Recipes

Jose jr’s ribs

120 min • 4 to 6 servings •

Andrew Sachs

120 min • 4 to 6 servings•

Andrew Sachs

A plate of juicy, glazed barbecue ribs served on a wooden table with extra sauce in a bowl and a brush in the background.

Growing up in a kosher household, pork ribs were strictly off limits, except when eating at a Chinese restaurant. I don’t know why, but somehow a gathering of Talmudic Scholars had arranged a special dispensation allowing pork only in Chinese restaurants. Or at least that’s how my mother explained it. So I grew up with a love for forbidden ribs, but without the requisite knowledge of how they are made. Then one day I mentioned to my good friend Jose Jr. that I had no clue how to make ribs — did he? Well that night I was sampling some of the juiciest, moistest, most delectable ribs that I had ever had. Better yet, I no longer needed that special dispensation — I’ve cut my own deal.

Ready

2 racks baby back ribs

1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

1 or 2 chipotle peppers

touch of mustard

a few dollops of ketchup

honey

1 clove garlic, crushed

chile powder

ginger powder

whatever looks good in the spice rack

Set

large roasting pan

tongs

basting brush

large dish to transfer the ribs

large bowl

lots of napkins

dental floss

Go!

Place your ribs bone-side down in a large pan. Fill the pan with water so that the ribs are completely covered. Empty 2 bottles of liquid smoke into the water and slide it in your oven.

Cook at 350°F for 45 minutes.

Clean and light your grill about 30 minutes before the ribs are due to come out of the oven or 15 minutes after you put them in. If you’re a charcoal kind of guy, distribute the coals in such a way that half of the shelf is covered with coals and the other half is clear of coals. You are going to glaze your ribs on the half that has no coals.

Sex up your sauce! I like to work off of KC Masterpiece, but any sauce will do. The key is to mix to taste. Here’s how I do it. I pour ½ bottle of KC Masterpiece into a large bowl. Add a touch or two of mustard, a few healthy dollops of ketchup, a clove of crushed garlic, a healthy pour of chile powder, a healthy pour of honey and a dash or two of ginger powder.

Crush your chipotle peppers in a mini prep if you have one or chop well with your chef’s knife. Chipotle tends to be medium spicy and the have a wonderful and rich smoky flavor that goes oh so perfectly with ribs. Add the crushed pepper to your sexed-up sauce and mix well.

Here is the crucial step — Adjust to taste. If you like it spicy add another chipotle. If sweet’s your thing add some more honey. You’re the expert and short of adding cleaning fluid you can’t go wrong. If you feel it going awry add a little more mustard, which tends to act as a balancing agent.

Using your tongs and a great deal of care remove your ribs from the water. Place in a large dish. This is best accomplished with an extra pair of hands to hold that heavy dish. Remove and excess water and with a liberal hand brush one side of the ribs with the sauce.

Place the ribs on the grill and if your using charcoal put the meat on the side that has no coals. If you’ve got gas, turn the grill to low. Regardless of what type of grill you are using, what you are doing here is simply glazing the ribs with your sauce. That’s why we want the heat low.

Slather the ribs with sauce — cover those puppies to seal in that finger-licking flavor. Close the grill and let sit. After fifteen minutes open the grill and flip those ribs. Slather again. Repeat and repeat and repeat until that succulent sauce is glazed on nice and thick.

Remove from the grill, place them on a cutting board and using a chef’s knife to cut and a fork to guide your knife between the bones cut into individual ribs.

Recommendations

Instead of lighter fluid, I recommend a charcoal chimney starter. Fill your container with coals, add a few pieces of crumbled paper and light the paper. Let the coals burn in the container for 20 minutes until they have turned white. Dump the container into the grill so that all the coals are pushed to one side.

barbecue bbq beef chipotle grill ribs

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