Melt in your mouth BBQ ribs

I cannot lie. I have always been intimidated, let's be honest, just plain scared to try and make BBQ ribs. Let's face it, I live in New York and we are not known for our bbq ribs. But I love them so much and was determined to find a way to make them, and did I ever. These ribs are as advertised, melt in your mouth. I don't think it is so much the recipe but the method. Let me share with you. The original recipe comes from Recipezaar, I have adjusted a few things and my changes are in parenthesis.


Melt in your mouth BBQ ribs


4lbs pork ribs ( I used Baby Back, from costco)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp hickory salt ( i used regular kosher salt)

1 tbsp paprika

1 tsp cumin ( my addition, not in original recipe)

1 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground red pepper ( optional, I did not use)

2 cups favorite BBQ sauce ( i use Sweet Baby Rays)


The Method:


Pre heat oven to 300.

Peel off tough membrane that covers the bony side of the ribs.

Mix together sugar and spices to make the dry rub.

Apply rub to ribs on all sides.



Lay ribs on 2 layers of foil, shiny side out and meaty side down. Lay 2 layers of foil on top of ribs and roll and crimp edges tightly, edges facing up and seal. At this point, I put them in the fridge and let them marinade in the rub for 4-6 hours.

Place on baking sheet, or as I did, use throw away aluminum pans, in case rub leaks. Bake 2-3 hours, I did 3, until meat is starting to shrink away from the ends of the bone.

STOP. Right here at this point, you are good. You can eat them now, they are soooo good. But let's keep going and go for the gusto with the big finish. Remove from oven, unwrap ribs and apply BBQ sauce to both sides and carefully put on the grill. I say carefully, because at this point they are so tender they will fall apart if not handled with care. So, handle with care.

I was, once again, lucky enough to have my hubby man the grill, and grill those babies for 5 minutes on each side. Apply more BBQ sauce if you like. And please use a silicone brush. Dear hubby is old school and has a bristle brush and I was picking strands off my ribs all through dinner. It's time to embrace the 20th century, honey. Hurry up and join the rest of us. Good Lord. Very carefully remove ribs from the grill.

Get lots and lots of napkins and wet wipes and get to it. These are truly awesome and I love the easy clean up and the minimum effort these ribs require. So go forth and conquer your fear of BBQ ribs. I have and if a woman from New York can make Good ,old fashioned, messy,sticky ribs, you can too. Don't let me down.

Can you smell them?