I always assumed that making succulent, deeply flavored pork baby back ribs was rather difficult to do. I had never attempted them at home, thinking it would take serious spice mixtures, either parboiling, slow-cooking, tenderizing of some sort, then a long smoking process under low heat with lots of fragrant wood chips for maximum flavor. It was one of those dishes that I was happy to order at large barbecue places or restaurants, supposedly made by barbecue “gurus”. Of course I have never really had authentic barbecued baby back ribs as I haven’t been to the U.S. South or Texas, for that matter. So I was a bit daring when I spotted two huge racks of baby back ribs at the grocery the other day and I decided to buy them and see if I could turn out an edible rack of ribs…
Back home, I read up on various barbecue recipes and was indeed daunted by some of the more involved ones that were frankly, impossible to do with our equipment at home. So I decided on using a spice rub from one source (with alterations as I didn’t have all the spices required), Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly’s The Complete Meat Cookbook, combined with a slow bake in a low heat oven, then a finish on a charcoal grill with a slathering of commercial barbecue sauce.
First, make the dry rub, in a bowl, mix the following ingredients all together: 1/4 cup of kosher salt, 2 tbsp paprika, 2 tbsp chile powder, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, 2 tbsp garlic powder, 4 tbsp muscovado sugar, 1 tbsp ground cumin, 1 tbsp dry mustard, 1 tsp ground sage, 1 tsp ground oregano, 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper. I didn’t have the dry mustard (our Coleman’s had expired) so I used about 4 tablespoons of dijon mustard and slathered that onto the ribs along with the dry rub. I also didn’t have dried sage but it still turned out great. Make sure you rub the rub into all the nooks and crannies of the meat then put in a dish and cover with saran wrap and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, take the racks out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you are going to bake them. Set your oven at 300 degrees F, and stick the racks into the oven and let them bake for two hours. Do not turn the heat up, you need a long slow cook on this dish. Ideally, you want the racks of ribs to be sitting on a rack so that the oil drips away from them. I didn’t have a metal rack big enough so I didn’t do this. But I would recommend it. At any rate, the spicy perfume that will soon emanate from your oven will make you hungry… after two hours, or so, remove the ribs from the oven and they are ready for the grill. In retrospect, I could have trimmed a lot of fat from the racks before I put the rub on them, but I was afraid they would dry out… the fat is where a lot of the flavor is so I figured more fat, more delicious… you may opt to trim some of the fat off if desired. The second photo up top shows the ribs when they came out of the oven.
Over a charcoal fire, I slathered the baby back ribs with Bull’s Eye barbecue sauce and grilled them for a few minutes to get that caramelized, burnt barbecue crust and voila! pretty darned good looking and tasting baby back ribs, done at home. Not bad for a first attempt. Barbecue clue however, have the coals on the outer edge of the grill, so that flare-ups are minimized and you don’t singe your meat as I almost did. Eaten minutes off the grill, these were better than most ribs I have ordered in Manila restaurants. They were very tasty, salty peppery and gooey… and totally finger-licking fare. If I manage to find these ribs again before our next outdoor party, the menu will be ribs, potato salad and corn… yum! (So Lee, what do you think? Since you are the resident pork lover reader extraordinaire?! :))
64 Responses
Whichever direction you head on your ribs barbecue it will come out a winner – the dry rub seasonings, slow baking and grilling you really have the making of a good ribs barbecue. What’s wrong with coleslaw and baked beans to go with your barbecue? Flaked the meat and keep it in a toasted bun with coleslaw it will be pulled barbecue meat sandwich dabbed with bottled barbecue sauce.
MC, you are reading my mind, some coleslaw was on the menu… and putting it in a sandwich with more barbecue sauce is soundly fantastic!
I had first tasted baby back ribs at RACKS in Southmall but the restaurant is now gone. I had ordered it again in other restaurants. Forgot where!
I wont be surprised if one day, you will be opening a restaurant. Probably you can make a business out of what you do or even take outs! Definitely many of your followers will be your first customers. I think most of what you are cooking are better than what we see and eat at most restaurants.
On the other hand, I presumed that you dont want too much stress since you had much of that when you were working and just wants to enjoy life now!
I stumbled on an article by Anton. That was an eyeball with Marketman. Our Awesome Planet is another favorite site.
I just feel you are far from our area. I am from Las Pinas Citay and I guess, you are probably from the Makati or Quezon City are.
Can not wait to try it out by myself, it does not sound hard to cook.
