Kansas City’s barbecue sauce is tomato-based, thick, sweet and smoky. These Kansas City-style spareribs are a perfect example of that style of barbecue.
Beef Back Ribs with Coffee Adobo Sauce
Served with cowboy baked beans and Mexican Grilled Corn...Oh, yeah!
The great thing about beef ribs is their heartiness. We’re able to stretch the flavor spectrum with more vibrant ingredients without losing the flavor of the meat itself. These beef back ribs with coffee adobo sauce is a great example of that. Even the mesquite smoke compliments the beef. Although these vibrant flavors blend well with the bold flavor of beef, they could drown out the more delicate flavor of pork or lamb ribs.
Beef Back Ribs with Coffee Adobo Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 slabs beef back ribs
- 1 cup strong brewed coffee
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup corn syrup*
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 tablespoons canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons of the adobo sauce
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
- 4 garlic cloves, finely diced
- 1 small sweet onion, finely diced
- Salt, pepper and ground cumin for a meat rub
- a handful of mesquite smoking chips
*Be creative! The corn syrup can be substituted with honey or even maple syrup.
Instructions
- Prepare the ribs by removing the membrane and trimming off any excess fat. See the sidebar if you need to review how that is done.
- Liberally sprinkle both sides of the ribs with the salt, pepper and cumin. Set aside.
- Prepare an indirect fire. Once the coals are ready, slide them off to one side so that you have a hot side and a cool side. If using a gas grill, simply light the burners on one side only. Maintain a temperature to 275 to 300-degrees F.
- Add the smoking chips on top of the coals. Place ribs meat side down, or use a rib rack. Close the lid. For gas grills, smoking chips can be used with a smoker box or an aluminum foil packet with holes poked on the top of the packet. Place either one on top of the flame diverter plate (just below the cooking grate).
- Cook ribs for 3 hours. Every half hour, flip each rack and rotate them. That is, move the slab that is closest to the fire away from it and replace with the slab that was furthest from the fire. If using a rib rack, simply rotate it.
- While the ribs are cooking, combine remaining ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer while stirring often for a half hour. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- After the 3 hours of cooking, the ribs are ready to be sauced. Brush each side of the ribs with the sauce and place directly over the fire. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Flip and sauce again. Repeat two more times.
- Remove ribs from the grill and brush both sides again with the sauce. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
- Serve with remaining sauce on the side.
Enjoy your ribs and always remember…admire the fire!
How Ya Be Cookin’ Dem Barbecued Ribs?
We here at TopRibs prefer the Low-n-Slow method of cooking our barbecue ribs, but understand that method may not be suitable all the time. Great ribs can be had from the oven as well. A quick sear on the grill can also produce a decent rack of barbecued ribs. If you want to cook your beef ribs different than the recipe above calls out for, then see your other options here.
Low and Slow
Best
Grill
Good
Oven
Also Good
Hey!…it could happen!
Two cows were out in a field eating grass. One cow turns to the other cow and says, “Moooooo!” “Hey”, the other cow replies…. “I was just about to say the same thing!”
What Ya Be Fixin’ Wit Dem Barbecued Ribs?
Man can’t survive by meat alone…OK, maybe we could, but your barbecue ribs sure taste better with a side dish or two. Here’s some good ideas:
Grilled Cornbread
The Lazy Man
Bacon & Shrimp
A Great Appetizer!
Grilled Peaches
Good For Any Course
What’d Ya think?
I’d love to hear your thoughts…good or bad. Leave a comment below and don’t forget, you can stalk me at Twitter or Facebook.
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