Barbecued Baby Back Ribs

I received several emails about this photo on my instagram account, and one message requesting a recipe so that it could be featured on “thefeedfeed” line-up, so here it is. I have an older post describing the process but I will do it more succinctly here:

Make a dry spice rub (original recipe credited to Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly, with some changes):

1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup muscovado or dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp Paprika
2 Tbsp Chili Powder
2 Tbsp Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp Ground Cumin
1 Tbsp Dry Hot Mustard
1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 Tsp Dry Sage
1 Tsp Dried Oregano

Mix all the spices together, rub them onto racks of baby back ribs, using enough of the mixture to coat the meat well and get into all the nooks and crannies, but without overdoing it. This batch of dry rub should be enough for 2.5-3.0 kilos of ribs. Place the racks into a ziplock plastic bag and let this marinate in your refrigerator overnight.

The next day, take the ribs out of the fridge 30 minutes before baking them. Place the ribs on a cookie rack over a cookie pan with 1 inch sides and cover with foil and place into a 280-300F oven. Bake this for about 1 hour covered with foil, then remove the foil and cook for another hour until tender. Quite a bit of oil will pool at the base of the pan. Slather the ribs with your favorite barbecue sauce and grill over charcoal until just slightly charred. Serve hot.

Rather than using commercial barbecue sauce, I sometimes use this recipe for a cerveza negra and tamarind barbecue sauce.