Cooking ribs

[Eeyore]

We are having company on Saturday and I want to do fall of the bone BBQ ribs like you get at those good rib restaurants. How do I get them to that really tender stage? Should I wrap them in foil and cook them for several hours in the slowcooker and then finish them off on the BBQ or should I marinate them? If so, what should I marinate them with?

I have done the parboil method and have not been over pleased with the results. To me they turn out rather flavourless. I've also done them fully in the slowcooker but that isn;t what I'm looking for this time. Any suggestions for me?

Oops! Should mention they are back ribs.

[B_BQ]

Lyn: I made some last Sunday. Boy, they were good. Meat fell off the bones.
I did make my own bbq sauce, so probably couldn't replicate it for you. I used ketchup, chipotle ketchup, Worcs. sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, brown sugar, honey, a few shakes of hot sauce, s & p. Not able to give you quantities though.
Anyway, I lined a large baking sheet with heavy duty foil, put the ribs in, salt & pepper, brushed with a little oil, and covered with the foil. I popped them in the oven at 300º at around 9.30 am until about 5 pm! I unwrapped them carefully and painted them with the sauce, re-wrapped them and put them back in the oven for another hour. I repeated that twice, or until the sauce was gone, and then put them back with the oven turned down to 250º just to keep them warm. We ate at around 7.30. They were not in the least greasy, and were finger-lickin' good!
~BBQ

[davefrombc]

I have parboiled them , then put them in a large freezer bag with a marinade, and into the fridge for at least overnight; before finishing on a slow BBQ... I usually marinade with a BBQ sauce and then heat up that marinade to use for basting the ribs as they cook.The heat up of the marinade is to make sure bacteria don't get a chance to grow while the ribs slow cook on the BBQ . You can also do the parboil/ marinade and then freeze for BBQ'ing later.

[DonnaZn2SK]

I do them in a similar way to Brenda's. I put mine in a large oval enameled dutch oven. Cut ribs into 2-3 ribs pieces and season with thyme, s+p, and a couple shakes of onion soup mix. Cook these with the cover on and when they are tender, I make up some bbq sauce and brush that on and put back in the oven to caramelize the sauce. I use bottled sauce and add a bunch of other things to it. You have to be careful once the sauce is on because the sugar in it tends to burn easily.

I am really missing my oven right now. The new one better get here by next week, grr.

[Dumbo]

I've only done ribs twice. Both time I boiled them for 4 hours prior to BBQ.

Yeah it falls off the bone. But I agree, flavour is cut in half.

I've read to start them in the oven for 4-5 hours like Brenda mentioned prior to BBQ, and the slow cooker method, but never tried.

In this heat I wouldn't turn the oven on. So I would do about 6 hrs in a slow cooker prior to BBQ.

[B_BQ]

I don't get the distinction between having the slow cooker on all day or the oven @ 275 or 300. Both give off some heat. It was a very hot day on Sunday here and I didn't find that the heat from the oven was even detectable. Also, there's less and easier clean up than using the slow cooker IMO.
I prefer to cook the ribs whole; no particular reason, just easier to prep, and certainly very easy to divide once they're cooked = 4 for you, 3 for me , oh YOU want 5....!!!!! lol
I sometimes use Dave's method also. (Use some of the sauce with the cooking and serve the rest at the table).
~B_BQ (I feel with this thread I'm about to be BBQ'd)

[Dumbo]

Yeah true. Didn't think of it. with the slow cooker I would have to cut them to fit and I likely wouldn't have enough room. Or just enough room.

Oven wins.

[Marsher]

avoid the use of the oven.... do the same prep work but go indirect heat on the BBQ... low and slow ... but does not heat up the house

[Eeyore]

So the winner is to slow cook one way or the other. Never thought of slow cooking on the bbq, good idea Marsher!