How to Bake Barbecued Pork Ribs in the Oven

Instead of the barbecue, cook your ribs indoors in the oven.

The trick to baking tender barbecued pork ribs involves slow cooking. The barbecue sauce you choose to use impacts the flavor of the ribs. Before you begin, find a sauce you love. Barbecue sauces come in a wide array of flavors, from spicy to sweet, hot or smoky. If you don't like the sauce, you will be unhappy with the ribs. Some cooks prefer continually basting the ribs with sauce during the entire cooking process, creating a crusty barbecue finish. Others add the sauce during the last hour or so of cooking. It is a matter of personal preference.

Things You'll Need

• Broiler pan with rack
• Nonstick vegetable spray
• Paper towels
• Salt and pepper
• Barbecue sauce
• Cup
• Pastry brush
• Bowl
• Tongs

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit

2. Spray a broiling pan and its rack with nonstick vegetable spray. Set the broiler pan rack atop the broiler pan.

3. Rinse pork spare ribs under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Use country-style pork ribs.

4. Arrange the ribs on the rack in a single layer, without the ribs touching.

5. Sprinkle salt and pepper lightly over the ribs.

6. Pour some barbecue sauce in a cup.

7. Brush the ribs with a light coat of sauce, turn and brush the opposite side. Use the barbecue sauce from the cup. Add more sauce to the cup as needed.

8. Bake the ribs in the oven for three to four hours, or until the meat almost falls from the bone. Paint the ribs with barbecue sauce every half hour or every hour, depending on personal preference. Turn the ribs each time you add sauce. Don't add sauce the last half hour of cooking.

9. Discard the cup of barbecue sauce you used. It will be contaminated from the raw juices transferred from the cooking pork. Don't serve it with the cooked pork ribs. If you want more sauce, use fresh, untainted sauce from the jar.

Tips & Warnings

• Cooking time will vary, depending on the size and amount of ribs and your altitude.

References

• "The Fannie Farmer Cookbook "; Marion Cunningham and Jeri Laber; 1979