I was seriously considering turning vegan but…
Did you use professional pork models from an agency?
Well-made barbecue is sublime… akin to a religious experience. And yes, you MUST go to the Deep South or Texas for really, really good barbecue. The Carolinas for ribs, and Texas for brisket. Meat so good it will make you want to cry. :-)
You are wicked,MM!It’s lunch time now downunder and all I had was a foccacia with turkey,cheese and cranberry sauce. Your ribs looks soooooooo scrumptous and fingerlickingood!
MM and fried-neurons, I will try that when I go to Texas. Any specific place in Texas! I have cousins in Houston. I will definitely go there one weekend once I go back to the US.
Fried-neurons: What about the bay area? I had been into a lot of chinese and italian foods when I stayed there for 2 months. I had started browsing already into your blog.
Some “cheat” and boil the ribs first before grilling them to make sure they are soft and cooked through. I can imagine the ones you made are just oozing with flavor because you marinated them overnight and slow-cooked in the oven.
I’ve ordered ribs from restaurants who claim they have the best ribs in town, but they are usually nothing memorable. Worse, they’re not cheap!
I love your blog!
this is so timely.i didn’t know what to cook for my kids after i bought ribs early this am. i don’t have enough time since they will be coming home for lunch soon. i’ll bake it for lunchtime so no overnight refrigerating; maybe an hour of making those herbs find their way into the meat after the rubbing.
i stumbled on your website and i love it!!! it was a wonderful surprise…thanks for sharing, your passion shows all over your site and i truly appreciate it. sa muli..
That is one awesome finger-licking smacking ribs, MM!!! Yup, now I know what to cook for my growing boys this week-end. I think I would soak it first in a brine like EL POLLO LOCO CHICKEN…By the way, maybe SISTER could bring back some WOOD CHIPS for you next time she visits you or I could bring you some when I go home this Christmas (hopefully, I would be up and running by then)…
Too bad, there’s no pork here :) Maybe I’ll try it on my next vacation!
here’s something you might want to ponder….First, I think you have the manpower to do this…I once met a really nice old chap on the bus. We got to talking about smoking ribs. He told me I don’t need any fancy shmancy equipmnet. He converted an old -fashioned refrigerator (one of those with a curved top), removed the compressor and all that stuff, created a hole I think on top as the exhaust thingy…If my husband is handy with tools, I would consider doing this. Those Bradley smokers cost a fortune! on the other hand, my native friend Wilda has a wooden smokehouse.
Madeline…
Sad to say I haven’t had really good barbecue here in the Bay Area.
As for Texas, not sure if they have them in Houston, but if you can find one you MUST eat at Rudy’s. Their tag line says “Worst Barbecue in Texas”. You know if they can say that about themselves they must be really good, and they are. Have the brisket, tell them you want “extra moist”. And have the cream corn to go with it. OMG it is sooo good! :-)
If I remember the name right, we ate at “Goode Company Barbecue” I think in Kirby in Houston. All sorts of barbeque smoked to perfection and of course the usual but equally yummy side dishes like cole slaw and potato salad. I can’t give you direction as we were taken to there by a friend. Houston transpo is difficult, you either need a car or rely on taxis. It was a shock to us, you can’t flag down taxis, you have to call their company. Likewise, bbq is all over Houston, its their staple diet I guess :)
Kansas, North Carolina, and Texas all claim to have the best bbqs, and even the term barbecue gets all confused – pork, beef or pulled pork, or brisket, smoked or not, rubbed or not, bbq sauce or not! Ay. All I can say is I had some darn fine bbq pork ribs in Texas with fantastic sweet potatoes and cornbread.
MM, leftover ribs with some coleslaw on a good crusty slice of bread! And a icey cold glass of coke. Heaven!
I love ribs. The most important step in making baby backs at home is peeling off the thin membrane underneath the ribs prior to marinating. I cook a pinoy version (no spice rub sweet sauce ) and an american version (spice rub and cooked with indirect heat in a kettle grill). My family prefers the pinoy version I prefer the american. In restaurants I would think that the benchmark for pinoy version spareribs would be Milky Way. Sylvia’s in Harlem also made a great oven baked spare rib. A taste of LA in Quezon City has the best spice rub for their baby backs. My favorite store bought sauce is KC Masterpiece available in S&R.
Marketman, here’s an idea for the coleslaw. A favourite restaurant (it has since closed) used to serve coleslaw made with some chipotle spice/sauce (?). Yum, yum.
