In an attempt to replicate some BBQ ribs I once had in Texas, I ran into this recipe. Although it wasn’t exactly the ribs I had envisioned, they were tasty. The coffee and Worcestershire gives them a slightly pungent flavor that is softened somewhat by the catchup and brown sugar. To increase the intensity of these ribs, try a small amount of mesquite wood on the fire, but only a small amount…a little mesquite goes a long way!

Should you want to tone down the flavors somewhat, use a sweet style BBQ sauce instead of the catchup and another tablespoon of brown sugar. Stick to the hickory chips. Once you adjust these ribs to your personal taste, I think you’re going to love them.

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

• 3 lb baby-back ribs, cut into 4 sections
• 1/2 cup strong black coffee
• 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup catchup
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons minced hot chili peppers
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• About a cup of hickory or fruit wood wood chips

Instructions

1. Prepare your ribs by removing the membrane from the inner portion of the ribs. This membrane will inhibit the flavors of the meat rub and smoke from penetrating the meat. Trim off any excess fat. See the sidebar if you need to review how that is done.
2. Set up the grill for indirect grilling and preheat to medium (225 to 250-degrees F).
3. Place ribs, meat side up on the grill opposite the fire. Add smoking chips and close the lid.
4. Cook for 3-4 hours while maintaining the heat as close to 225-degree F as possible, or until meat is fork tender.
5. Mix remaining ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.
6. During the final hour, baste both sides of the ribs with the sauce. Repeat every 10-15 minutes.
7. During the last 20 minutes, move the ribs right over the fire. Grill the ribs for 20 minutes or until well glazed, turning and brushing often with the sauce.
8. Remove from grill and baste once again. Allow ribs to rest for 10 minutes. Serve with the rest of the sauce on the side.

Enjoy your ribs and always remember…admire the fire!

Recipe inspired by Woman's Day

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 pork 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!

An aged farmer and his wife were leaning against the edge of their pig-pen when the old woman wistfully recalled that the next week would mark their golden wedding anniversary. “Let’s have a party, Homer,” she suggested. “Let’s kill a pig.” The farmer scratched his head, “Gee, Ethel,” he finally answered, “I don’t see why the pig should take the blame for something that happened fifty years ago.”

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's Way

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.

Technorati Tags: barbecued ribs, coffee BBQ sauce, Texas blackjack sauce, Texas-style ribs

Sweet and sticky...'nuff said!

How good are sweet and sticky barbecued ribs? They just can’t be beat! This recipe uses honey and ketchup as a base and gets an influx of flavor from French onion soup. It has some decent flavor. The best thing about this barbecue sauce is it’s simplicity. Plus there’s only 5 ingredients. It doesn’t get much easier!

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

• 1 rack pork spareribs (about 4 pounds)
• 1 can (10 1/2 ounces) Campbell’s® Condensed French Onion Soup
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• About a cup of hickory or fruit wood wood chips

Directions

1. Prepare your ribs by removing the membrane from the inner portion of the ribs. This membrane will inhibit the flavors of the meat rub and smoke from penetrating the meat. Trim off any excess fat. See the sidebar if you need to review how that is done. 
2. Set up the grill for indirect grilling and preheat to medium (225 to 250-degrees F).
3. Place ribs, meat side up on the grill opposite the fire. Add smoking chips and close the lid.
4. Cook for 3-4 hours while maintaining the heat as close to 225-degree F as possible, or until meat is fork tender.
5. In a 2-quart saucepan, combine the soup, ketchup, honey, garlic powder and black pepper.  Over medium-high heat bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes.
6. During the final hour, baste both sides of the ribs with the soup mixture. Repeat every 10-15 minutes.
7. During the last 20 minutes, move the ribs right over the fire. Grill the ribs for 20 minutes or until well glazed, turning and brushing often with the soup mixture.
8. Remove from grill and baste once again. Allow ribs to rest for 10 minutes. Cut the ribs into serving-sized pieces and serve ‘em up!

