There is something special about pork short ribs, commonly called pork spare ribs. One of the most popular meats for the grill, there are many ways to cook spare ribs. Grilled, baked, in the Crock-pot or marinated with your favorite sauce, pork spare ribs are finger-licking good.
Brine, Rubs and Marinades
Pork spare ribs need to be so tender they fall off the bone. Use a brine mixture, marinade or a dry rub on pork for flavor and tenderizing the meat. Marinades need to include vinegar, lemon juice, wine or beer due to the protein in these ingredients. The protein enzymes enter the meal and break it down, promoting tenderness. Add any seasonings, barbecue sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, onions, bell peppers, honey, molasses or steak sauce to a marinade to produce any flavor desired.
Make brine with apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, mustard, honey and a lot of salt. Soak the spare ribs in the brine mixture for two hours in the refrigerator. Remove and bake for approximately one and one half hours at 300 degrees in the oven or grill on the barbecue grill.
Make a dry rub with cayenne pepper, black pepper and dry barbecue seasoning, and pat the rub thickly over the surface of both sides of the ribs. Set the ribs in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Remove and cook in the same manner as above.
Oven Baked
Prepare a rack of ribs with sauerkraut. Sauerkraut is the secret ingredient and surprisingly makes a wonderful dish. Combine one 32-ounce package of drained sauerkraut with one thinly sliced onion, three tablespoons dill weed and one-tablespoon garlic powder and mix well. Place the ribs in a roasting pan and pour the sauerkraut mixture over the ribs. Cover and bake three to four hours at 300 degrees.
Hawaiian-style pork ribs include 1 can of pineapple, 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup ketchup, 1 tbsp. soy sauce, 3 tbsp. brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt and fresh ginger, grated, and 2 tbsp. cornstarch. Mix and spoon the mixture onto ribs. Cover and cook at 300 degrees for two hours.
Barbecue
And last but not least, are Texas-style barbecue ribs. Mix together any commercial barbecue sauce, 1 can beer, 1/4 to 1/2 cup mustard, 1/2 cup honey, 3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce, onion and garlic powder to taste. Heat the mixture on the stove on low until heated through. Keep warm. Place the ribs in a roasting pan and spoon part of the mixture over the ribs and cook in the oven on 275 degrees for three to four hours. Thirty minutes prior to removing the ribs from the oven, pre-heat the propane grill or start the charcoal grill.
Remove the ribs and place on the grill along with another coating of the barbecue sauce. Grill approximately 10 minutes on each side. You will now have barbecue ribs that fall of the bone.
