I'm only deathly afraid of a few things. Heights. Spiders. Intimacy. And I would consider myself culinarily adventurous. I'm happy to make many things that most people shy away from: pavlovas, souffles, French macarons. But I fear ribs. Like, I feel actual coldness in my heart when I think about them. They just seem too impossible.
That was until I met our colleague Mike. Mike really likes to grill, and he smokes meats with the kind of confidence you see on those barbecue challenge shows. He stays up all night checking the temperature and sets fancy timers to alert him when his food has reached smoking perfection. Frankly, it's a little weird. But he seemed like the perfect guy to get me over my fear and take us through a foolproof, no-fail rib recipe.
To be fair, this isn't Mike's exact regimen. His real process is a little more involved—a little more allegiant to barbecue purists of the world. (Honestly, if I call him out by his full name here, his friends on his barbecue blogs might never let him hear the end of it.) But I beat him down and begged him to make this process as simple and painless as humanly possible, but still goddamn delish. Setting up the grill (we used a 22-inch Weber Master-Touch) takes a second—see our how-to here—but his cooking process is incredibly doable.
Here's how he does it:
Step 1: Trim
Start with pork spare ribs, which are available in most supermarkets and at Costco. (Plan for about 1/2 rack per person.) Even out the ends (any parts without a bone in it), and trim the odd flap off the back—all of which would most likely catch on fire once the rack is on the grill.
Step 2: Pull
Separate the membrane from along the back of the ribs. (I whined and asked if we could skip this step—Mike said no.)
Step 3: Season
Cover the rack generously with salt and a rub of your choice. (There are tons of good store versions, but making your own is pretty simple.) Mike's recipe comes from AmazingRibs.com: It's called Memphis Dust. It's a mix of white and brown sugars, paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, ground ginger, onion powder, and rosemary powder.
Step 4: Grill
Place them on your strategically set-up grill. If you really didn't want to go through the trouble, do these three things, at the very least: Place a tray of water inside the grill (which keeps the meat moist), turn half your grill off and the other half on low, and place the ribs on the off side. Mike might not sanction this incredibly lazy version, but we at Delish won't judge.
Step 5: Baste
Cook the ribs for 5 to 6 hours. (Mike uses the bend test—he picks up the slab with tongs, and if the bark on the outside cracks, they're done.) Apply a barbecue sauce (he likes Sweet Baby Ray's) to the top of the rack and place them back on the grill (sauce-side down) for another minute or two to allow them to caramelize.
Step 6: Slice
Transfer the rack to a cutting board and slice. (If the meat is falling off the bone, the ribs are overdone. But they'll still be pretty delish.) Take a moment to appreciate how awesome you are for attempting this, and then eat with enthusiasm. You did it.
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