Friday, May 25, 2012

crockpot barbecue babyback ribs


to say i have never cooked ribs before is an understatement... i haven't even eaten them in atleast 15 years (granted for 10 of those i was a vegetarian, but the previous five before that was due to eating them right before coming down with the stomach flu... that's as much as i'll say because anything else is just tmi lol) anyways, my husband LOVES ribs and always wants them, but they are just too expensive at the restaurants that are the only place worth getting them from. so my sister, gina told me that she found a good recipe and made it and it turned out great. but then she did it again and it was terrible. she knew that she had bought different ribs both times, but she wasn't sure of which ones were the good ones, and which were the awful. this scared me, seeing as i have no idea what to do regardless. frank has always loved my mom's ribs (but she does them on the grill and i have barely mastered my crockpot... once i do that, i will start experimenting with the grill) so i called her and asked what kind she uses. PORK BABYBACK! and it just so happens that the grocery store that i get my meat from has them on sale this week because its memorial day weekend. score! so i've been psyching myself up to make ribs for weeks now and now i have no excuse since the exact ones i need are on sale. so i ran out last night to buy the ribs and i put them in the crockpot at 8:30 this morning- and our house has smelled amazing all day... so much so that frank has been bragging to his friends all day about the ribs i was making for dinner!

so after the longest background story ever- they turned out fabulously if i do say so myself (don't worry, my hubby agreed!) he is literally on his way back to the store to get more since they are on sale!

crockpot bbq ribs
from http://www.mmmisformommy.com/2011/09/easy-barbecued-ribs.html via gina

1.5 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
2 lbs pork baby back ribs ( leave the membrane on the ribs to help hold them together)
1 cup barbecue sauce (i used sweet baby rays since its my husbands fave but i would like to try with open pit since thats my fave)

In a small bowl, mix together paprika, brown sugar, cayenne and salt and pepper.  Rub this mixture all over both sides of your ribs well.  Arrange ribs in the slow cooker by standing them up against the wall of the stoneware pot, thicker side down and meaty side against the pot.  Pour barbecue sauce over the ribs, cover and cook for 6-8 hours on low (I did 7 hours and i think that it was a little long... but that could be because it seems that my crockpot cooks most things slightly faster than the recipe calls for)
 
SIDE NOTE: part of the ribs got very crispy on one side due to being up against the side of the crockpot. next time i make them, i am going to line the crockpot with foil and spray liberally with cooking spray. i dont know if this will help that, but im hoping that it will due the trick)
 
the original recipe calls to then broil them in the oven, but i skipped this part since part of the ribs were already crispier than my husband likes them and he didn't want them to dry out at all in the oven). instead, i took them out and palced them on a cooling rack and slathered them with more barbecue sauce. (taking them out without breaking them is tricky because they are sooo tender... so they broke when i pulled them out lol- though i dont see this as a bad thing since they were literally falling of the bone... just the way that my husband likes them)
 
anyways, i hope you have as good of luck as i did on my first attempt at ribs. they aren't so scary... oh also, i forgot to say that i tried them too since there was absolutely no work involved to get the meat off, and i thought they were great. so much for my rule of not eating any meat on the bone (though i still dont think that i will ever be able to eat fried chicken.) honestly, if the meat didn't fall right off, i wouldn't have been able to eat it... my point being that they were 'fall off the bone' good in franks words lol
 
 

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