You have to rub them - secret to good ribs

The secret to good ribs is a good rub. Now up until about two years ago I knew virtually nothing about making BBQ, I only knew how to put my bib on and get at those tasty morsels of succulent meat. That was until I met my husband and lo and behold like every man he felt the call to cook meat outside over an open fire.  Well at the exact same time my husband was looking into getting a grill the Martha Stewart Magazine published an article about BBQ and making meat rubs. ( Makes me think of the Buddhist saying I read in the book the Happiness Project - "When the student is ready, the teacher appears") Since then I have been experimenting with different rub recipes.

Around Christmas I noticed that pork was on sale at excellent prices. (Is this because of the glut in hams that time of year so the rest of the pig parts are on super sale?) So I was able to pick up a huge pack of pork ribs at an awesome price. Just because it's not warm outside doesn't mean you can't indulge in BBQ.  I remember as a girl my grandmother made BBQ in the oven during winter and while you may not get that off the grill flavor it is still tasty.

A rub is a blend of spices and herbs that will give your meat more flavor. They should be applied the day before the meat is actually cooked and then the meat is cooked with the rub in place. When we BBQ our ribs we still slather them down with BBQ sauce, my husband and I like them wet and messy.

Now to my dismay I am not able to locate the MS article where I originally read about rubs but Joy of Cooking has a wonderful collection of recipes.

For my rub I use these basic ingredients and I just wing the proportions to my liking:

• Brown Sugar
• Paprika
• White Ground Pepper
• Kosher Salt
• Cumin
• Chili Powder
• Ground Black Pepper

Here are some tips to cooking ribs in your oven as opposed to on the grill:

• Cook them for a long period on a low temperature (350)
• Cook covered with aluminum foil for about 1 1/2 hours. To get them to the point where the meat is falling off the bone they will have to cook longer and I suggest cooking at 300 with the covered foil for at least 2-3 hours.
• Uncover and then start to baste every 10 minutes with sauce for at least an hour

And to serve a reference here is the recipe from Joy of Cooking for their Southern BBQ Dry Rub. If you get a chance look up there other rub recipes as well, they may inspire you to create your own. Now I have to work on perfecting my sauce!

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sweet  or hot paprika
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 2 tablespoons ground red pepper
• 2 tablespoons of cumin
• 1 teaspoon of mace
• 1/4 cup salt
• 1/4 cup cracked black peppercorns