foolproof oven ribs

after oxtail, ribs are probably my favorite meat dish. but the thought of cleaning the grates of a grill and lugging a bag of charcoal around seem like more work than it's worth. and how about all of that ash? no thanks. sure, i could use a propane grill (in fact that's actually what i have at home anyhow) but let's not forget the scrubbing down grates part. i'm far too lazy to endure that type of torture if i'm cooking for one. so what do you do when you just feel like some ribs but cannot get yourself to do it the "right" way? enter: oven ribs. they lack the smoky flavor, but they're pretty damn good, i've got to say! cook them slowly and steady and they fall right off the bone.

this recipe calls for a dry rub, but then you slather it with loads of bbq sauce so that you've got the best of both worlds. a little sweet, a little smoky (i know i said they lack smokiness but you get a little with the paprika in the rub), a lot easier to clean up. in fact, the clean up process is just one step: toss foil. that's it! life is just a little bit easier if you decide to make your ribs this way. trust me.

 smoked paprika is best but this works too

seal tight. 

careful not to burn yourself with the steam when you open that pocket of meat. it hurts.

in a semi-hurry, i cooked these for 2 hrs and 15 minutes. if you cook them longer they will recede from the bone even more and get even more tender. 

oven ribs

ingredients:

-1 rack of ribs

-3/4 c brown sugar
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 tbs paprika
-1 tbs garlic powder
-1/2 tsp cayenne
-2 c any bbq sauce (i used Sweet Baby Ray's)

directions:

1. preheat oven to 300 degrees F

2. peel off tough membrane on bony side of ribs
3. mix sugar and spices together to form the dry rub
4. rub all sides of the rib with dry rub
5. lay ribs over two layers of thick foil on a baking sheet, meat side down
6. lay two layers of thick foil on top of ribs and fold edges together to make a seal
7. bake for 2-2.5 hrs until meat starts to shrink away from the ends of the bone.
8. remove from oven, uncover and drain excess juices from the pan
9. heat broiler
10. brush bony side of ribs with bbq sauce
11. broil for 1-2 minutes until the sauce is cooked on and bubbling. do this twice.
12. flip ribs over to brush meat side with bbq sauce
13. repeat broiling process