Country-style Boneless Pork Ribs with Chipotle Sauce

I’ve had quite a few folks end up on my blog after searching for country-style pork rib recipes so I figured I might do another. Plus, this is one flavorful and easy cut to grill up when you don’t have much time to throw together dinner. After arm-wrestling the boy for what seemed like a century over his homework the other day, I honestly was debating making a few cocktails my dinner. Since I’m pretty sure our health insurance won’t cover a trip to the Betty Ford Center, I figured I should get cracking on a family meal.

I started by placing my lovely little pork ribs…

… in the same brine bath I used last time — 1/4 cup kosher salt and 1 tbsp sugar dissolved in 1 cup of water. They went back in the fridge for two hours. (There ended up being too much salt for my taste, so I would recommend just 30 minutes in the brine.)

While they brined, I mixed up my rub: 1 tbsp each salt and pepper, plus 1 tsp each cumin, paprika, onion powder, brown sugar and chili powder. (If you don’t keep all of those on hand, then go with what you have — even if it’s just salt and pepper.)

I fired up my gas grill to cook over direct heat at 400 degrees. I pulled my ribs out of the fridge, patted them down with some paper towels, and covered them in rub. They sat on the counter for about 30 minutes, coming to room temperature.

In the meantime, I put together my lazy version of Chipotle BBQ sauce: 3/4 cup BBQ sauce of your choice, 1/4 cup honey, and 1-2 chipotles in adobo sauce. (You can also substitute ketchup for the BBQ sauce and add a bit more honey and spice.)

When the ribs were ready to go on the grill, I laid them on and left them for 3 minutes. Then I flipped them over and basted the tops with my sauce. After four minutes, I flipped them again and basted the other side with sauce. Another minute and they were ready to come off the grill and rest.

A simple side of baked beans and dinner was served. Hallelujah and pass the chardonnay!

Classic BBQ Pork Ribs: Take 2

I’ve already blogged about my first attempt at BBQ pork ribs but I knew I wanted to give them another shot in hopes of achieving fall-off-the-bone tenderness. Well, folks — mission accomplished. I’m adding in a step I skipped the first time around and, let me tell you, it made all the difference.

I started out just like last time:

• Wash ribs…take off the membrane on the backside of ribs
• Smother ribs in yellow mustard and apply your choice of rub
• Cover ribs in saran wrap and let them sit overnight in the fridge (I shortened this to 1 hour)
• Take your smoker to 275-300 degrees for the entire cook
• Add two big handfuls of Apple wood to your hardwood charcoal
• Set up for indirect heat and place a drip pan with water or apple juice underneath the ribs
• First hour…just let ‘em be
• Second hour – spritz with apple juice every 30 minutes

Now here is the important piece I skipped in favor of beer drinking last time…

• Remove ribs from grill, cover in mixture of melted butter, brown sugar, and honey, and wrap in foil.

• Return wrapped ribs to grill for the third hour

• Unwrap and baste with BBQ sauce of your choice every 20-30 minutes for the last hour

• Plate ’em up and watch them disappear

Do you like my vintage Texas lunch tray? I picked it up at First Monday Trade Days in Canton, TX. (Basically a giant flea market for you folks who have never heard of it.) I went junking with my sister for her birthday and we found this beaut way back in the rusty-gold far reaches of the junk area. She negotiated a bit and got me the stellar price of $5. Can’t beat that. We never had food this good at my school, for sure.

Happy cooking, y’all!