Best Ribs ever

By | May 27, 2011
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Back in ’06 I blogged about a tasty way to make ribs. But the problem in the end was that they just didn’t fall off the bone as planned.

Now, I think I’ve got an approach that finally succeeds. Plus a nice BBQ sauce if you love sweet and over the top tanginess.

The Sauce

The sauce has an interesting life cycle. During it’s cooking and construction phase, it lets off some interesting aromas that some might find a bit on the ‘unpleasant side’. This is mostly due to the bourbon and apple cider vinegar combination. Tasting the sauce during it’s cooking phase provides a combination of sweet at first to very tangy aftertaste. I found that the sauce required some adjustments to satisfy the common palate. That is, more molasses and ketchup to offset the recipe’s tanginess. Here’s the recipe, mainly so I don’t forget it:

1/4 cup vegetable oil, such as canola or peanut
1/4 cup butter
1 chopped chile pepper, such as a serrano
1 medium yellow or white onion, grated
1 cup bourbon or Tennessee whiskey
1/2 cup ketchup or tomato sauce
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup dark molasses
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
Salt to taste

  • Heat the butter and oil over med-high heat
  • Grate the onion with a cheese grater. A little liquidy mess but it helps to easily dissolve the onion into the sauce. Add the onion to the pot for 3-4 minutes over med heat.
  • Add the bourbon to the pot. Increase the heat to med-high and boil down the bourbon for 5-6 min
  • Add the ketchup, lemon juice, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, molasses, and the sugar. Mix well and return to a simmer.
  • Cook for a few minutes and the test it. It will be tangy. If it’s too tangy add any combination of molasses, brown sugar, ketchup, honey. I added a bit of all to sweeten to taste. The honey added a new complexity that should maybe be a base ingredient to this recipe…..about 1/4 cup would be nice.
  • Let the sauce cook down on low for 20+ min….until it is thick. Use right away or store for up to 2 weeks. You should end up with a dark brown sticky sauce full of flavour.

    • When you slather the ribs with the sauce, the subsequent cooking that occurs on the grill will further enhance the sweetness of the flavour. So if the sauce is a little ‘over-tangy’ at first keep in mind it will mellow on the rib.

    Cooking the Ribs

    Prepare the ribs for cooking by removing the thin layer of membrane on the bottom side of the rack. Then apply liberally a mild rub of your choice. Lots and lots of rub. Coat them! Do this at least 2 hrs before cooking.

  • Add soaked wood chips (I prefer Mesquite) to a smoker box and set into the bbq. Start the bbq and set it to as low heat as possible.
  • Set the ribs on the bbq with the bone side down towards the coals. Cook for 2 hrs.
  • After 2 hrs, remove the ribs from the bbq. Wrap them in tin foil. Add about 1 cup of Apple juice to each package of ribs.
  • Place the ribs back on the bbq…this time with the meat side facing the coals. This allows the meat to sit in th juice and get nice and tender.
  • After 1 hr, remove the ribs from the bbq. Add another load of wood chips to the bbq.
  • Unpackage the ribs. Add a finishing rub (typically similar to a starter rub but with 2x the brown sugar).
  • Set the ribs back on the bbq bone side down for 1/2 hr
  • Slather the ribs. Cook for 10 min
  • Turn ribs over. Slather again. Cook for 10 min
  • Turn ribs over. If still a little dry to your liking slather once more, cook for 10 min and remove.

    • NOTE: if using dry ribs, take them off any time after the 1/2 hr you returned them to the grill after unpackaging from the foil.

    These ribs will fall off the bone without fail. Also, the smoking process will have turned the outer layers of the meat a beautiful pinkish colour. Yum.

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