Oven-Baked Barbecued Baby Back Ribs

 Fall-off-the-bone tender ribs, slathered with a spicy homemade barbecue sauce, are irresistible. I wanted to cook these babies on the grill last week, but a thunderstorm forced me to cook them indoors in my oven. Sigh~
I had 2 racks of ribs I wanted to cook, but when it started raining, I put 1 rack in the freezer to save for another time. I don't have a dry place to grill when it is stormy. But ribs cooked in the oven are certainly very tasty too. The color is off in my photos, as the sun came out again when it was time to take pictures, so I took them out on my front porch. For some reason, the ribs look almost black, but they were not.

 I use a rub and sprinkle it all over the ribs, cover with plastic wrap, and keep in the refrigerator for a few hours. This time I prepared them in the morning, and cooked them later in the afternoon, for about 3 hours total. Barbecue sauce is applied the last 30-45 minutes of cooking to ensure a spicy, sticky glaze. Baby back ribs are delicious prepared this way, they just won't have the fresh smoked flavor of the outdoor grill. We still love them though. Easy to prepare, you will need about 2 1/2 - 3 hours cooking time. 

Oven-Baked Baby Back Ribs
From Lynda's Recipe Box

1 or 2 racks of Baby Back ribs
about 1 tablespoon rub, either your own mix, or a purchased rub-recipe below)
liquid smoke-about 2 teaspoons
Barbecue sauce- I used this homemade version

Directions:
1. Rinse the ribs with cold water. Dry them well with paper towels.

2. Remove the membrane from the underside of the ribs. To do that, loosen the membrane at one corner with a paring knife. Using a paper towel, or a kitchen towel, take hold of the membrane and slowly pull it off. For a picture, go here. Rub a little liquid smoke over the ribs. Sprinkle the ribs with the rub. Place on a baking pan and cover with plastic wrap. Place in fridge for 8 to 24 hours. ( I have skipped this step before, and cooked the ribs right away, and you will still have really tender ribs. But waiting longer gives the rub flavors longer to penetrate the meat.)

3. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Remove the plastic wrap from the ribs, and allow them to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Place ribs fat side up on baking pan. Cover pan well with aluminum foil, or wrap the ribs in foil, either way. Place baking pan with ribs into the oven and bake for
 2-2 1/2 hours.

4. Remove the ribs from the oven. Pull back the foil and insert a paring knife between the bones into the thickest piece of meat. If the knife goes in easily and the meat feels tender, then the ribs are ready for the BBQ sauce. If the ribs need more cooking time, cover with the foil and cook for 30 more minutes.

5. When done, remove the ribs from the oven. Pour off any accumulated juices. Brush BBQ sauce liberally all over the ribs. Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees. Place ribs back in oven, uncovered. Bake for 20-30 minutes, turning the ribs over once, until the sauce is sticky. Baste again if desired and remove from oven. Let ribs rest about 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

For an easy rub, I mixed together 2 teaspoons sweet paprika, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 2 teaspoons coarse salt, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon onion powder, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Or use a purchased rub, if desired.

Grilled Baby Back Ribs

My family loves ribs and I have made them in the oven and on the grill and both taste great! Our sons love grilled ribs so I have been experimenting the last couple of years. For one thing, I love to watch Steven Raichlen, author of the "Barbecue Bible", and other books, on PBS when ever he is on. If you have ever watched his show, you know how good his food looks! It's very drool worthy! Last summer, I made his Baby Back ribs and followed the directions perfectly and had very smokey, spicy, delicious ribs. They could have been a little more tender, so, I am experimenting to find the most flavorful and tender way to do them. Our oldest sons birthday is tomorrow, so this past weekend we did a birthday dinner with ribs. I wrapped them in foil which produced the most tender and moist ribs ever! They didn't pick up as much smoke flavoring as I wanted, but they were really good and received high praises from everyone at the table. They are easy to do, you just need to plan ahead. Steven Raichlen suggests putting the rub on the ribs the day before and letting them marinate for a day, but I have done it just a few hours ahead and they are still delicious. So, lets start these mouth watering ribs!

The ribs have a membrane on the back and it really needs to come off as it is rather tough and the spices can't penetrate it. Take a small knife or screwdriver and loosen the corner and pull up and back to pull it off. You may need to use a paper towel or kitchen towel to hold onto it. Pull it completely off. Mix up your rub recipe or use a prepared on. I used one of Raichlen's, adapted.

I rinsed the ribs with water and dried well with paper towels. Spread the rub over both sides of the ribs and gently rub so that it will adhere to the meat. Wrap the ribs in heavy duty aluminum foil and refrigerate until ready to grill. We have a charcoal grill, so I set it up for indirect grilling, with a grill pan in the middle and coals on either side, so that the meat will not burn over the coals. Place foil wrapped ribs on hot grill and close grill lid and grill for two hours. Pull the foil back, brush with BBQ sauce if desired, and grill for about 20 more minutes. Remove ribs from grill. Oh, the aroma of these tender and moist pork ribs! Just sink your teeth into one of these ribs and your taste buds will thank you, and family and friends will love you! No kidding!

BASIC BARBECUE RUB ( slightly adapted from Steven Raichlen

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup sweet paprika

2 T.black pepper

3 T. kosher salt

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. onion powder

2 tsp. celery seed

1 tsp.cayenne pepper

Mix spices. I used about 3 T. of rub on each rack of ribs, but you can use less, or more. Keep what you don't use in an air tight container. Remove the membrane from the ribs and apply spice rub to both sides. Wrap each slab of ribs in heavy duty foil. Lay on grill over indirect heat. Cover grill with lid and cook for two hours. Peel back the foil and check ribs; they should be tender when poked with a fork. Apply BBQ sauce, if desired and grill for another 20 minutes will grill lid closed. I cooked 2 racks of ribs and only used BBQ sauce on 1 rack. Some people prefer just the dry rub. Remove ribs to a pan cool slightly, and cut into serving pieces.

Arrange on a serving platter and get ready for some lip smackin and finger lickin compliments!

These were so tender and moist! These can also be done in your oven- just prepare the same way and wrap in foil and bake for 2 hours at about 350. But, grilled is my favorite. Enjoy!