St. Louis Style Pork Spare Ribs with Homemade BBQ Sauce

There are different kinds of rib styles- Kansas City style, St. Louis style, Memphis style or the Carolinas style. They all have one thing in common- they all taste delicious! St. Louis-style spare ribs are cut in a certain way so that a rectangular shaped slab is created. These spare ribs are also meatier and fatter which makes them easier to brown. Due to their higher amount of fat, they are also very flavorful. Ribs can be smoked, braised, grilled, or cooked in the oven. You can use a dry spice rub or sauces to cook ribs.

This may be the second time in my life I’ve cooked this. I tend to stick with chicken and lamb mostly when it comes to meat. Pork ribs are very much liked by my children and mostly I just get it readymade from the shop or order it from restaurants. Last time I made this I did a dry rub but this time I thought I’ll try to make the bbq sauce instead of using store bought ones. The result? Let me just say, I will be making this over and over again. There is no marination and no blending of a ton of spices involved. Simply roast in the oven for a few hours and then blast in the broiler for a few minutes. That’s it and also, since I didn’t have tomato ketchup in a bottle, I rounded up all the free ketchup packets we’ve had from restaurant takeaways and put it to good use here @sarchakra

PREP TIME:0

COOK TIME: 4 hours and 3 mins

YIELDS: 3

Ingredients

  • Pork spare ribs 3.27 lb
  • Salt for rub
  • Pepper for rub
  • Tomato ketchup ¾ cup
  • Olive oil 2 tbsp
  • Garlic powder 2 tsp
  • Onion 1, small, chopped
  • Pomegranate Vinegar 3 tbsp
  • Brown sugar 2 tbsp
  • Black pepper 1 tbsp
  • Sea salt
  • Hot sauce 2 tbsp

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 275°F.
  • Take the ribs out of the fridge an hour before cooking so they are room temperature when you start to cook. Place the ribs on a flat tray. Using a knife pry open the white layer of membrane at the back of the ribs.
  • Cut the ribs into half. Season both sides of the pieces with salt and pepper generously. Place in an oven proof bowl and cover with an aluminum foil tightly.
  • Cook in the oven for 4 hours.
  • Make the bbq sauce while the meat is cooking.
  • Heat olive oil. Sauté onion till slightly caramelized. Add ketchup, salt, pepper, brown sugar, pomegranate vinegar, sea salt, hot sauce and garlic powder.
  • Mix everything together and let it cook till the sauce thickens in about 5 mins. Keep aside.
  • After 4 hours when the meat is done, take it out of the pan and put it on an oven proof tray covered with foil. Brush the bbq sauce all over the meat on both sides.
  • Heat the grill to BROIL mode. Put the ribs under the broiler for 3 mins or so till it starts sizzling and the meat starts to caramelize at the top. At this point the meat should fall off the bone. Take out and serve.
Prep the meat
Season
Make the bbq sauce
Sauce is ready
After 4 hours
Sauced and under the broiler
Juicy BBQ Pork Spare Ribs are ready
Another look
Closeup

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