Pineapple queen ribs

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We’re always looking for a showstopper of a barbecue recipe, and this one doesn’t disappoint. Pork, rum and pineapple are three ingredients that absolutely go together. What could be more regal than wrapping a beautiful rack of USA pork spare ribs around a sweet, ripe, rum soaked pineapple and adding a lick of smoke to the proceedings? Cook the ribs until perfectly tender and you have the most beautiful barbecue party centrepiece. 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

Rum barbecue sauce

To braise

Equipment

  • kettle barbecue

Method

1

Start by making the rum barbecue sauce. Melt the butter in a small pan then add the garlic. Stir for 5 minutes on a medium-low heat, taking care not to burn the garlic

2

Add the tomato purée and cook down into the butter with the garlic, stirring constantly for a further 4–5 minutes

3

Deglaze with the rum for a minute, then add the rest of the ingredients, whisking each one in. Turn the temperature down to a simmer for 15 minutes until thickened. Set aside

4

Pat the ribs dry with a paper towel. Remove the membrane from the bone side of the ribs by sliding a butter knife under the first rib until the membrane lifts. Using a paper towel, pull the membrane off completely. 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

5

Apply the American mustard all over the front and back of the ribs then dust generously all over in your favourite barbecue rub. Set aside while you prepare your pineapple

6

Prepare the pineapple by first cutting the top, leafy part off. Set it aside – you’ll need this for presentation

7

Remove the green, outer skin from the pineapple exposing the yellow pineapple flesh. Brush the rum all over followed by the maple syrup

8

Next, wrap your prepared ribs around the pineapple, bone side flush with the pineapple. Secure with butcher's twine or wooden skewers

9

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

10

Continue to cook indirectly until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 80°C/176°F, about 2 hours

11

Remove the ribs and place on two layers of foil. Gather the sides of the foil, wrapping the ribs in a foil parcel, but leave a small hole in the top four pouring in some seasonings

12

Mix together the apple juice with 50 ml rum barbecue sauce, then pour into the hole

13

Place back on the barbecue for another hour, or until they have reached 93°C/200°F internally

14

Uncover the ribs, and drain off the braising juices into the rest of your rum barbecue sauce. Place your ribs on a small oven tray and brush liberally with the sauce

15

Return to the barbecue for 15 minutes to set the sauce into a glaze

16

Remove the ribs from the heat and cool for 10 minutes before serving. Secure the leafy top back onto the pineapple with wooden skewers. Slice each rib through, then add a slice of the steamed pineapple alongside a small bowl of the barbecue sauce

17

NOTE: You can also make this in an oven. Preheat the oven to 130°C/265°F and cook the ribs on a wire rack set over a roasting tray. Cook the ribs to temperature and tenderness, not time, as the oven cooks hotter and faster than the barbecue

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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