Enjoy your ribs and always remember…admire the fire!

Recipe inspired by Campbell's Kitchen

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 pork 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!

A man was driving up a steep and narrow mountain road. A woman was driving down the same road. As they pass each other, the woman leans out the window and yells “Pig!” The man immediately leans out his window and replied, “Hag!” They continue on their way and as the man rounds the next corner, he crashes into a pig in the middle of the road.

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's Way

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.

Technorati Tags: barbequed ribs, honey bbq, honey ribs, sweet and sticky bbq ribs

Great flavors! A nice change from the sweet-style BBQ Sauces

These aren’t your Daddy’s BBQ ribs! A sophisticated, savory sauce of balsamic vinegar, molasses, Worcestershire, coffee and cocoa provides the magic flavor for these grilled spareribs.

Ingredients

• 2 cup Pace® Picante Sauce
• 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoon molasses
• 2 tablespoon ground coffee
• 2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 clove garlic , minced
• 4 pound pork spareribs
• 2 green onion , finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)

Instructions

1. Stir the picante sauce, Worcestershire, vinegar, molasses, coffee, cocoa powder and garlic in a medium bowl.
2. Pour half the picante sauce mixture into a 3-quart shallow, nonmetallic baking dish for marinade. Cover and refrigerate the remaining picante sauce mixture.
3. Add the ribs to the baking dish and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours.
4. Set up the grill for indirect cooking. Lightly oil the grill rack.  Heat the grill to medium. Grill the ribs for 3 hours or until fork-tender, turning and basting often with the marinade. Discard the remaining marinade.
5. Heat the remaining picante sauce mixture in a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat to a boil, stirring occasionally.
6. Serve the sauce with the ribs and sprinkle with the onions.

Enjoy your ribs and always remember…admire the fire!

Recipe inspired by Campbell's Kitchen

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 pork ribs different than the recipe above calls out for, then see your other options here.

Low and Slow

Best

Grill

Good

Oven

Also Good

Oinking Out Loud!

"Geez...I'm so hot...I'm bacon!"

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.

Technorati Tags: barbecued ribs, grilled spareribs, pork spareribs, savory ribs

Fancy-pants equipment not required!

When asked how to cook BBQ pork ribs, every pit master out there will insist that low and slow with smoke is the only method. While I tend to agree, there are situations where that method may not be feasible. So then what…no ribs? Although the low-n-slow method is traditional for southern-style barbecue, once you learn how to cook BBQ pork ribs in an oven or directly on the grill, I doubt any of your guests will complain.

How to Cook Pork Ribs on a Gas Grill

Although this article is about charcoal grills, great slabs of pork ribs can be had on a gas grill, as well. It’s just that I don’t use my gas grill very often and feel like I’d be leading you to the slaughterhouse if I were to try to tell you how that is done.  Don’t worry, I’m not throwing you gassy people under the bus. Here’s a guy that can help you out.

Meet Derrick Riches. He’s the BBQ Guru over at About.com. He’s a great guy and he knows his ‘Que! Here’s his article:

Barbecue Ribs on a Gas Grill

The Low and Slow Method

Start the charcoal 30 minutes prior to cooking. Prepare the grill for indirect grilling. You’re aiming for a temperature of 225 to 250-degrees F. Place ribs bone side down on the grill grate or use a rib rack if you’re cooking several racks of ribs. If using a rib rack, place the meat side of the ribs facing the fire. Add the smoking chips and cover the grill.

On average, baby back ribs will take about 4 hours while spare ribs need about 5.

At the outset, your main goal is to watch and adjust the temperature. The heat will have a tendency to climb up to the 300-degree F range rather quickly. Adjust the vents or completely close them in order to maintain the optimum temperature. Once you have it under control, it will eventually level out and remain somewhat constant. Check the temperature about every 30 minutes, or so and adjust the vents as needed. There will come a point where the charcoal will need to be replenished, usually about the halfway point. Be sure to start the charcoal for about 20 minutes before adding it to the grill. This is also the time to add more smoking chips.

