I didn’t think I liked ribs. I only made them because I had them in the freezer and I knew the men and boys in the house would like them.
But, oh my goodness! These were delicious. Perfect summer meal. 4-napkin meal. Wow!
I asked all of you how to fix ribs back in May. You came through with all kinds of great recipes and methods. Check out the comments in that post. Readers also emailed me and added recipes to Facebook. Someone mentioned a dry rub from Pig Stand, a restaurant in Oklahoma. My family was *this close* to making a detour on our Colorado trip in search of Pig Stand.
I took parts of many recipes to come up with this method of cooking the ribs. It was easy, but does take several hours. Here’s what you’ll need:
- 4-5 lbs. spare ribs
- 1 1/2 Tbs. Homemade Seasoned Salt
- 1 1/2 Tbs. McCormick Grill Mates Hamburger seasoning
- 1/2 cup apple juice (not in photo)
- plenty of Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce (I also really like Jack Daniel’s BBQ sauce)
Heat the oven to 450 degrees while you prep the meat.
Mix the seasoned salt and McCormick seasoning together and rub on both sides of the ribs. Place them, meat side up in a pan. If you have a big slab of ribs you can cut them to fit or use a large foil pan.
Pour apple juice in bottom of the pan and cover tightly with foil. Place in the oven, turning the heat down to 325 degrees. Bake for 2-3 hours.
Remove from the oven and fire up the grill. Grill over low heat for about 30 minutes. Slather top side with bbq, flip and slather second side. Flip again and slather top again. I recommend watching them close during this time. I walked away, got distracted and charred one side.
Take them off the grill and wrap in foil. Let them rest about 30 minutes while you finish up the rest of the meal. This will make them juicy.
Put a big pile of napkins on the table, pour the sweet tea and dive in.
I always do beef ribs; like the taste better. I cut them into individual pieces–reduces the cooking time by at least half. I use McCormick’s broiled steak seasoning; name recently changed to Perfect Pinch – steak. After all, I am not cooking hamburger. Beef ribs–perfect if you like Prime Rib. Same taste and much more frugal. Sprinkle with McCormick’s and a little more after you turn them. I don’t put them on the grill any more. I don’t pre-heat the oven either.
Bake in oven at 400º for 25 minutes, turn and bake another 10 minutes. Turn off the oven and let residual heat finish the last 30 minutes. I usually bake potatoes with it to fill up the oven. NOT in the Summer as high 90s every day in Atlanta, means no oven cooking. Use bones to make beef stock. Then, French Onion Soup. I do this every Friday during the Winter.
Looks great! Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce is THE BEST!
I do mine much like yours, Tiffany, except that I cook them in the crock pot with 1/2-3/4 can of coke for a few hours before putting them on the grill. I pretty much want them to get done in the crock pot, then grilled dry for a few minutes on the grill before adding the Sweet Baby Ray’s. The result is an incredibly tender, fall-of-the-bone rib dinner!
By the way, ATL Cook — I’m with you on oven use in Atlanta during the summer! Once the grill is ready, my hubby throws some corn on the cob on (we don’t even shuck it first) for about 10 minutes. We transfer this to a foil pan and cover it, then throw it in the cold oven (it does help keep it hot). When he puts the meat on the grill, he also adds some potatoes that I’ve started in the microwave. If I’m industrious, I’ll mix up some cole slaw or pasta salad, and we have a great meal without heating up the kitchen (or dirtying many dishes, expecially when I remember to line my crockpot)!
Um, yum!!! I’ve never had ribs and I’m scared try them, but they are so delicious looking!!
Made these a couple of days ago. Yummo!
We just had ribs tonight for Father’s Day. These sound so good. Must tell my husband about them.