Barbecue ribs recipe
When you’re firing up the barbecue, ribs are a must. These are spicy, sticky but not too sweet. They do need to marinate overnight for added flavour.
Tips:
- It’s essential to slow-cook the ribs first, so they are meltingly tender once grilled. Otherwise they will be tough and chewy.
- The barbecue sauce works as both the glaze and a sauce to serve with the ribs. It’s also sensational with sausages.
- The recipe serves four generously, but if it’s part of a big spread, you can stretch it further to serve a few more.
Ingredients
For the ribs- 2 kg pork ribs (around 4 racks)
- 1 l fresh apple juice
- 4 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp dark brown sugar
- 4 tsp smoked paprika
- 4 tsp ground cumin
- 4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large pinch of dried chilli flakes
- 250 g tomato ketchup
- 125 ml Worcestershire sauce
- 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 3 tbsp dark brown sugar
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp salt
Details
- Cuisine: American
- Recipe Type: Pork
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 15 mins
- Cooking Time: 165 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Take off the thin membrane (the silverskin) which lies over the bones, if it hasn’t been removed by your butcher. Otherwise it makes the ribs tough and chewy.
- Mix all the ingredients for the rub together. Massage it well into the ribs. Ideally, leave covered overnight in the fridge, or for at least four hours.
- Heat the oven to 150°C/fan 130°C/300°F/gas mark 2. Line a deep roasting tin with a large sheet of foil, large enough to create a tent effect around and over the ribs.
- Put the ribs onto a rack on top of the foil in the roasting tin. Pour the apple juice into the tin (not over the ribs but around them). Seal up the foil to create a tent over and around the ribs. Bake for 2–2.5 hours (depending on how thick the ribs are), until tender.
- Put all the barbecue sauce ingredients into a saucepan and cook gently, until the sugar has dissolved. Add any meat juices and apple juice from the roasting tin to the sauce. Mix well, bring to the boil and simmer for five minutes.
- To cook on the barbecue, you’ll need a medium to low heat, not direct heat. Put the rib racks on to the grill, basting with half the sauce (keep the other half to serve with the ribs). Keep basting to build up the lovely sticky layer, turning the ribs occasionally.
- Once the ribs are darkened and sticky (after about 15 minutes), they are ready to serve with the remaining sauce on the side.
Image: VasiliyBudarin/Shutterstock
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