ribs Archives | foodiecrush

The best seasoning to put on ribs to achieve flavorful, fall-off-the-bone tender bites isn’t a liquid sauce or a marinade. It’s all in the rub baby, a homemade dry rub made from spices and herbs you probably have sitting in your pantry right now.

When I was a novice rib cooker, I thought you cooked ribs just like a steak or a hamburger—you simply put the uncooked ribs in the oven or on the grill, then slathered them with bbq sauce to cook until they were just cooked through. What resulted from that bonehead technique was ribs that were flavorlesss, tough, and in the end were scorched to a burnt crisp thanks to the sugars in the barbecue sauce.

What I didn’t know is ribs need time…low and slow cooking time in the oven or in the smoker to break down those tough fibers and tenderize. I also learned (and as any award winning rib pit master knows) the key to great ribs is a generous rub of seasonings that soak into and permeate the meat, drawing out the moisture to tenderize and add flavor over several hours—or even days—of refrigerated marinating time.

Dry rub recipes created by those pit masters are more closely guarded than their social security numbers. My husband came up with this dry rub combination years ago and dubbed it his “magic dust”. While he’s no pit master, it is his secret to the best barbecue baby back ribs and seasoning chicken, pork chops, steaks or other cuts of beef.

He’s never been good at keeping secrets, so now his magic dust recipe is about to become your secret ingredient, too.

continue to the recipe… about The Best Dry Rub for Ribs

This weekend we’re packing the coolers, loading up the truck with big boy toys and heading out of town with friends to the mountains.

It’s one of our favorite weekends filled with deep breaths in the stunning outdoors, leisurely morning coffee time on the aspen tree-lined deck and way too much laughter. More than most could possibly bear.

Afterall, we’re a funny and sarcastic group. Or at least we think so.

Besides hanging, hiking and harrassing, it’s the perfect occasion to get together and cook. Our grocery list takes precedence over the contents of our weekend-packed bags. Memorial day calls for chillin’ and grillin’ and nothin’ says grillin’ like RIBS!

My husband has spent many a day trying various methods to create the most succulent ribs to suckle and savor upon. So what’s his big secret?

Take them to the oven before they ever hit the fire. Most think ribs need to be cooked over an open grilled flame, but using the grill as a finishing agent instead of your main cooker is the key.

We season then refrigerate, and bake the ribs low and slow until its time for an introduction to the open flame. Sounds like most dating gigs right?

Heat the ribs on the grill first then baste with sauce. If you add the sauce too early you’ll be sure to end up with blackened crusty outtards thanks to the potential for burning the sugar in the barbecue sauce rather than the savory and delicious variety we all crave.

This rub is from my brother-in-law, a Virginian cum Texan with a penchant and passion for grilling and smoking. We first tasted this rub over Easter 2 years ago and its been a go-to for us ever since. I think my husband dreams of this rub as he covets my brother-in-law’s ultimate smoker.

5 from 3 votes

Barbeque Pork Ribs with Magic Dust

Ingredients

4 racks baby back pork ribs 9 to 12 pounds
2 cups apple cider
¼ cup sweet paprika
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons pepper
1 tablespoon chile powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons celery salt
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Your favorite barbeque sauce

Instructions

1. Combine all dry ingredients and generously rub over surface of ribs. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place room temperature ribs on high edged baking sheet lined with wire rack. Pour 1 cup apple cider in baking sheet, place ribs on rack and cook for 1 ½ hours. Add another 1 cup cider and cook for another 1 ½ hours or until meat pulls apart from bones.
3. Preheat grill to medium high. Grill ribs for 7-10 minutes each side, basting with barbeque sauce. Remove and serve.

Recipe Notes

from Ardie Davis and Paul Kirk

Ribs, they’re the main event, right? But we all need a little somethin’ extra to complement the Q. Here’s a complete Q-fest menu, ready to be prepped, rattled and rolled into your awaiting belly.

Let’s get this party started and bring out our inner hillbilly with Jen and Keep It Simple Foods Blueberry Infused Vodka Lemonade featuring our favorite weekend delivery vessel that withstands the strongest shot: the basic Mason jar.

Sweet corn gets an even sweeter kick in the drawers with Greg’s adaptation of SippitySup’s Grilled Corn with Feta and Lime thanks to a spicy hit of chili powder, salty cheese and puckerish citrus

Cue the flurry of backyard friends and hungry eaters, Brooklyn Summers’ Classic Potato Salad keeps it basic but loaded with tons of flavor thanks to crunchy celery and salty brined capers

Add a simple but elegant ending to your BBQ with Kathryn’s sweet hot mess called London Bakes Rhubarb and Basil Galette. Oh, and don’t you dare forget the vanilla ice cream.

Foodie Crush mag is just around the corner. Don’t forget to submit your frozen treat recipe to be included in the issue. Because you could rub frozen shoulders with some of the web’s best and brightest. Yes, I mean you too!

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4.34 from 3 votes