Low and Slow BBQ Ribs

Pork is one of the best meats, moist and flavourful.  It always benefits from low-and-slow-style cooking. This renders off the fat slowly, basting the meat underneath with its flavour.  It makes for tender, delicious, fall-off-the-bone ribs every time. And the beauty of it is, it requires very little effort from you.  It seems time consuming, but really you spend little time prepping and once they’re on the grill you just walk away and relax. The only thing you need to do is monitor the temperature every now and then (between beverages, perhaps) to make sure it doesn’t get too high or too low.  Do not be tempted to open the cover to check on them. They’re wrapped in foil—nothing to see here, folks!  If you open the cover, all the heat will escape and create an uneven cooking environment. Two racks of ribs with side dishes feeds our family of four comfortably. If you’re feeding more people and your grill can accommodate it, wrap additional racks in groups of two per packet.  Don’t over-cram your foil packets. It increases the chances of uneven cooking or of the foil not being properly sealed to keep in the heat and the juices. It may also create tears in the foil which will allow the juice to drip out and potentially cause flare ups. Do you have a BBQ sauce recipe you swear by?  Please share it in the comments. I’m always looking for something good!

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Sit Time: 2 hours – overnight

Cook Time:  2-½ Hours

Serves: 4 people

Ingredients

• 2 Racks Pork ribs
• ½-1 cup of BBQ Seasoning Mix
• 1 cup BBQ sauce
• 4-6 carrots, peeled and cut into sticks (optional, but recommended)

Preparation

1. Liberally season ribs with BBQ Seasonings. Cover and allow to sit in fridge for at least 2 hours.  The longer it sits, the better the flavour.
2. Preheat grill with lid down to 250F.
3. Cut a large sheet of aluminum foil, at least twice the length of the ribs.  Lay the rib racks in the centre of the foil. It’s ok to overlap them. Fold the foil over the ribs, overlapping and folding the seams for make sure air and the juices from the meat will not be able to escape.
4. Lay the foil packet in the centre of the grill with no heat directly underneath them.  Make sure they’re lying meat-side up. Close the grill lid. Check the grill temperature after 10 minutes.  It should be around 250F. Adjust burners up or down accordingly. Allow to cook for 2 hours. You do not need to open the grill lid.  Check the temperature every now and then, but otherwise leave them alone.
5. Remove foil packet from grill and turn all burners on low. Oil grill.  Remove ribs from foil and brush both sides with a thin layer of BBQ sauce.  Place directly on oiled grill, meat-side up. Close lid and allow to cook for 10 minutes. Repeat this basting step two more times, building up the layers of caramelized BBQ sauce.
6. Remove to a platter and cut ribs into small racks of 3-4 bones for serving.
7. Carrot Option: Place ribs on top of carrot sticks in the foil packet.  The carrots will slowly braise in the meat juices ad absorb the flavours of the BBQ Seasonings.  They will end up soft, sweet, and spicy. It’s an easy way to add veggies to the meal. They can stay in the foil when the ribs are removed, or be transferred to a heat-safe serving dish and kept warm on the shelf or corner of the grill until the ribs are ready to serve.

Tips

• The longer the ribs sit with the rub before cooking, the more flavourful they will be.
• During the BBQ sauce basting process it’s important to monitor the temperature of the grill.  You don’t want it to get too hot. The idea is to caramelize and build layers of flavour. You DO NOT want to burn the sugars in the BBQ sauce.  A little char is good, but burning the sugar will result in an acrid flavour.  If you need turn turn off the heat underneath them, do it.
• Honey-Mustard Ribs:  Mix ½ cup honey, 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar, ¼ cup Dijon mustard, 1 tsp Garlic powder, and Salt and Pepper to taste.  Use Indirect heat when basting because honey burns really quickly. With this sauce your ribs will end up sticky, sweet, and tangy, with a little undertone of heat.