Remember last year when I told you I had never cooked nor eaten chicken wings in my life? It’s partly about the negligible bits of meat on them, but mostly about my not liking to get my fingers messy eating. I even cut up my apples into chunks and eat them with a fork. Anyway, I did make the wings and they were easy to do. I’ll be surprised if I make them again, but I’m not committing to never.
It’s pretty much the same with ribs—little meat and messy fingers. That’s why I pretty much stick to country-style ribs that you can pull apart and use like any pulled pork. I think in my way way distant past I have cooked regular ribs in the oven in a roasting pan, but I don’t remember it clearly. Anyway, I’m more willing to make ribs because—pork. 🐖
I picked up a couple of packages of baby back ribs, 2.5-3 lbs each, and froze the larger one, as one rack should be enough for the two of us. I’ve looked up all the methods people use to make ribs on the grill and my head is spinning. Foil, no foil, indirect or direct heat or both, rib racks. I’m not sure how one’s brain sorts out all that information after you throw up your hands in exasperation, but I know the information settles into choices and then you put some together. I’m just going to use indirect heat, using my charcoal baskets to keep the heat on the sides, and a drip pan in the middle, over which the meat will be placed, without foil. I’m using a dry rub and no sauce, because I just can’t eat all that sugar. A little sugar in the rub will have to do. Wish me luck.
Baby Back Ribs
1 rack, 2-3 lbs, pork back ribs with back membrane removed
Dry Rub
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
- Mix all rub ingredients together and rub over both sides of the ribs.
- Let the ribs sit for about an hour, until they come to room temperature.
Prepare the grill for indirect heat about 20-30 minutes before ribs are ready.
- Place ribs on the grill away from the coals, depending on your setup. I used two charcoal baskets, one on each side, so the indirect spot was in the middle, over a drip pan.
- Cook covered for 1.5-2 hours or until the meat has pulled back from the bone ends. Mine were done in 1.5 hours.
They were pretty tasty, but I made a mess trying to cut them apart. It looked like a slasher movie. My husband loved them, especially that they were not covered in a messy sauce. I found them to be a little salty; I thought the rub would drip off a little instead of sticking together to make a crust, so I’ll be drinking a lot of water tonight.
Maybe I’ll try a basting marinade next time if I can think up one with a minimal amount of sugar. Those bottled sauces are just deadly.
Kitchen Portfolio 
Looks fantastic Barbara! Great bark and smoke ring on the meat and they look very juicy still. I have found that if you stand the ribs on edge, it is easier to slice between the bones than if left flat. For basting, you could just use apple cider vinegar or apple juice instead of the sugary bottled nonsense.
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Ah! Yes, fruit juice. I’ve got plenty of more summer to experiment.
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