APM, where’s A Taste of LA located? I had a meal there once, wanted to go back but could not find it again..
Hi Bluegirl,
A taste of LA is in Roces near the corner of Tomas Morato. I used to frequent the place when I lived in QC. I rarely go now.
i marinate barbeque ribs with mango jam, chilli flakes, light sauce and “tuba” (coconut sap wine), overnight. drain, slow-bake and grill. i use the reduced version of the mixture for brushing.
Awesome looking ribs Marketman! May I ask where were you able to pick up a big rack of ribs like that?
When I was working in the SF Bay Area for a while, I discovered that there were a lot of BBQ places, specifically in the Oakland/Emeryville/Berkeley area. Apparently, there was a wave of migration of Southerners to work in the Ports during WW2. They brought their cuisine with them and most stayed after the war. My personal favorite is Doug’s BBQ in Emeryville. Its a hole in the wall / take-out only place. Best to go during daylight as it is in a less than desireable neighborhood but worth the visit if you are in the area. An acceptable alternative is other alternative is Everett and Jones at Jack London Square in Oakland (a tourist spot).
The ribs you got look great. I ‘ve tried this at home same way except i just grill in a pan since we are just 3 at home. Not the same without the smoked flavor. When my mom does it, she boils it instead of baking as she finds it too fibrous if just baked. My problem is looking for good ribs to begin with. The ones in our neighbourhood Monterey look like they’ve been on a diet. They cut the meat really close to the bone. Oh, and i make my own barbecue sauce with liquid smoke to cheat on the lack of grilling. =)
I am in Houston Texas, and yes tasted dee Texas type slow cooked barbecue.. and yes I have been in North Carolina, in the boondocks side, so I was able to taste a different “sour”kind of barbecue which was new to me first kasi nga maasim. Imagine, they slow cooked the whole pig.. and then chopped the meat into pcs. like corned beef, and add the liquidy vinegar sauce on top before serving.. I prefer the Texas type, medio mas gusto ko yung manamis-namis na salty flavoring. My husband favors the beef tough than pork. and the kids – chicken.
yummy these are my favorites too, though they take a real long time to cook (and a pain as a i have a really tiny oven. i marinate mine in hoisin sauce, soysauce, honey, sugar, pepper, and star anise and bake it for almost 3 hours at 150 C or 2 hrs plus a short stint in the grill if weather permits. i put all the marinade in when i bake it and when it reduces, use that for the glazed/honey look. I tent it as well during the first hour I bake so that it doesn’t dry up too fast.
Goodness Heavens.. Porky goodness the closest alternative for me here is Lucille’s bbq love the pork just seperating from the Bones and the flavors is just right on the money. Smoked ribs in texas should be easy to find just ask the locals..
marketman, any tips on where to buy good quality meat? (e.g. where to buy those racks of ribs?)
Thanks APM!
my biggest secret in life- i Love ribs better than steak! :)
i’ll be doing this at home, thanks MM for the rcipe!
I am drooling!
It’s impossible to go on a diet and read your site at the same time!
Madeline if you are in the SF bay area, try Everett & Jones in downtown Oakland, I consider them the the best bbq place west of Texas. When i was living in San Antonio, TX in the mid ’80s, Bill Miller’s bbq was my favorite.
I do have a recipe for good bbq rub and have some tips for making good collard greens as side dish for the que. I’ve lived 5yrs in TX and 4yrs in south georgia so i know what good bbq is ;-) send me email if you want them.
mm, your top pic looks so scrumptious…your photo taking skills have definitely been honed by this blog!
Wow! Yummy! Nice pics. By the way, Mr. MM where did you buy the baby back ribs? Do you have to pre-order or is it readily available in the grocery? Gotta try it this sunday. :-)
Ted:
I had been in downtown Oakland but my cousin warned me to be very careful. My friend who is a nurse used to work in the hospital over there. They are usually escorted by their security guards when crossing the street and others have a shuttle going to downtown Sanfo. I had seen people shouting at each other at the parking lots. Is the crime rate there high? Anyway, once I go there, I will make it sure that I am with a friend. We will try Everett and Jones.
Danny,
I love Berkeley. We ate in a restaurant overlooking the Bay. Any restaurant you can suggest? Thanks
I love the Bay area very much better than other places I had been in California. You can go over the place without bothering your friends or relatives. Transportation is really better so I was able to explore it just by bringing a map.
Fried-neurons:
I had started reading your blogs from the start like what I did with MM and Anton’s Awesome Planet.
