Party ribs

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A quick way to cook and serve multiple racks of lip-smacking pork spare ribs for a party. This fuss-free recipe makes sure each individual rib has a full coating of delicious, rub, smoke and barbecue sauce and plenty of Maillard reaction in every meaty bite. USA ribs are forgiving to cook and remain tender to the bite when cooked at a low temperature. You can of course make these in the oven too, see note at the bottom of the method.

First published in 2024

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Braising sauce

Equipment

  • kettle barbecue

Method

1

Pat the ribs dry with a paper towel. USA ribs tend to be cut ‘St Louis’ style, into a long, even rectangle with very little – if any – fat that needs trimming, but remove any excess if you have it

2

Cut the ribs between the bones to make individual ribs

3

Apply the American mustard all over the front and back of the ribs then dust generously all over in your favourite barbecue rub and set aside

4

Preheat your kettle barbecue to 120°C/250°F for indirect cooking. This means that the coals are all banked to one side of the grill and the ribs are on the opposite side. Add wood chips or wood chunks if you’d like at this stage – cherry wood works really well with pork

5

Add the ribs and cook indirectly until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 73°C/165°F at the thickest part (about 1 hour 30 minutes)

6

Once the ribs are at temperature, separate the ribs into two foil pans

7

Mix together all the braising ingredients and divide them evenly between the two pans

8

Cover the pans tightly in foil and place back on the barbecue for one more hour, or until they have reached 93°C/200°F

9

After an hour, uncover the ribs and cook for another 30 minutes to caramelise

10

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes before enjoying

11

NOTE: If using an oven, cook at 130°C/265°F. Make sure you cook the ribs on a wire rack with a roasting tray underneath. Cook to temperature and tenderness, not time, as the oven cooks hotter and faster

Brought to you by USA Pork

Sam and Shauna are chefs, barbecue experts and cookbook authors who run barbecue classes online, and co-wrote 'Hang Fire Cookbook: Recipes and Adventures in American BBQ’. They are the stars of the BBC TV show ‘Sam and Shauna’s Big Cook-Out’, which highlights different Welsh communities and the couple's love of barbecue.

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