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.
------

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.