| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 6 hr 30 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Inactive: | 3 hr |
| Cook: | 3 hr |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 racks pork spareribs (about 3 pounds each)
- 1/2 cup Memphis Shake or Cajun Rub, recipes follow
- 3 cups wood chips, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes and drained
- 2 cups of one of the following: Kansas City-Style BBQ Sauce or Chile-Coffee BBQ Sauce, recipes follow
- 1/4 cup sweet paprika
- 3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons granulated garlic
- 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- 2 tablespoons granulated garlic
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 2 tablespoons sweet paprika
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3 bay leaves, crumbled
- 2 tablespoons neutral tasting oil, such as grapeseed or vegetable
- 6 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 slightly heaping tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- Pinch ground cloves
- 2 cups ketchup
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup dark molasses
- 1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons English-style dried mustard
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 guajillo chiles
- 3 mulato chiles
- 1/2 medium onion, cut into wedges
- 6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- 2 tablespoons corn oil
- 1 cup tomato puree
- 1 cup strong black coffee
- 1/4 cup turbinado sugar
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus additional for seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
- Pinch ground cloves
- Pinch ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
Instructions
- Trim the membrane off the back of the ribs and rub ribs all over with spice blend. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours. Soak wood chips in water for at least 30 minutes before grilling.
- Prepare an outdoor grill with a medium fire for indirect grilling. Place a drip pan, half-filled with water, under the cooler side of the grill grate. Open bottom vents of the grill.
- Set the ribs over the drip pan. (If you have a rib rack, use it.) Toss 1 cup of the drained wood chips onto the coals and cover the grill. Rotate the lid so that the vent holes are directly over the ribs. Add about 1 cup of hardwood charcoals to the fire about every hour during the cooking time to maintain a medium to medium-low fire (a temperature of about 250 degrees F to 275 degrees F is ideal). After 3 hours the meat should pull back from the bones and will have turned a reddish brown. Baste the ribs with some of the barbecue sauce of your choice and cook over direct heat until lightly glazed. Cut the racks into ribs and serve with extra sauce on the side.
- Whisk paprika, brown sugar, oregano, garlic, ancho powder, salt, and celery salt in a small bowl. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 2 months.
- Makes about 3/4 cup
- Mix brown sugar, oregano, parsley, garlic, onion powder, paprika, thyme, black pepper, salt, celery salt, white pepper, cayenne, and bay leaves in a bowl. Pulse in a spice grinder in two batches to a medium-fine grind. Seal in an airtight container and store in a cool, dry place for up to 2 months.
- Makes 1 cup
- Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, tomato paste, chili powder, paprika, red pepper, allspice, and cloves and cook, stirring, until paste is dark brick red, about 3 minutes. Add the ketchup, water, vinegar, molasses, brown sugar, salt, soy sauce, Worcestershire, mustard, black pepper, and bay leaf. Adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the flavors come together, about 30 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf before using.
- Makes about 1 quart
- Split, stem, and seed the chiles. Toast the chiles in a dry skillet over medium-high heat, turning and flattening with a spatula, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Put the chiles in a heatproof bowl, cover with very hot water, and set aside until soft, about 30 minutes. Drain, reserve soaking liquid, chop chiles roughly, and set aside.
- While the chiles soak, char the onion and garlic in the same dry skillet over medium heat until the onion blackens slightly and garlic softens in the skin, about 8 minutes. Cool, squeeze the garlic out of the skin, and put in a blender with chiles and onion. Puree to a paste, adding soaking liquid as needed (about 3/4 cup) to help the mixture break down.
- Heat the oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chile mixture and cook, stirring, until thick and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Add the tomato puree, coffee, sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, oregano, cloves, and cumin. Adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in vinegar and season with salt to taste.
- Makes 1 quart
Reviews
None of the reviews say which rub or sauce they used.
These were the best ribs I have ever had. They would rival any ribs from a restaurant.
I’ve made this recipe so many times and there isn’t one person out there that does not LOVE the ribs. I only really use the rub and bbq sauce to season my ribs, and then I cook in the oven for a few hours before putting on the gril for about 20 minutes.
Its out of this world delicious!
The advice to cook at 270 for 3 hours is absurd. How many pounds, when to turn ? Tough pork os no good?
These were the best ribs I have ever cooked; so much so my boyfriend asked me to marry him. After dinner, we went to buy the rings at Windsor! A wopping 3.5 Carats. Yesssssssssssssssss!
It was fabulous! I have never cooked ribs before either. It was easy, and delicious!