Tender, Easy Ribs Recipe - Food.com (2024)

FAQs

What's the best way to make your ribs tender? ›

Cover the ribs with aluminum foil. Bake the ribs at a low temperature (275°F) for 2 ½ to 3 ½ hours or until they are tender. Slather the baked ribs with barbecue sauce, and then broil (or grill) the ribs for a few minutes until the sauce is caramelized.

Preheat oven to 212°F (100°C). Transfer coated ribs to a roasting pan or tray. Add a bit of water to the pan, then cover it with foil. Steam ribs until tender, about two hours.

Soak your ribs in apple cider vinegar for 2 hours, then remove the vinegar, pay dry, and add your rub or seasonings! Or you can marinade your ribs overnight in the refrigerator, in a small bowl mix white sugar, paprika, salt, pepper, and ground cumin, and garlic powder! Put it over your ribs .

Combine the apple cider vinegar and apple juice in a spritzing bottle (this is my favorite). Spritz the ribs every 30 minutes after the first hour. Spritz and smoke. Keep your temperatures at 275 degrees F and the spritz hitting the ribs every 30 minutes until those ribs are tender.

The longer simmering time helps break down the connective tissue and skin and brings out the tenderness and flavor. The key to this method is to simmer, not boil. If you boil the meat for an hour it can lead to prematurely cooking of the ribs and you'll end up with awful, tough meat.

You can get very juicy ribs by cooking them at 135 degrees, but making them tender takes two or three days. At 160 degrees, you get tender ribs in 10 to 12 hours. At 170 to 180 degrees, the meat is noticeably dryer, but the cooking time is a more manageable 6 to 8 hours.

Boiling ribs before grilling or baking can help tenderize them and remove excess fat. Here's a basic guideline for boiling ribs: Place the ribs in a large pot or Dutch oven. Cover the ribs with water or your choice of flavorful liquid (such as broth, beer, or a mixture of water and vinegar).

Since the ribs are fatty, many cooks choose to parboil spareribs for a short time or boil for an extended period of time to tenderize the rib meat. This renders some of the surface fat and makes it easier to remove the inner skin from the ribs before you grill them, too.

You soak the ribs in vinegar for a couple of hours, drain and dry with a paper towel, and then marinate with a rub (brown sugar and some spices). The vinegar adds flavor and the acidity tenderizes the meat.

What spices tenderize pork? ›

Brine the pork.

Brining involves soaking your meat in salt water to increase the tenderness and moistness of the final dish. Brines always contain salt and water, but can also include other ingredients for added flavor like apple cider, brown sugar, rosemary, and thyme.

You may, if desired, spritz or mop your ribs while smoking with a liquid of your choice. Apple juice or cider, butter, Dr. Pepper, apple cider vinegar, beer… there are plenty of options.

The trick is so good, she says, she sometimes does it even with really fresh, beautiful ribs. Essentially, the vinegar solution "cleanses" the meat and makes the flavors shine through without any "gamey" flavor.

Meat Thermometer

Anything under that temperature and your ribs will be chewy, stringy, and tough. At 195 degrees F, that tissue starts to gelatinize and turn into tasty, melty deliciousness. Most ribs hit their sweet spot for doneness around 198 degrees F, but some take until 203 degrees F to be perfectly tender.

One thing is certain about ribs and pork: If you overcook them, they do become dry and tough. There is something very important to learn with the “low and slow” cooking method employed here. Food is ready when it's ready. Not to be evasive, but for the most part, you cannot judge simply by cooking time.

It really gets a rib tender. because it's kind of steaming. or braising in its own liquid. It doesn't let anything out but the butcher paper. When you wrap meat in it, like a biscuit, ribs, pork butt even, it absorbs some of that moisture.