Rob-KSA, Mila and Ebba Myra:
will remember what you say! Thanks
Madeline: I do not want to scare you off. Like in any city in the world – there is a good area, mediocre and bad/notorious area all in one city. If you are looking for a good barbecue joint in America you will find them usually in Black neighborhood. Aside from football or any other ball games, music which the Black people excel well – Black people makes excellent barbecue along with the accompanying side dishes and desserts especially the one involved dry rub and low smoking process! Oakland, California has a billionaires row too and a hood area too where you will see the brothers and sister there if you know what I mean. Best thing just enjoy your barbecue in the Bay Area at lunch time but at the strike of dark avoid the area.
Maria Clara: Thanks for the advice. We ( me and my friend who works in a hospital there) usually leaves the area around 3pm.
My cousin is from Concord and we just went to the airport. She hates downtown Oakland.
Thank you so much for this post MM!! =) i’ve been looking for a good recipe for baby back ribs for quite some time now. you made it look so easy. thanks again!
Madeline: Another thing I forgot to mention in my earlier note to you. No one in America pays cash – we live on plastic card – credit card. As such, if you can stop by the bank and break your big bills like into 20 denominations yes I know they are bulky but I was told these hoodlums can sense you are a tourist if you carry big bills like in the 100 denominations and do not wear expensive jewelry leave your jewelry at home. When I travel I carry cash but I keep them around my belly area or stick them in my shoes- tennis shoes or boots in a plastic bag. I have money pouch that I strap around my stomach and just leave enough money in my purse for the day’s expenses. All other expenses I incur that day goes into my card. Better be safe than sorry.
Maria Clara thanks for your concern. I am not a tourist in the USA. I am an American citizen. I just stayed in the Bay area for 2 months for my examination. I bring smaller bills and credit card. I dont wear jewelries whenever I travel, locally and internationally.
Hi everyone, I found these meaty baby back ribs at S&R the other day. I was pleasantly surprised, I don’t find them there often. I also some baby back ribs at Metro, Market!Market! but they didn’t look as attractive…
Porkfolio: A compilation of mouth-watering pork pictures.
Sounds like it calls for chicken and waffles.. heehee ohh go old Ribs..
Madeline, a lot has changed in downtown Oakland these days. Due to the high cost of housing, downtown Oakland had a transformation. Everett & Jones is a block away from Jack London square (tourist area) so if you come that way specially at lunch or early dinner, no one would bother you. Also if you’re in that area, ask your friend to take you to Oakland’s China town, about 4 blocks away. There are so many excellent authentic chinese resto’s there as well. I’ve worked at Downtown Oakland before so i know the area.
If you are familiar with Hayward, i can recommend another hole in the wall place there named “Carmen’s family bbq”. It’s on A St. between I-880 and Hesperian blvd. I think Carmen’s is better than E & J, but that’s just my personal opinion.
Where can you buy kosher salt?
teny, I got mine at Metro grocery at Market!market!. Oddly, I also have a lot of it sent in in Balikbayan boxes as I prefer it to many other salts for everyday cooking.
just when I wanted to go vegan.tsk!tsk!
lee: i like “Porkfolio”! =)
OK, I’m guilty of boiling the ribs first before broiling. They do turn out soft and cooks faster. It’s just me and Kulas so it saves time. In occasions I bake the ribs, we use the dry rub but if we boil it first, I use a yet rub. Sobrang daya because I buy that Mc Cormick Smoked Hickory flavor thing and mix it along with ketsup, cider, brown sugar, some spices and liquid smoke. It turns out fine for us but I do wish I can do the slow long-time cooking to bring out much more flavor.
I’m also guilty of preboiling the meat for shortcuts but a few months back I chanced upon good cuts of baby back ribs at the meat section of SM supermarket so I tried the long way of grilling.And like you,MM, I gathered several recipes before starting.Most of the recipes suggested brining first to get moist,succulent meat.I did that overnight with just salt water although some add sugar.The next day I patted it dry then rub in my choice of dry spice rub then left it for 2 hours in the fridge.I started my charcoal and when covered with grey ash, I pushed all on one side of the grill and placed on top a small foil pan with wet hickory chips(got mine from rustan’s).I placed the marinated ribs on the side of the grill with no charcoal and cover the grill letting it slow cooked and smoked for 3 hours or more until internaltemp registered 170C.The result was worth the effort.Despite looking dry on the outside it was moist inside and flavorful not only because of the spice rub but the long smoking process involved.We didnt even need to slather it with too much BBQ sauce!It’s really a long process kaya nakakatamad ulitin…oh well…..will just go to a good BBQ resto next time!:)
Hi MarketMan! Just wanted to say that I love your blog. Having tried your recipes, I can say that they taste as good as they look in the pictures.
