The St. Louis cut spare rib is a great meaty cut, but this recipe will work equally well with baby back ribs. If you want to offer a bit of variance to your guests, make the Sriracha-Hoisin rib glaze as well and serve up a sweeter rib (this one) and a spicier rib (the sriracha-hoisin) to please the crowd. Nutrition included calculations with the Bourbon BBQ sauce.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time2 hourshrs15 minutesmins
Total Time2 hourshrs30 minutesmins
Servings: 6servings
Calories: 591kcal
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Ingredients
Ribs
3poundrack St. Louis cut (preferably) Spare Ribs , rinsed and patted dry
*This can be done ahead of time or while the ribs bake for the initial hour. Combine sauce ingredients in a saucepan (apple juice, maple syrup, bourbon, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and salt). On medium-high heat, bring to a simmer then cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside until ready to sauce ribs.
Ribs Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). If needed, remove the silver skin from the bone side of the ribs (some butchers will have this already removed for you.) See write up above recipe for photo instruction.
Cut the rib rack in half and place the ribs, meaty side up, in a 9x11 inch baking dish (or other appropriately sized dish). Pour the apple juice over the ribs and then season both sides with salt & pepper. Cover with aluminum foil.
Bake for 1.5 hours. Remove from oven, remove foil, and brush both sides of the ribs with sauce.
Return to oven uncovered. Bake for another 30-45 minutes or until cooked to your preferred texture.
Remove ribs from oven. Brush the ribs a with a little more sauce, slice & serve (for a little extra crust follow next step before slicing).
Optional for a little extra crust - Heat oven to broil and place oven rack about 6 inches (15cm) down from the top. Brush ribs with glaze again and broil for 2 minutes or until slightly singed. Slice & serve.
Notes
For easier removal of the silver skin, after lifting an edge of the silver skin with a knife, use a paper towel or kitchen towel to grab the silver skin and pull it off.For an easier cleanup, you can bake the ribs in a foil "boats".1. Make 2 “boats” out of doubled up sheets of heavy duty foil large enough to enclose each rib section (*refer to sriracha-hoisin ribs photos for visual guide). Place ribs, meaty side up, in boats and pour 1/2 cup of apple juice in each of the boats. 2. Seal foil boats closed around the ribs, trapping the juice in with the ribs and being careful not to break the foil. Place on sheet pans. Bake as directed in the recipe above (however leaving the foil open but with the sides standing up enough to keep the juices around the ribs when it calls to bake uncovered).