Active time:40 mins
Total time:2 hours 40 mins, plus overnight refrigeration
Servings:4
As winter fades into spring and our days grow longer, our patience for rib restraint grows shorter. We emerge into the great outdoors with a thirst for freedom. Freedom to run through wet grass with bare feet. Freedom to cartwheel on the sand and splash in the surf. Freedom to eat ribs like no one is watching.
The tenderest and meatiest of all ribs are the baby back, which have nothing to do with babies, but everything to do with backs. They come from the back of the pig, where they curve around the loin.
Because this is the leanest part of the pig, baby back ribs have very little fat, and plenty of meat to douse with copious amounts of sweet, sticky sauce. All pork ribs will melt off the bone when cooked low and slow, but thanks to their diminutive size — this is the shortest cut of rib — baby backs will get from the grill to the table faster than all other cuts. This is an important thing to consider when you’re spectacularly ravenous for ribs.
Where the baby backs end, the spareribs begin, curving around the pig’s fatty, flavorful belly all the way to its breastbone. Spareribs are fattier, with very little meat on the top of their long, flat bones, and plenty of well-marbled meat in-between them. More marbling means more flavor, but it also means you need to wait a little longer for your ribs to be fall-apart tender.
On the end of the spareribs where they meet the breastbone is a fatty flap of pork belly-like meat studded with small bits of cartilage known as the rib tip, and it is immaculate when given enough time to melt into the stuff that dreams are made of. If you’d like to use spareribs instead of baby backs in this recipe, give them an extra 10 minutes of low and slow heat, for fall-off-the-bone tenderness make it 20. Then, move them to the direct heat side of the grill, slap on the cherry bourbon sauce, and get ready to have a good time.
St. Louis-style ribs are spareribs with their rib tips removed, so you can use them interchangeably with baby backs in this recipe with no adjustments needed. These rectangular racks are an excellent choice if you want the almost-primal experience of feasting on flavorful, fatty rib meat without the gristle.
And, remember, it’s okay to ravage any of these ribs as if we are, in fact, barbarians. After all, it’s summertime.
Cherry-Bourbon Glazed Ribs
This recipe calls for baby back ribs, but can also be made with spareribs or St. Louis ribs. Those rib cuts, which come from the belly region of the pig, are flatter, fattier, and more flavorful, but because of their marbling, they take slightly longer to cook; add at least 10 more minutes to the “low and slow” cook time, then use visual cues to determine when they’re tender enough to move to direct heat. This recipe will also produce more glaze than you’ll likely need for two racks of ribs; you can serve it on the side or use it for glazing poultry next time you grill.
Make Ahead: The ribs must be rubbed and refrigerated for at least 12 hours or up to 2 days before grilling.
Storage Notes: Refrigerate ribs for up to 3 days. Leftover glaze can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 1 year.
NOTES: To prepare your gas grill for indirect-heat grilling: Cover and preheat with all burners on high until it reaches 300 degrees. When ready to cook, if using a three-burner grill, turn the middle burner off and reduce the heat on the other burners to medium-high. Many two-burner grills are set up for indirect heat, so you can simply place the food in the center of the cooking grate. Heat one burner to medium-high and leave the other one off.
If using a charcoal grill: Fill a chimney starter with charcoal, light it, and when the coals are ashed over, arrange them on either side of the pan, leaving an empty spot in the middle. If your grill is too small to allow for an empty spot, push the coals to one side, leaving the other side empty. Pour enough water into the pan to come at least 1-inch up the side. Replace the cooking grate, and set an oven or grill thermometer on top. Cover the grill and preheat to medium-low, about 300 degrees. For a medium-low fire, you should be able to hold your hand about 6 inches above the coals for about 8 seconds.
If using a charcoal grill, the recipe may take about 15 minutes longer.
Oven method: These ribs can be slow-roasted for 1 1/2 to 2 hours in a preheated 300-degree oven as well. To caramelize the glaze, at the end, raise the rack to about 6 inches from the broiler and broil for about 3 minutes, watching carefully so the glaze does not burn.
Want to save this recipe? Click the bookmark icon below the serving size at the top of this page, then go to My Reading List in your washingtonpost.com user profile.
- 2 racks (3 to 4 pounds total) baby back ribs
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, mild or hot
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- One (16-ounce) bag frozen cherries
- 1/2 cup bourbon
- 1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
- Finely grated zest of 1 orange
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Remove the silver membrane off the back of the baby back ribs by sliding a butter knife under the skin in the midsection, and lifting and loosening until you can grab a portion with a towel, so you can tear off first one side, then the other.
Dry the ribs well and brush each with 1 tablespoon of the mustard.
Cure the ribs: In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cumin, paprika, garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper. Cover the ribs on both sides with the dry rub. Place in an airtight container or wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 12 hours and up to overnight.
Grill the ribs: Remove the ribs from the refrigerator and let come to room temperature for about 1 hour before grilling.
Prepare the grill for indirect heat. (see NOTES). Place a heatproof or aluminum pan next to the coals on the cooler side of the grill. Pour enough water into the pan to come at least 1-inch up the side, then add 1/2 cup of the apple cider vinegar. Place the grate over the pan and coals and place the ribs over the pan bone side down. Close the grill, and adjust the heat to maintain a temperature of about 300 degrees. Cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until the meat begins to fall off the bone.
Make the glaze: While the ribs are grilling, in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, combine the cherries, bourbon, molasses, orange zest, cloves, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, stirring frequently, and cook until the cherries begin to soften, 13 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and, using an immersion blender, puree the glaze until smooth. (Alternatively, you can spoon the mixture into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.) Return the pan to medium-low heat, and continue cooking, uncovered, until thick, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside; you should get about 2 cups of glaze (you’ll need about 1 cup for glazing).
Have a cutting board and serving platter handy.
Brush the ribs with the glaze and slide them to the direct heat side of the grill. Cook, uncovered, for about 5 minutes, then brush the ribs with more glaze and turn them so they are meat side down. (If you have any flare ups, move the ribs slightly to the side so they’re not directly over an open flame.) Continue grilling, uncovered, until the sauce begins to caramelize, 5 to 10 minutes.
Using tongs, transfer the ribs to a cutting board and use a sharp knife to cut between the bones. Place the ribs on a serving platter, brush with more glaze and let rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Per serving (4 ribs/12 ounces meat plus 1/4 cup glaze)
Calories: 825; Total Fat: 40 g; Saturated Fat: 8 g; Cholesterol: 252 mg; Sodium: 1134 mg; Carbohydrates: 27 g; Dietary Fiber: 2 g; Sugar: 26 g; Protein: 67 g
This analysis is an estimate based on available ingredients and this preparation. It should not substitute for a dietitian’s or nutritionist’s advice.
From food writer Allison Robicelli.
Tested by Todd A. Price; email questions to voraciously@washpost.com.
Did you make this recipe? Take a photo and tag us on Instagram with #eatvoraciously.
Leave a Reply