At the halfway point of the cook, rotate the ribs. Move the racks that were closest to the fire towards the back while replacing it with the racks that were furthest from the fire. Also, invert them, that is rotate the part of the rack closest to the fire away from it. This will insure even cooking across all the slabs. It is also at this point where you want to start basting the ribs. Using a basting sauce or spray bottle of apple juice, baste ribs every 30-45 minutes. I prefer a basting sauce if my ribs are laying on the grill grates, but the spray bottle if I have them set in a rib rack. It’s a messy endeavor to try to baste ribs in a rib rack, plus time consuming and I really don’t want the lid off my grill that long.

Remove ribs from the grill and baste with your favorite barbecue sauce, if desired. Allow ribs to rest for 15 minutes before serving. Cut into serving sizes and serve them up. Serve with additional sauce on the side.

Understand that barbecue ribs have no set rules in time. It will depend on the temperature of the grill, weather conditions, the amount of meat on the ribs and other factors. With experience, you’ll soon know how close to being done your ribs are, just by looking at them. The meat will shrink away from the end of the bones by about a 1/2 inch on each side. The meat will pull away cleanly from the bone and will have a dark appearance, but not burned. A sharp paring knife can be used to check for tenderness. It should slide easily through the meat between the bones. As a safety measure, cook an additional rack of ribs. Use this as your sacrificial slab. When you think they are about done, cut a piece off and try it. Continue to cook if not done before testing again.

The Oven Method

Prepare the ribs as directed in your recipe. Preheat an oven to 350-degrees F. Place the ribs with bone side down on a wire rack in a roasting pan. If you’re doing several slabs, it’s OK to stack them on top of one another. Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour. Remove the ribs from the oven and carefully drain off the fat. Continue baking ribs uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes or until tender. Turn and baste occasionally with your particular sauce during the last 20 minutes of cooking. An option at this point is to turn on the broiler and sear the ribs for an extra crusty texture on the surface or to caramelize the sauce. Take care, though. Sweet and tomato-based sauces tend to burn easily. Remove the ribs from the oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Brush again with your sauce and serve.

An additional trick to the oven method is to utilize liquid smoke in your sauces . Contrary to popular belief, liquid smoke is an all natural product. Use in moderation. A little goes a long way. Experiment with it and eventually you’ll create a pretty good rendition of smokey flavored BBQ ribs.

The Direct Grilling Method

Although the direct grilling method cooks pork ribs much faster, two additional steps should be considered…a marinade and a basting sauce.

With the Low-n-Slow method, the fat in the meat is rendered off slowly. As this happens, the fat acts as a basting sauce which aids in keeping the meat moist and tender.

A similar result is obtained with the oven method. In addition, as the ribs cook they create a small amount of steam. The aluminum foil contributes to tenderness by trapping in this moisture.

The direct grilling method offers none of these advantages, therefore we must do it manually. Once you understand how to cook pork ribs using the other methods, it’s easy to see how direct grilling might easily burn the outer layer or dry them out. A marinade will slightly tenderize the meat while the basting sauce will aid in keeping the meat from drying out or burning.

Prepare your ribs by removing any excess fat and the membrane. Unless you have your own special marinade recipe, Italian salad dressing will work just fine. Season the ribs with a little salt and pepper and brush liberally with the dressing. Wrap tightly with plastic food wrap and store the ribs in the refrigerator. Marinate for at least 2-4 hours. Overnight would be best. As far as the basting sauce is concerned, an easy method is a spray bottle filled with apple juice.

