Slow cooked BBQ pork ribs

Have to say that I’ve been really enjoying our BBQ.  I love cooking everything on it, from steaks to hamburgers to salmon.  Nothing beats the charry smokey flavours from the grill and best of all, it doesn’t stink out the house!  I’ve been trying various recipes, and some of the best I’ve used have come from the BBQ Pit Boys, a US website dedicated to the art of BBQ.  As much as BBQ is a huge Aussie tradition, I reckon the Americans take it to another level, with their rubs, marinades, moppin’ sauces and hickory wood chips.  What I love about the BBQ Pit Boys is that each recipe is explained in a youtube video by a dude resembling a member of ZZ Top, with a slow American drawl and old time grillin’ music in the background.

Here I tried their basic BBQ spare ribs recipe, with beautiful spare ribs that we bought from Grasser Pork during the Melbourne Showground Farmer’s Market.  You will need:

Ingredients:
Pork Spare Ribs (we used a couple of short American racks)
Your favorite Dry Rub
Basting (Moppin’) Sauce
Wood chunks or chips for added flavor (optional)

You can use store-bought rubs and sauces, but I had a go at making my own.

Dry Rub

• Sugar, half a cup
• Paprika, 2 tablespoons
• Coarse salt, quarter of a cup
• Coarse pepper, half a tablespoon
• Garlic powder, 1 teaspoon
• Chilli powder, half a tablespoon
• Cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon

Mix well in a bowl.

BBQ Sauce

• Ketchup, 2 cups
• Apple vinegar cider, half a cup
• Sugar, 2 tablespoons
• Garlic powder, half a tablespoon
• Celery seed, 1 teaspoon
• Ground cumin, 1 teaspoon
• Chilli powder, 1 teaspoon
• Cayenne pepper, half a tablespoon
• Coarse salt, 1 tbs
• Water, quarter of a cup

Mix well and simmer for 5 minutes until the consistency that you prefer.

Method

Preheat your grill to 225-250f (120C).  I used a gas BBQ, but being purists, the BBQ pit boys use coals.

Coat the ribs with the dry rub.  Make sure to apply to all parts.  For max flavour, allow to marinade for one hour.
Allow ribs to come to room temperature just before placing on the BBQ.

Cut ribs into smaller portions to save space on the grill.  The idea then is to stack the ribs one on top of another, and then alternate each stack at the bottom to ensure all ribs get some char from the grill.

You can place a mopping sauce pan on the grill to keep it warm if you intend to baste your ribs.

BBQ with a closed grill lid for about 3-4 hours, depending on the size of the ribs.  If you’re using coals, you can add some hickory wood chips into the coals for some extra smoky flavour.

Mop with the BBQ sauce several times and slowly baste the ribs on all sides.  You need a low heat for this, as most sauces contain sugar and will burn at higher heat.

Remove the racks when the ribs pull apart easily and with some meat still attached to the bone.  Use a meat cleaver to cut the ribs up before serving.

Serve with your favorite barbecue sauce and sides.  Here we had corn and mash potato, but a ‘slaw would probably be a more traditional side.