spare ribs | Wag'n Tales

I was thinking all weekend about something that I could make for a Monday lunch for Boss Man. I don’t normally make him lunch (he has 2 fridges, 2 freezers, a pizza oven and a microwave in the shop…there are times where I don’t see him for days), but since it rained most of the weekend, I thought I would surprise him with a little surprise…spare ribs, slightly barbecued.

Let me tell you that I have never successfully made ribs. I mean, they usually taste good, but never look quite right, never taste quite like I hope and I either douse them in too much sauce or they get all greasy. Not today. Today I conquered my fear of ribs! (I can hear the theme to “Rocky,” can’t you?)

And I’m sharing my secrets with you…lucky you.

Spare Ribs

Ingredients:

Package of ribs
Rib seasoning (I used Pampered Chef’s Smoky Barbecue Rub, but you can use any type of seasoning that pleases you, bought or home-mixed…I just have no luck with finding my own combination…yet.)
Oil (I used Wildtree’s Natural Butter Flavored Grapeseed Oil. If you aren’t familiar with Wildtree and their grapeseed oil, you need to find a distributor…now. It’s amazing stuff. Really. Truly.)
Barbecue sauce (I just used an original flavored store-brand sauce…and not a whole lot of it. We all have our faves, just pick whatever is yours.)

That’s it. Again, for me, the big thing is getting ribs to look like ribs. And I found the secret…but let me walk you through it.

First, start with a nice package of ribs:

Now, that's a hunk of meat that I could love!

Rub them down with a bit of oil. I have a spray pump at home that I can fill with whatever liquid of my choosing and turn it into an aerosol-of-sorts (minus the aerosol)…I use this with my oil and LOVE making my own oil spray! 🙂

Coat with seasoning. I don’t use a ton of it, but that’s to our taste. Coat to your hearts content.

Those ribs are ready for an oven!

Place ribs on a shallow pan and broil in the oven for about 10 minutes on each side, or until browned nicely.

When done, remove ribs from the pan and place directly on the rack. Yes, it’s crazy. Yes, it’s a bit uncouth. But it really made a difference. (And place the pan under the ribs to catch drippings…we don’t want to start any fires!)

Place directly on rack...don't flinch, I promise it won't hurt!

Bake at 250* for about 2 1/2-3 hours. In the last half-hour, brush on a light coating on one side for 15 minutes, then flip and do the other. (You can do this earlier and keep repeating, as your taste demands. I’m truly a northern gal, complete with pretty tame tastebuds.)

I teamed it up with butter-fried potatoes and fresh steamed-asparagus from the garden. Yes, it’s April and we have asparagus ready to go in North Dakota. Crazy spring.

Here, check it out: