My Adventure with Baby Back Ribs

Ribs have never been part of my culinary life.  I’d eaten them several times but never cooked them.  Never considered cooking them.  But with several one avid meat eaters in the family, surrounded by vegetarians, partial vegetarians and a few fish lovers, I figured it was time to branch out.

My inspiration was a sale on pork baby back ribs: $1.99 per pound versus $6.99 per pound, saving $16.  I dashed home with my bargain and began opening cookbooks and checking internet recipes.  Because my grill is in the shop, I needed a recipe for oven-baked ribs, and I didn’t find many.  One involved slathering the ribs with mustard and liquid smoke, while another called for a dry spice rub.  One said bake at 300 degrees for 2 hours, another said 300 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours while a third said 350 degrees for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  Who to believe?

I took a lot of liberties.  First off I used my own recipe for a dry spice rub but decided to go with the 300-degree cooking temperature.  I didn’t want to overcook the ribs, but when I checked after 1 hour of baking, they had barely begun to cook.  That’s when I upped the temperature to 350 degrees and baked them for another 1 1/2 hours.  To finish off the browning, I turned up the oven temperature to 500 degrees for 10 minutes.

Some aficionados might say I overcooked the ribs.  Others would dismiss them as unworthy because I didn’t use a grill.  I thought they were pretty darned good, and so did the other meat eaters.

Here is my recipe, which combines information from Joy of Cooking, How to Cook Everything, Kitchn and me.

Basic Baby Back Ribs – serves 3-4 

3-4 pounds pork baby back ribs 

Homemade Dry Spice Rub: 

1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne 

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 

 Bottled BBQ Sauce 

Position an oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 300 degrees. 

Line a large roasting pan with foil and place a roasting rack on the foil.  If the rack of ribs is too big to fit into the pan, cut it into two sections, between the rib bones. Rub the spice mixture into the meaty side of the ribs and place, rib side down, on the roasting rack. 

Bake for 1 hour.  Then raise the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 30 minutes.  Turn the ribs over so that the rib side is facing up.  Cook for about 1 hour or until the meat has shrunk around the bones and they no longer look raw.  Turn the ribs again so the meaty side is facing up and raise the oven temperature to 500 degrees. 

Bake for 10 minutes and then remove from the oven.  Cut the ribs apart with sharp scissors or a knife and pile onto a serving plate.  Pass the BBQ sauce and plenty of napkins.

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