Oven Baked Ribs

Is it barbeque if you make it in the oven? I won’t make that decision. Barbeque is one of those American cuisines that can be as divisive as it is unifying. Most of us love a juicy piece of meat slathered in sauce or crusted in dry rub, but we all have opinions on how it should be done. So, if you think baking ribs in the oven is not barbeque, don’t call this barbeque. Call it cheating.

These ribs are both dry rubbed and sauced over the course of what can be a four hour prep time. I like to take the ribs out of my fridge about an hour before I apply the dry rub to allow them to come to temperature, and then let the dry rub sit for another forty-five minutes to an hour on the meat before cooking.

The sauce we put together is very vinegar forward, so I would not recommend it for anything other than slathering the ribs. The sourness of the sauce is best employed as a glaze coating on the ribs. It will seem like too much when you taste it independently. 

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Dry Rub:

• Two TBS garlic salt
  • The mix i had was garlic powder, salt, and dried parsley. Garlic powder will be a fine substitute
• 1 tbs cumin
• ½ tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 2 tsp white pepper powder
• Additional salt to taste

Sauce:

• 2 Cloves Garlic
• ½ shallot
• 1 tbs butter
• ½ cup ketchup
• ½ Apple Cider Vinegar
• 4 dashes of Worchestershire Sauce
• 2 tbs caster sugar
• 1 tbs thai red chili flakes (regular red chili will suffice)
• 1 tsp Ground Mustard
• ¼ cup of water
• Salt and pepper

1. Mix and apply the dry rub to the meat about 45 minutes prior to cook time. Toward the end of this period, preheat the oven to 350 fahrenheit. Line baking sheets with foil depending on the size of your rack of ribs.
2. To prepare the sauce, finely chop garlic and shallot. Preheat a small saucepan over medium heat and melt butter into the pan. Sweat the shallot and garlic until shallot is translucent. Begin to add the spices to bloom them in the fat prior to adding liquids. After the spices have been in the butter for about thirty seconds, add all liquid ingredients.
3. Stir ketchup, vinegar, and water until the ketchup has loosened. Allow sauce to reach a simmer and reduce heat to maintain simmer. Reduce volume by about 1/3rd while your ribs are in the oven.
4. The ribs will start the cook dry, and after about an hour, begin applying the sauce to both sides. Allow the sauce to cook in the oven on the ribs for about fifteen minutes between each coating. I applied two coats to my ribs, but feel free to take them farther if you want a stickier rib.
5. After the ribs have reached 160 degrees fahrenheit internally, remove from the oven and allow to rest for ten minutes before carving. If you do not have a meat thermometer, the desired temp should be reached after two hours in the oven.

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