Growing up, my favorite place to go for ribs was Al’s Restaurant in Cicero, IL. We would order slabs of Baby Back Ribs slathered in Al’s BBQ sauce - I can still taste them!
Since then, it has been hard for me to find a good place for ribs. I’ve tried several places, but they were often too salty. I finally gave up and and decided to make my own. Back in 2012, I found a recipe in Bon Appetite magazine for a recipe called Best Ever BBQ Ribs. How could I not try that recipe?
After making this recipe for two years - for summer birthdays or in the middle of winter - I have modified it and made it my own. I think that this has become one of my signature dishes.
Here is my version:
- 2 tablespoon (each) dry mustard, paprika, ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon (each) cayenne pepper, cumin
- ½ tablespoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup (ish) Roasted Chili oil
- ½ cup Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey BBQ Sauce
- ½ cup Famous Dave’s Rich and Sassy BBQ Sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
Combine all of the spices into a bowl and mix well. Rub the Roasted Chili oil onto the ribs, then the dry rub (both sides). Cover the ribs and let them sit for 4 hours in the refrigerator or up to 1 day.
Remove the ribs from the refrigerator and let them sit for 30-60 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil (I cover the bottom of the pan twice). Place the ribs onto the baking sheet and then cover with another piece of aluminum foil. Place the ribs into the oven and let them cook for 1 ½ hours.
After the cooking time, remove the ribs and uncover. Move the ribs to another piece of aluminum foil and pour the remaining oil from the lined pans to a sauce pan. Let the ribs cool completely.
Add the two types of BBQ sauce and the two tablespoons of water to the sauce pan with the oil. Mix until combined. Cook on medium heat until the mixture starts to bubble. Reduce heat to low.
Start your grill once the ribs cool. The ribs can sit overnight in the refrigerator and be reheated on the grill the next day if you prefer.
Once the grill is hot, place the ribs on the grill and begin to sauce the ribs. You will cook the ribs 5 minutes on each side (saucing as it cooks). Once the ribs have cooked a total of 10 minutes, remove the ribs from the grill and serve.
Notes about St. Louis Ribs. I have bought my ribs from both Standard Market and Whole Foods. Whole Foods often puts St. Louis ribs on sale in the summer and I will often buy multiple slabs and freeze them. They definitely freeze well. Friends have said that Costco sells excellent St. Louis ribs. Although I have not tried them, I would give those a try. Bottom line, as long as the ribs look meaty and you cook them first in the oven with the rub, I can’t imagine they will turn out anything less than perfect!
Notes about BBQ Sauce. My husband loves Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey BBQ sauce, but when you combine these two sauces, you really get a nice sweet, tangy and smokey sauce. I haven’t tried making my own sauce yet, but I’m sure that will be on the horizon someday soon!
Enjoy!