring out wich area of the country your sauce emulates and figure out how they do ribs there.

**lemon boy** · 10-16-2007, 09:19 AM

I just think wet ribs are a recipe for "meh"

The ribs won't take on more flavor than a rub style and only bad things can happen if you try to smoke a tomato based sauce.

If you really insist on doing something special/different with that sauce then I would say: smoke a brisket and make "burnt ends" in a crock pot with the sauce (don't need to cook for a long time just get them hot). That'll yeild two great meals out of one shot.

Oh and leftover (non-burnt ends) brisket makes fucking awesome chili

**SKISC** · 10-16-2007, 09:27 AM

Originally Posted by AsheanMT

I find that baked in the oven at around 220 for four hours (covered) then finishing on the grill with sauce at the very end makes tasty soft ribs.

What he said. However I cover the ribs in brown sugar and leave in the fridge overnight then wrap individually in foil in a 220 degree over for 4 hours. Fininsh on the grill with a sauce of your choice.

**mikemcee** · 10-16-2007, 09:38 AM

And....for adding some good smokey flavor, soak a handful of wood chips (my pref is hickory) for at least 30mins and then wrap them in foil with a few holes poked in it..throw those on the fire and you'll add a lot of taste to the meat.