Slow-cooking ribs in a standard convection oven

[Neubob]

I've searched the internet on how to prepare babyback ribs in a regular oven, and have a basic understanding of what needs to get done for the meat to fall of the bone the way it should. The ideas are overly generic, however, and seem to lack any personal touch at all.

I know that using an oven may be considered blasphemy in certain places, but that's all I have at the moment...Anybody here have any personal recipes or techniques they'd care to share?

I'd like to do some experimenting later in the week, so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated

[Hien]

1. Tie as many of them as you can to an A6M2
2.  Throw it at an enemy CV
3. ????
4. Profit

My preferred way of cooking meats.

[Mark Luper]

I have had good luck cooking meats in an oven in a roasting pan. I normally sprinkle some onion soup on the meat then cook it at 375° to 425°  for about a half hour to 45 minutes followed by 3 to 4 hours at 300°. I don't normally add any water but that is dependent on the amount of fat on the piece I am cooking.

I normally cook a briskit this way and it tastes great and melts in your mouth. I havn't tried ribs cooked this way though but would think that it should work pretty much the same.

Mark

[Neubob]

Thanks Mark, I will try some variation on that. The cook times and moistening agent (onion soup in your example) was what I was most interested in.


Hein, enough with the Southpark rip offs. The elves stole Cartman's underwear, and that's where that should have ended.

[Mark Luper]

BTW, the onion soup was a powder mix, not liquid.  There are quite a few available in your local grocery store and I generally will use the beef flavored ones.

I suppose if the ribs were lean enough you could use liquid onion soup. Use the mix with water.

Good luck.

Mark

[Arlo]

I'm in the running for the worst cook in the world, so rather than offer up a personal recipe, as you requested, I found the closest one I could to what friends of mine hinted at being their secret weapon (well, guess they figured they could trust me since I just usually brought the meat over for them to cook, anyway. That and since I wasn't interested in cooking, I never bothered to write down or commit to memory all of what they told me). But the following does seem kinda familiar:

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/45/Oven-Baked-Spare-Ribs---Two-Ways

[Neubob]

I've actually seen that one, Arlo. It gave me some hope that this wouldn't be a total fiasco. I mean it's straight forward, right? How can you possibly screw that up?

I'm sure I'll have a very good answer to that question within 2-3 days.

[SD67]

180°C for about X hours in pan baste liberally and regularly with mixture of Worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce, soy sauce and honey (only use a dash of soy in relation to the others).
X Hours depends on number of ribs, basically keep going, turning them with tongs and spooning sauce over at reasonable intervals until they begin to disintegrate as they are turned.
Add liquid as required to keep desired sauce consistency.

[nirvana]

My mom usually cooks them for a good couple of hours, 5+ in a ceramic baking dish at 300 ish degrees I guess.  Once they get almost ready to fall off the bone, throw them on the grill and rub with BBQ sauce or whatever you prefer.  Always tastes good to me.

[kamilyun]

I've been doing a lot of carnitas and ropa vieja lately...they fall apart and can be eaten with a spoon if you wanted  Something about fall/winter that makes traditional meat dishes more appealing.

I'd bet that ribs could be done the same way...low and slow (4 hours, 300 degrees?).  You probably want a nice caramlized finish to them, I bet.  Some meats this is done ahead of time (sear in a pan, finish in the oven), but probably with ribs, you could finish uncovered broiling for 5-10 minutes.

Maybe cook in shallow dish with sauce or rub?  Pour off juices/sauce, then broil?  

Yah, more generic advice...but experiment!  I'll cook the same dish with small variations every 3-4 days until I get it 'right' or wifey says she's sick of it.

Post pictures of your concoction

[clerick]

goto food.com and research rubs.  They are very important for BBQ IMHO.  I use one by "Alton Brown" as the basis for my rib rub

Found it after it posted, go here

[kamilyun]

Originally posted by clerick
goto food.com and research rubs.  They are very important for BBQ IMHO.  I use one by "Alton Brown" as the basis for my rib rub

Found it after it posted, go here

I love that show.  A bit 'over the top' with some of the attempted humor, but he's great at explaining the role of each ingredient and how changing this or that affects the overall product.

[clerick]

I think that Neubob would appreciate it

[Hien]

Originally posted by Neubob



Hein, enough with the Southpark rip offs. The elves stole Cartman's underwear, and that's where that should have ended.

...

I had forgotten what that was from...

Thanks, and will do.  


 For now.

[68ROX]

Mark's roasting pan idea is very good.

Add to that another pan on a different rack (at least 5" deep) half filled with water...this will help keep the meat from drying out.

I'd baste from time to time with 1/3 butter, 1/3 worchestershire sauce, 1/3 hickory liquid smoke....UNLESS you are a dry rub man.

OR...use a covered dish for more juicy ribs.

I do dry rub, and have BBQ sauce for dipping at the table.

You can have ribs that are falling off the bone tender that are still juicy and not dried out like a hockey puck.  A meat thermometer will help, but it's tough with ribs to get an accurate reading.

When you can, I recomend getting a Weber Smoker.  I'm a charcoal guy, and I also use pre-soaked hickory chips.  While gas grills are a lot more convienient, the taste difference is huge.  Weber grills are pretty cheap...gas grills an go $300 to $3,000.


68ROX