Barbecue pork ribs
BBQ ribs
Baby back ribs rubbed with brown sugar and smoked paprika, baked low in foil until tender, then finished on a hot grill with a sticky tomato sauce.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: BBQ ribs.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 2 hr 50 min
- Rest
- 1 hr
- Total
- 4 hr 10 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Spice
- Mild
- Cost
- Treat yourself$28+ USD · indicative, not a store price
About
These are backyard ribs, not pit ribs. Two racks of baby backs get a dry rub of brown sugar, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, garlic and mustard, then bake wrapped in foil at a low heat until the meat bends away from the bone. That part does the tenderising. The grill does the rest: a few minutes over direct heat, brushed with a sweet, sharp tomato and molasses sauce in thin coats, until the sauce sets and catches at the edges. Pull the membrane off the bone side before anything else. It is the difference between ribs you bite cleanly and ribs you chew.
What you'll need
16 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
- Ribs and rub
- Sauce
Ingredients
Ribs and rub
- Pork, 2 racks baby back ribs2 kg
- Brown sugar40 g
- Smoked paprika30 ml
- Salt15 ml
- Black pepper, coarsely ground9.9 ml
- Garlic powder9.9 ml
- Mustard powder4.9 ml
- Cayenne pepper2½ ml
Sauce
- Tomato ketchup250 g
- Apple cider vinegar60 ml
- Brown sugar50 g
- Molasses30 ml
- Worcestershire sauce15 ml
- Mustard, yellow15 ml
- Garlic, grated1 clove
- Hot sauce (optional)4.9 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Turn the racks bone side up. Slide a butter knife under the thin membrane at one end, grip it with a paper towel and pull it off in one sheet. Pat the ribs dry.
5 min
Tip: If it tears, start again from the other end. Every bit you leave turns leathery.
Step 2
Mix the rub ingredients and season both sides of the racks heavily, pressing it on. Leave them an hour at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge, uncovered.
60 min
Step 3
Heat the oven to 150°C. Wrap each rack tightly in a double layer of foil, meat side up, and set them on a baking tray. Bake for about 2.5 hours, until the meat has shrunk back about 1 cm from the bone ends, a rack sags deeply when you lift it from the middle with tongs, and a thermometer slid between the bones reads about 90 to 95°C.
150 min150°C
Step 4
While the ribs bake, simmer all the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until thick enough to coat a spoon.
15 min
Step 5
Heat a barbecue to medium-high. Unwrap the ribs and grill them meat side down for 3 to 4 minutes, then turn, brush with sauce and grill 3 to 4 minutes more. Turn and brush twice more until the sauce is sticky and lightly charred at the edges.
15 min
Tip: No barbecue: use the oven grill on high, top shelf, 3 to 4 minutes per coat, watched closely.
Watch: The sugar in the rub and sauce burns quickly. Move the ribs to the cooler side of the grill if it flares up.
Step 6
Rest the racks for five minutes, cut between the bones and serve with the rest of the sauce on the side.
5 min
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 1398 kcal
- Protein
- 136.8 g
- Carbs
- 44.5 g
- Fat
- 70.8 g
- Saturated fat
- 25.2 g
- Fibre
- 1.2 g
- Sugar
- 37.7 g
- Sodium
- 2630 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Fish
- Dairy-free
- Nut-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 12 November.
Substitutions
Homemade sauce → A bottled Kansas City-style barbecue sauce
Thin it with a splash of cider vinegar so it brushes on in thin coats instead of sitting in a sugary layer.
Worcestershire sauce → Soy sauce
Removes the anchovy for a fish-free sauce, but adds soy and wheat.
Tips
- Pour the juices from the foil into the sauce and simmer it a few minutes longer. It is pork stock and seasoning, and it belongs there.
- For some smoke without a smoker, throw a handful of soaked hickory chips onto the coals at the grilling stage.
- St. Louis-cut spareribs work the same way. Give them 30 to 45 minutes longer in the oven.
History & culture
Ribs are summer holiday food, Memorial Day to Labor Day, eaten with your fingers and a roll of paper towels. The styles split by region. Kansas City sauces them thick and sweet, as here. Memphis serves them dry, rub only, with sauce on the side. Texas cares more about beef, and the Carolinas about whole hog and shoulder.
The word comes from barbacoa, a Taíno word the Spanish picked up in the Caribbean for a wooden cooking frame. Southern barbecue grew around pork, and its pit skills belonged largely to enslaved Black cooks; after emancipation many of the first barbecue businesses were Black-owned. Henry Perry, who sold smoked ribs wrapped in newspaper in Kansas City from the early 1900s, is the acknowledged founder of that city's trade.
Modern adaptation — Pitmasters smoke ribs for five or six hours at around 110°C over hickory or oak, which gives a pink smoke ring and a dry bark that an oven cannot. Baking in foil is the home shortcut: it steams the meat tender, much as smokers do for part of the cook and call the Texas crutch, and the grill puts back some char. Competition cooks would not call it barbecue, and they would have a point. Worcestershire sauce contains anchovy, hence the fish allergen.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Barbecue pork ribs take?
4 hr 10 min all in — 20 min prep, 2 hr 50 min cook, 1 hr rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 4 people. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Medium.
How spicy is it?
Mild.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Fish. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Dairy-free, Nut-free.
10 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Treat yourself — about $28+ USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Oven, Baking tray, Saucepan, Tongs.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1 tbsp.
How much brown sugar?
40 g of Brown sugar.
How much brown sugar?
50 g of Brown sugar.
What can I use instead?
Homemade sauce → A bottled Kansas City-style barbecue sauce. Thin it with a splash of cider vinegar so it brushes on in thin coats instead of sitting in a sugary layer. Worcestershire sauce → Soy sauce. Removes the anchovy for a fish-free sauce, but adds soy and wheat.
What should I watch for?
The sugar in the rub and sauce burns quickly. Move the ribs to the cooler side of the grill if it flares up.
Any tips from this recipe?
Pour the juices from the foil into the sauce and simmer it a few minutes longer. It is pork stock and seasoning, and it belongs there. For some smoke without a smoker, throw a handful of soaked hickory chips onto the coals at the grilling stage. St. Louis-cut spareribs work the same way. Give them 30 to 45 minutes longer in the oven.
Can I prepare this ahead?
Mix the rub ingredients and season both sides of the racks heavily, pressing it on. Leave them an hour at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge, uncovered.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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