Are you craving savory pork ribs? Cooking pork ribs seems easy enough to do at first glance, but tender, flavorful ribs actually require planning, patience and even practice in some cases.
Prepare Your Seasoning
The perfect pork ribs are juicy, flavorful and fall off of the bone. They are the ideal treat for a family dinner, for game day or for a get-together with friends and neighbors. There are two primary ways to season pork ribs before cooking them. The first is to use a simple combination of salt and pepper. The alternative is to prepare a dry rub. There are numerous dry rub recipes that you can follow, and many contain ingredients like paprika, garlic powder, dried thyme, cayenne pepper, and a few other items.
Prepare the Ribs
Most pork ribs are sold with a thin, whitish membrane over them. While this is edible, the membrane can become chewy after it is cooked. Remove the membrane before marinating your ribs. If you choose a dry rub seasoning, rub the seasoning over the meat. Then, wrap it in foil, and place it in the fridge overnight. This allows the flavors ample time to penetrate deeply into the meat.
Select Your Cooking Method
Some people bake their ribs in the oven, and others toss them directly onto the grill. A smart idea is to combine these two steps. Slowly baking the ribs at a low temperature will produce tender, juicy ribs. Perfect ribs also have a slight crispness to the exterior. To achieve crispness and tenderness, you can finish the ribs by grilling them briefly before serving them.
Slow-Cook the Ribs
Unwrap the ribs from the foil, and place them in a deep cooking dish that is lined with aluminum foil. While the ribs will produce their own juices, you should place about a quarter-inch of water at the bottom of the pan. Then, place another layer of foil tightly over the top of the pan. Bake the ribs for approximately two hours at 250 degrees. If you want to know what temp pork ribs are done, aim for 160 degrees. Pork is cooked at 145 degrees, but to achieve the perfect level of tenderness, it should be heated to 160 degrees so that the connective tissue between the ribs begins to break down. You should use a thermometer to verify the temperature. However, you also should pick up a rib to see if the meat is loose and tender rather than rely solely on knowing what temp pork ribs are done.
Finish the Ribs with Sauce
You can get the crispy exterior that you desire by placing the cooked ribs on a grill for a few minutes or by finishing off the ribs without foil in the oven. You may even broil the ribs for several minutes. Before serving the ribs, cover them with your preferred flavor of barbecue sauce. Ensure that the sauce is heated before applying it.
This is only one way to cook perfect pork ribs. You can experiment with different rubs, sauces and cooking methods to find your preferred method