I tried making these ribs over the weekend, but as I live in blizzard country, I didn’t want to go outside and grill the ribs. So, I just broiled them instead and they still turned out great.
Thanks for another yummy recipe!
Hi Mr. MM i would like to thank you for sharing your baby back ribs recipe. I tried it yesterday for our valentines dinner and it was a hit! Everyone enjoyed it. Thank you very much. :-)
gentleman on the park said, he hasn’t seen any real baby back ribs here in florida. He also said they are all vacume packed and if you look, the ends are cut off. He said this is false advertising because they are not baby back ribs but the package says they are. Does he have a point or maybe he’s not wraped too tight. Answer please on my e-mail.
have been lurking for a few months, stumbled upon this site by accident–great site! am currently based in New Caledonia, having lived in Bangkok for 3 years (and Philippines & WDC, US)–am Pinay BTW.
up until 3 months ago, where we were, didn’t and couldn’t bbq–condo living. desperate for smoked bbq, I experimented and found a way to have quick, savory, melt off the bone “bbq” ribs:
i personally prefer make-your-own bbq sauce (low salt soy, catsup, chili oil, vinegar, s&p, honey, brown sugar, worcestershire or knorr/maggi seasoning and liquid smoke–and at this point, add any herb). marinade at least 4 hours room temp or 1-2 weeks in coldest part of fridge. when ready to cook, pan fry in small oil/butter (a bit messy coz it splatters) just to sear & seal juices. put in oven proof pan, sprinkle a bit more liquid smoke, cover with saran wrap (double cover) & microwave for 10 minute (for a full 8×10 pyrex). no fail, rain or shine!
MM! This looks extraordinary and riiiiiight up me alley :) One problem, I live in a flat so no bbq grill :( Any suggestions? Can I finish off with the bbq sauce in the oven on a higher temp? Or perhaps with the “broiler” setting? Help please :)
joey, yes, you can do this in an oven, particularly one with a broiler. After the baking step, slather the rack with barbecue sauce and stick under the broiler until just done… it wont take more than a few minutes under the broiler… it won’t be as smokey… but it should still taste pretty good!
Yay! Thanks!
Joey, I don’t have a bbq grill either so let me share with you how I do it: mix 1 cup pure orange juice and 1 cup Hunt’s original bbq sauce. Salt and pepper both sides of ribs and place ribs in a rectangular pyrex. Pour sauce over the ribs and marinate overnight I pierce the meaty part of the ribs with a fork so that the marinade seeps though the meat better. Bake covered in foil for two hours, and another 3 uncovered. Try it!
ted wanna share your recipe?
Here in Austrlia the barbeque is an established way of life and even flats have balconies which can accomodate a barbeque.
Indirect heat is the way to go and long, slow cooking. Moving your charcoal to only one side of the Weber means that you get no flare ups and you get even direct heat all over the meat, no dry areas. You can get semicircular metal charcoal receptacles for Webers which enable you to put the charcoal in a tidy section so that there is no direct heat under the meat. I usually fire up the barbeque at about 9 am for lunch at 1 pm., using settings for the most minimal heat, and adjusting as the charcoal burns down. You can also get a smoke box,which is a metal container for liuids such as wine, or wood shavings such as Hickory to add extra flavour.
A drip p[an can be place under he meat, and if you wish you can bake vegetables such as potatoes,corn (in its skin), pumpkin underneath the meat ( with the benefit of the drippings).
The meat always turns out tender and succulent, full of the flavour that only a charcoal barbeque can provide. Using a kamado instead of a Weber takes you into another dimension, with a different flavour, and even more tenderness. My grandfather used a kamado, and so did my father, so I grew up with a preference for the Kamado taste. However the Weber is so much more convenient, I tend to use it most of the time. In those days you could not buy a kamado from Manila, so we had to arrange to import directly from Japan.
After the meat is removed, I use the dying embers to roast eggplants and pimentos for future use.
Where did you buy the huge racks of baby back ribs? Does Monterey have them?
Thanks.
Ellie, they have them at S&R branches
did u cover the ribs when u baked them and what did u bake them in?? i was thinking about baking in a little beer for some flavor but im scared it will mess them up… what do u think??