Easiest way to cook pork ribs?

Scam · 1 Feb 2021 at 23:48

On a whim whilst buying some weekend treats at the butcher's, I grabbed a half rack of marinaded baby back pork ribs. I've never cooked them before as my girlfriend doesn't like them

( ). I'd lean towards sous viding and finishing in the oven but honestly I can't warrant the effort/electric bill for 5-6 ribs!

Could I just put them in the oven at 130c or something for a few hours or will they just dry out? What about covered in foil with a dash of water to keep them moist?

Smiffy-UK · 2 Feb 2021 at 00:03

My suggestion would be to session/rub them with what ever flavour your going for, add a bit of stock/liquid and then cling film a tight seal and then tinfoil over the top of that. Then slow cook for 3/4 hours at 130-140c.

About 6 years ago I was a head chef at a place called the chicken shack, the owners wanted me to do American style food. Soooo many spatchcocked chickens. They did however buy me a pressure cooker to cook the ribs. Took no time at all but the noise of the pressure valve was too much!!

Junglist · 2 Feb 2021 at 14:34

When I do ribs I like to season them with whatever flavour I fancy, sear them on a frying pan then i bung them in my pressure cooker for about an hour then once they're done there I put them under a grill to dry them out a bit. I keep all the thick liquid from the pressure cooker and simmer it off so it gets thick and then pour that over the ribs

May have to make some myself soon

Smiffy-UK · 2 Feb 2021 at 14:35

Junglist said:
When I do ribs I like to season them with whatever flavour I fancy, sear them on a frying pan then i bung them in my pressure cooker for about an hour then once they're done there I put them under a grill to dry them out a bit. I keep all the thick liquid from the pressure cooker and simmer it off so it gets thick and then pour that over the ribs

May have to make some myself soon

What time is dinner? Sounds great!

Junglist · 2 Feb 2021 at 15:56

Smiffy-UK said:
What time is dinner? Sounds great!

Hey, you're the more experienced ones, mine probably taste terrible compared!

Scam · 2 Feb 2021 at 17:02

Thanks guys. They're already marinaded. I guess I should chuck them in the oven now at 130c ish - woops!

BUDFORCE · 3 Feb 2021 at 06:58

Waaaaaaat.

Assuming you can't cook on a BBQ?

Oven is second best, first 20 minutes uncovered 200c they want to get some colour, then wrap them in tin foil, if you have apple juice or cola (either is fine) put that in.

Then 2.5 / 3 hours real low, llike you say I'd go 120-130c.

Then unwrap, back in for 10 minutes uncovered, but keep it low. This will just stop the outside bring so wet and help it caramelised.

Edit: on the first stage you want them from the outside anyway, almost look like they are cooked, obviously inside they'll be raw and tough, but if you go straight wrapped they'll come out grey and soggy looking. If they are not looking like they are even starting to colour after 20 minutes leave them unwrapped for another 10 minutes etc until they got good colour.

Scam · 3 Feb 2021 at 16:18

BUDFORCE said:
Waaaaaaat.

Assuming you can't cook on a BBQ?

No garden, no bbq

In the end I put them in a small dish, put some dashes of liquid smoke over them and in the dish, plus maybe 100ml water. Then covered with two bits of foil tight and baked for 3hrs at 130c. Had to turn it up for the last 45mins to book my girlfriend's sausages

p) and make sure the jacket potatoes were 100% done, so I uncovered the ribs for the last 20mins or so. They turned out great! Completely fell off the bone. Very chuffed. (NB: These were already marinaded by the butcher)

Next time if I buy a whole rack and am making a rub etc. I'll probably go for sous vide and finishing in the oven. But it made sense since we were doing sausages and jackets to just use the oven. Otherwise I get told off for using too much electricity/gadgets etc. :rolleyes:

Andy__C · 3 Feb 2021 at 18:44

I oven cooked some baby back ribs on the weekend for the first time ever.... we have a Kamado Joe and a Pit Barell so usually everything and their cousin gets smoked or grilled. I was out of charcoal/wood and the weather was awful so we slow cooked in the oven.

We had 2 racks of ribs and added rub then slow cooked @120 for about 4hrs. The first rack tasted way off, chewy and "off pork" (it probably wasn;t but our taste buds are probably over conditioned to grill or BBQ) so I popped the 2nd rack under the grill and got some char/mailard and that brought the ribs round.

What I'm trying to get to is.... have a go at a few methods given your cooking source availability... don't be afraid to get the grill on and char as well once cooked.

Scam · 4 Feb 2021 at 12:15

Andy__C said:
What I'm trying to get to is.... have a go at a few methods given your cooking source availability... don't be afraid to get the grill on and char as well once cooked.

I think my next method will be homemade rub/sauce, sous vide (with liquid smoke), then finish under the grill. It's just an awful lot of work for something my girlfriend doesn't eat

Junglist · 4 Feb 2021 at 14:44

Scam said:
I think my next method will be homemade rub/sauce, sous vide (with liquid smoke), then finish under the grill. It's just an awful lot of work for something my girlfriend doesn't eat

Isn't that the bonus? It's all for you!

I'm a big pressure cooker advocate but that's because I'm really impatient and hate waiting.