Proceed with the rest of your recipe and start the charcoal 30 minutes before you want to cook. Remove the ribs from the marinade and allow to reach room temperature. Prepare the grill with a medium fire for direct grilling. Once the coals are ready, brush the grates with oil and place the ribs bone side down. Cook for about 1 hour. Turn every 15 minutes and apply a spritz of the apple juice to both sides. Continue this process until the ribs are tender. If flare ups occur, extinguish them with the apple juice. During the last 10 minutes, apply a coating of your final sauce to both sides and turn. Do this a couple of times. Remove ribs and give them another coat of your sauce. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Like the oven method, smoking chips aren’t practical with the direct method. Sure, you could add some soaked chips to the fire, yet the minor smoke flavor you’ll achieve isn’t worth the grief of working in a cloud of smoke.

Here’s another way to cook pork ribs

The BBQ PitBoys show you a method that’s a crossbreed of the direct and low-n-slow methods.

 And yet…one more way

Here’s an article that I published at my barbecue column at the Examiner. We start by getting things smokey and charred on the grill, then we Lo-n-Slow it in the oven.  The inside of your house will smell like heaven. Here’s the link if you want to check out that method: How to Cook Barbecue Ribs the Easy Way.

All these methods should convey one main point about cooking pork ribs…there are no set rules. Do what best works for you, but work it to perfection.

OOPS!

I know I often mention that there are no set rules at TopRibs, yet there may be a few. One that comes to mind as I write this post is, “NEVER BOIL YOUR RIBS!“. As a child, I remember my Granny use to boil ribs with cabbage. I didn’t like them then…I don’t like them now! Unless you’re making soup stock or must be fed intravenously, all you’re doing is boiling out all that tasty pork flavor and leaving it in the water. Stick to the above methods…please?

Enjoy your ribs and always remember…admire the fire!

Technorati Tags: cooking pork, how to cook bbq pork ribs, how to cook ribs in the oven, southern style barbecue

These are great barbecued ribs!

You just can’t beat the flavor that fruit brings to barbecued ribs. These blueberry glazed ribs are a prime example of that. Fruit offers the sweetness we look for in a barbecue sauce, as well as it’s own unique flavor. I don’t believe there’s a fruit out there that I haven’t made a barbecue sauce with.

Although this barbecue rib recipe calls out for blueberry syrup, use fresh blueberries if they’re in season. Simply process in a food processor while adding Karo syrup to taste.

Ingredients

• 4 racks of pork ribs
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 cups blueberry syrup
• 8 thyme sprigs
• 2 sage sprigs
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• Kosher salt
• Extra virgin olive oil or cooking spray
• about 1 cup of hickory smoking chips, soaked in water for a half hour

Instructions

1. Prepare the ribs by trimming and removing the membrane. See the sidebar if you need to review how that is done.
2. In a bowl, prepare the meat rub.  Combine the garlic powder, onion powder, pepper and 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt and blend well.
3. Brush ribs with olive oil or cooking spray. Rub all sides of the ribs with the meat rub.
4. Prepare a grill for indirect grilling at a medium heat (225-250-degrees F).
5. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt the butter. Tie the sage and thyme sprigs together with kitchen string. Add the onion, garlic and herb bundle to the saucepan and cook over moderate heat until the onion is softened, 8 minutes. Add the vinegar and bring to a boil. Add the blueberry syrup and hot sauce and simmer over moderately low heat until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, 10 minutes. Discard the herb bundle.
6. Drain the smoking chips and place on the fire.
7. Once chips begin to smoke, place ribs on the grill and cover. Cook for 4-5 hours or until ribs are tender. Be sure to maintain the temperature as close to 225-degrees F as possible.
8. During the last half hour, begin basting both sides of the ribs with the sauce.
9. Remove from grill and baste again with the sauce. Serve with sauce on the side.

Enjoy your ribs and always remember…admire the fire!

Recipe inspired by Food & Wine

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 pork 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!

A man was driving up a steep and narrow mountain road. A woman was driving down the same road. As they pass each other, the woman leans out the window and yells “Pig!” The man immediately leans out his window and replied, “Hag!” They continue on their way and as the man rounds the next corner, he crashes into a pig in the middle of the road.

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's Way

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.

Technorati Tags: barbecue rib recipe, barbecued ribs, blueberry BBQ sauce, pork ribs