The Basics of Slow Cooked Ribs

This post is dedicated to Maureen and Kristi for sending me a fabulous photo-essay on "Constructing a BBQ in PEI." Sadly - Maureen made the decision to move to the land of green gables last year. From all of us here in Montreal, you will be missed! (BUT...Lindsay and I will be there next year to collect on our bet - so don't forget!)

It has taken me quite some time, and a lot of conversations with a lot of different people, to finally say with confidence that "I make decent ribs." And I won't even go as far as to say that I make "good" ribs because ribs are very peculiar things. Some people like 'em smoked. Some people like them out of the oven. I had student who once told me the secret to the Baton Rouge recipe - believe it or not those things take about 48 hours of preparation, from pre-cooking to vacuum-sealed marinating. I kid you not. So what should you take away from this week's lesson? Good ribs take time and practice. But once you find a combo that works for you - stick with it until you've got it down.

Rib Preparation:

Ribs are great because they go on sale often in the summer, if you can get two full racks for under 12$ - you're laughing. First trick I learned from the great and powerful Weber, is that you have to remove the membrane from the back of your ribs. You've heard the expression "falls off the bone?" - well this is how it's done. To do this you'll need a sturdy butter knife from your kitchen and a paper towel.

Slide the knife down between the rib bone and the membrane as far as you can and pry the membrane loose. Then once you've done this a bunch of times, use the paper towel to grab the slippery sucker and pull it off (you won't get it all - but try your best.)

You don't have to cut up your ribs, if you have big enough roasting dish or slow cooker, but I like to cook them in about 3 bone pieces. So I chop my ribs up to fit nicely into my slow cooker.

BBQ Sauce:

What makes a good sauce? Well, here are the basics. I can't tell you exactly what's in mine because I was sworn to secrecy by Mama Marino when she gave it to me. BUT - I can tell you what goes into making a great sauce...

Tomato - find some kind of tomato sauce that you like and use it as your base. My aunt Enid likes to use the Heinz Chili sauce.
Sugar - brown sugar works well because of the molasses in it.
Lemon or lime juice - can't live without it!
Mustard - always the emulsifier.
Garlic - crushed or minced, your choice.
Extras - play around with different tastes: Worcestershire, spices, soya, booze...whatever you're looking for try it out!

I like to use the slow cooker - it's big, it's reliable. My aunt likes to use a giant corning ware and slow cooks them in the oven in the sauce. I suppose you could do this on stove-top or even on your BBQ, but let's try and keep this simple, shall we? Some say the longer you let them boil in the sauce the better. I disagree. I let them sit for 5-6 hours once and I couldn't get them out of the firggin' pot! They'll disintegrate! Remember that we took off that membrane. 3 hours on high is plenty and they'll hold their shape.

Dry Rub:

Although the meat will have taken on a considerable amount of flavour from being cooked in the sauce - what makes ribs so delicious is the nice glaze on the outside. after many attempts I've learned that I like a combination of both worlds: the boiling and the rub. So I like to treat my ribs like my steaks - I remove as much of the sauce as possible using paper towels. Then I work in a nice dry rub to give it a good caramelizing on the outside once we grill them, to the trap all that deliciousness in the rib. Keep it mind - if you want more flavour from your rub to penetrate the meat - let them sit for about 30-90 minutes before grilling.

2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Chili Powder
1-2 tsp Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Dry Mustard
1/2 tsp Cumin

This is just a basic BBQ rub - feel free to experiment with it and let me know how it goes!

Grilling the Ribs:

I take the sauce off my ribs so that they won't steam or burn very much on the grill (sugar + heat = burnt food.) But I add quite a bit of brown sugar to my rub to get a nice caramelization on the outside, as a result, expect some stickyness. But be vigilant and turn them often, over a nice medium-low heat, until you get a nice even colour all over. This will only take a few minutes and you're ready to serve!

I like my ribs with rice - so serve them over the rice and then pour the sauce over them too. The rice will soak up all that nice sauce for afterwards! Bon Appetit!