Advice: Ribs in the oven
 

O ye who know these things:

I couldn't pass up some baby back ribs (just 2lbs) on sale this morning. I have no grill/smoker facilities.

If I wrap them in tinfoil and cook them at 250 for about 3hrs, does this sound right?

Should I still put on a rub if I'm cooking them this way?
Hold off on the sauce?

I have a gas stove top and grill pan so I can put some color on them when they're done.

Any word of experiecnce would be appreciated.

I think they're going to dry out if you just bake them in tinfoil. I'd suggest some water in there.

hmm...I hadn't thought about that

guess I better google before I ruin these things...

water with liquid smoke

Obviously, you will need some type of rack to keep them out of the water.

# Preheat oven to 300 degrees f.
# Peel off tough membrane that covers the bony side of the ribs.
# Mix together the sugar and spices to make the rub.
# Apply rub to ribs on all sides.
# Lay ribs on two layers of foil, shiny side out and meaty side down.
# Lay two layers of foil on top of ribs and roll and crimp edges tightly, edges facing up to seal.
# Place on baking sheet and bake for 2-2 1/2 hours or until meat is starting to shrink away from the ends of the bone.
# Remove from oven.
# Heat broiler.
# Cut ribs into serving sized portions of 2 or 3 ribs.
# Arrange on broiler pan, bony side up.
# Brush on sauce.
# Broil for 1 or 2 minutes until sauce is cooked on and bubbly.
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seems simple enough...thanks guys

That sounds pretty good but I'd take it down to 250 and cook 3-3.5 hours.

cool, thanks

I was hoping you'd show up....

I don't have any idea what I'm talking about though. I've never done ribs in an oven. I do know that you want to slow cook them though and 300 is way too hot on a smoker so it stands to reason that it's too hot in an oven. Maybe they're just steaming them inside the foil at 300 - I have no idea. You could also boil them and finish them under a broiler. My neighbor did that once and they turned out really good but I have a feeling it was more due to the Blues Hog sauce than anything else.

the slower the better is sound advice

I also think 300 deg. is a little high. I would drop it down to 250 degrees. I'm not an expert at cooking ribs but I am a pretty good cook. I took alot of college classes that taught me alot of things.

Use orange juice instead of water.

I agree maybe even 225 for 4 hours or so... A meat temperature of 180 degrees for 30 minutes is about perfect.

Dave

If you have a baking dish with a rack, use that and cover with foil, maybe with a little liquid in the bottom. Apple juice would be good. That adds some flavor to the meat and keeps the ribs from cooking in fat. Not a necessity, just an improvement.

food network has a recipe. alton brown made some. goog it.

That is EXACTLY what I was going to say... and I have had to make them in the oven before.

I'd skip the foil. Put in a separate pan in the bottom some water to add moisture to the air.

After 2 1/2 hours or so, check to make sure the ribs aren't browning too much. If they start to get too brown, THEN wrap them in foil.

That's my 2 cents.

I've got some going in the crock pot right now.

for shame...


threads like this make me cry myself to sleep at night.

i cooked them at 250 for 2 hrs, then after your post another 1hr 30 min at 225..

I just put on a dry rub and wrapped them in tinfoil, no liquid

not as good as the real thing, but fall off the bone tender, very tasty for almost no effort...would have been good to char them for a sec, but I was too hungry at that point

thanks everyone..