World's Greatest Ribs!

Author: Marthinus Strydom
Category: Pork

If there is any one food that could give apple pie, hot dogs, or burgers a run for its money as being true American cuisine, it would be BBQ. The smoky flavors are amazing.

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 150°C.
  2. Cut each full rack of ribs in half, so that you have 4 half racks. Remove most of the fat from the ribs.
    You can use any pork rib, but try and get the short ribs or otherwise known as Baby Back Spare Ribs. They have more meat and less fat.
  3. Generously coat each rib in the rub.
  4. Wrap each half rack in aluminum foil. Seal tightly to keep the moisture in.
  5. Bake for 2 1/2 hours or until the meat is tender.
  6. Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
  7. Cook and stir the onions in oil for 5 minutes or until properly caramelized.  
  8. Stir in water, tomato paste, vinegar, brown sugar, honey, and Worcestershire sauce.
  9. Season with salt, black pepper, whiskey, garlic powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, dark molasses, and ground chili pepper.
  10. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat.
  11. Simmer for 1 1/4 hours, uncovered, or until sauce thickens. Taste and adjust seasoning.
  12. Remove from heat, and set sauce aside.
  13. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat. When I say high heat, I mean really high. Get it as hot as you can.
  14. Remove the ribs from the oven, and let stand 10 minutes.
  15. Remove the racks from the foil, and place on the grill.
  16. Grill the ribs for 1 to 2 minutes on each side.
  17. Brush sauce on the ribs while they're grilling, just before you serve them (adding it too early will burn it). You want a nice char on the ribs. Brush the sauce on. Wait until caramelized and charred. Brush more and layer the sauce. Char, brush, char etc. 4 times. Turning over each time. You want almost burnt spots on the ribs. 
  18. Serve with extra heated sauce and fries!

When you make the sauce, make sure that the onions are very finely chopped. I use a blender to get the sauce as smooth as possible. You can also strain the sauce after it's made for an even smoother barbeque sauce. This sauce works great on hamburgers too!

Dry Rub
4 tbsp (12 Teaspoons) yellow mustard
2 tbsp (6 Teaspoons) dark brown sugar
1 tbsp (3 Teaspoons) smoked paprika
1 tbsp (3 Teaspoons) chili powder
1 tbsp (3 Teaspoons) granulated garlic
1 tbsp (3 Teaspoons) granulated onion
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp smoked sea salt
1 tbsp (3 Teaspoons) kosher salt
For the Ribs
2 pork rib racks
Rib Barbeque Sauce
2⅓ tbsp (6.99 Teaspoons) vegetable oil
½ cup (24 Teaspoons) minced onion
1½ cup (72 Teaspoons) water
½ cup (24 Teaspoons) tomato paste
½ cup (24 Teaspoons) white vinegar
½ cup (24 Teaspoons) brown sugar
2½ tbsp (7.5 Teaspoons) honey
2 tbsp (6 Teaspoons) worcestershire sauce
2 tsp salt
¼ tsp fresh coarse ground black pepper
1 tbsp (3 Teaspoons) very good whiskey
2 tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp smoked paprika (must be smoked)
½ tsp onion powder
1 tbsp (3 Teaspoons) dark molasses
½ tsp ground chili powder (to your taste)