Big Weather's Big Recipe: Competition Ribs

Ribs. When I think BBQ, I think ribs. If you go to a KCBS competition you will get four courses of barbecue, and one of them is ALWAYS ribs.

Many times it's the St. Louis style because they are more forgiving, which is valuable when you're on a time crunch during a contest. Once in while, you will get Baby Back Ribs. I think they cook a little faster, so that's what we are going with this week.

Because not everyone has a smoker, I wondered, 'Can we make some competition ribs at home that everyone can make?' Short answer is: Yep! I thought they turned out pretty good, so let's get to it...

Ingredients

Rack of ribs

Mustard

Dry Rub (I love Killer Hogs BBQ Rub)

Lots of aluminum foil

Apple Juice

Favorite BBQ sauce

Brown sugar

Parkay butter spread

Preparation

1. Line your bottom of your oven with foil. I make boats out of it to catch the drippings.

2. Preheat oven to 250

3. Peel the silverback off the back of the ribs

4. Rinse and dry ribs with paper towels

5. Spray a line of mustard down the ribs and rub it in. Flip and repeat

6. Cover generously with rub and press it in, then flip and repeat

7. Let them sit for 15-30 minutes

8. Place ribs directly on middle shelf in oven for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Lightly spritz with apple juice every 30 minutes

9. Remove ribs from oven.

10. On a large piece of foil, sprinkle a 1/4 cup of brown sugar and a line of Parkay

11. Lay ribs on the foil. Top with another 1/4 brown sugar and line of Parkay

12. Wrap tightly and place back in oven for up to 1 hour. You want the final temp of the rib between 200 and 205

13. Remove ribs and let rest 15 minutes in the foil

14. Remove from foil and place on preheated grill. Glaze with BBQ sauce

15. Let cook for 5 minutes, then flip and repeat

16. 5 more minutes, then flip and glaze one more time

17. Remove from heat and serve!

So there you go, ribs just like they serve at a BBQ joint around Kansas City. Now I know there are 100s of ways to cook ribs, and the smoke police will not be happy I did this without a smoker, but I wanted a way that ANYONE could make them. If you have a smoker, the recipe is very similar. If you don't have a smoker, you can still finish them on a charcoal grill and get some of that smoky taste. Or you could mix in a little liquid smoke with your sauce, but I never like that stuff. Totally up to you! Whatever way you make them, I hope you like them. I thought they were pretty good!