My famous rib recipe

After much thought, I decided to share my famous rib recipe.

I'm too lazy to post any pictures of the result, but rest assured it is very flavorful and "fall off the bones" tender.  This rib recipe is a combination of recipes from Food Network TV shows, including Good Eats, Boy Meets Grill with Bobby Flay, and various BBQ competition. Because I don't have my own smoker, I did take some shortcuts that mimics traditional BBQ.  My resulting ribs lack the signature "smoke ring", but it's still good.

I have been requested by friends to make these ribs again this weekend so here it goes.  Items you will need to successfully create the recipe:

1. Rack of baby back/ pork loin ribs
2. Old Bay seasoning
3. Brown sugar
4. Regular sugar
5. Salt
6. Spices (including garlic powder and black pepper)
7. Aluminum Tray
8. Aluminum Foil
9. Saran Wrap

Mix ingredients #2 - #6 in a Tupperware container and mix throughly -- this will be your dry rub.  I mainly eyeball the ratio I use for my dry rub.  Rule of thumb is to use mainly 3x brown and 1x regular white sugar and mix in the remaining spices to taste.  The resulting rub should have a hint of sweetness but not be overwhelmingly sweet.

Place the clean slabs of rib face side first into the aluminum tray. Pour evenly half of your rub on the top and massage into the ribs evenly.  Turn over the rib and repeat.  You should end up with a rack of rib that is very well seasoned both sides with the dry rub.  Seal the tray with Saran wrap and leave in fridge overnight (ribs should be facing top side up).  Because we are not doing a traditional BBQ, we will need this time for the flavors from the rub to marinate into the rib.

The next day, remove the tray from the refrigerator re-apply another layer of dry rub this time just on the top of your ribs.  The dry rub should stick easily as the overnight marinade should have drawn out some liquid from the ribs and made your application the night before "wet".

Replace the Saran wrap with aluminum foil covering the tray.  Place the covered tray in a 250-300 degree oven and let it cook for 3 - 4 hours.  This process both slow cooks and braises the ribs in your rub while the fat will slowly render off.  When the ribs are "fall off the bones tender", remove the tray from the oven and drain out the remaining liquid.  You can use the drained liquid (after skimming off the fat) as a base for your own homemade BBQ sauce, but I'm usually lazy and I go with a store bought brand.

With the foil off the tray, spread your store bought or homemade BBQ sauce evenly on the top of the rack of ribs and place it in the oven under the 'Broil' setting.  Keep the light in the oven on and keep an eye on your ribs.  When the sauce starts bubbling turn off the heat and your ribs are done and ready to serve.  If you over do this step you will end up with burnt ribs as the sugar in most BBQ sauces burn very easily.