Baby Back Pork Ribs

Spring and summer are the seasons for grilling. There are so many good things to grill, but ribs are a perennial favorite.

Baby Back Pork Ribs 

2 or 3 slabs of ribs

Sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper, and chili powder

You can use additional herbs and spices, too, such as: curry powder, thyme, sage, oregano

Put the ribs in a covered roasting pan with at least a half inch of water in the bottom of the pan.

Bake at 325 for at least 3 - 4 hours. Check periodically to see that there is still a half inch of liquid in the bottom of the roaster.  (If you do a larger batch, say 5 or 6 slabs, bake them for 4 - 5 hours.)

At 3 ½ hours, coat the ribs with barbecue sauce. Use your favorite brand or make your own.

At the end of 3 or 4 hours, the ribs will be falling apart, so you will want to handle them carefully when transferring them to the grill. Brush on more barbecue sauce and grill 10 to 15 minutes on each side. You might need an additional BBQ screeen to keep the pieces from falling through the grate.

If you want to cook these a day or two ahead, you can refrigerate them when they come out of the oven rather than grilling immediately.

Homemade Barbecue Sauce Recipe*

1 small can tomato paste

 1 tablespoon molasses

¼ cup brown sugar or honey

1 tablespoon mustard – any kind

1 teaspoon of any smoke flavored spice

1 tablespoon chili powder

4 large cloves pressed garlic

3 tablespoons olive or sesame oil

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon black or white pepper

2 tablespoons sautéed onion or 1 tablespoon  minced dried, onion

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

*MORE ABOUT BBQ SAUCE

The ingredients for a delicious barbecue sauce are not all that specific. The recipe can work with a wide range of ingredients.  You will need - 

1. Some fruitiness: Tomato paste, apricot, peach or mango sauce or any combination of these

2. Some spiciness: Chili powder, curry powder, pepper flakes, sautéed chilies, mustard

3. Some smokiness: Any salt or spice mix that has smoke flavoring. These can get overpowering very quickly, so this is one ingredient to add carefully.

 4. Some sweetness: Brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, or whatever you have on hand

5. Some umami: Roasted garlic, sautéed onions or fennel or shallots or leeks, anchovy paste or fish sauce

You can also use wine, Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, salt, and butter in your sauce. 

Specific ingredients are not as important as the combination of these five flavor categories. Based on these categories, you can use whatever you have in your kitchen to create a fabulous sauce for your barbecued ribs (or chicken, steak, or fish). 

Once you make your own sauce, you will realize that it is truly easy to do and tastes much better than the commercial kind, which very frequently has a chemical taste.