Nana’s Fall-Off-The-Bone Ribs and “Barb”-ecue Sauce

4.86 from 7 votes

Nana’s Fall-Off-The-Bone Ribs and “Barb”-ecue Sauce

This slow-roasted then grilled recipe for fall-off-the-bone pork ribs is famous in my husband Eric's family. His grandma, "Nana," has been making these ribs every 4th of July for decades. Her "Barb"-ecue sauce recipe (her name is Barbara) is absolutely incredible!

Prep Time30

Cook Time3 45

Standing Time30

Total Time4 45

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: Servings

Calories: 883kcal

Author: The Food Charlatan

Ingredients

For the ribs:

heavy foil
7 pounds racks of ribs*
6 ounces Applewood rub** you might need more!

For the sauce:

2 cups ketchup
2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons celery seed
2 cups water
1/4 cup brown sugar
4-8 drops Tabasco sauce

Instructions

Lay out a generous amount of heavy foil on a large rimmed baking sheet. Lay one rack of ribs on the foil and rub generously with Applewood rub. You can be very generous. I used at least 1/3 cup per rack.
Pull the long edges of the foil up over the ribs and seal them together by folding down, until you have neat package that seals on top of the ribs. Fold the two ends in on themselves, upward, so that juices don't drip out. The ribs should be completely covered.
Repeat with the other racks of ribs.
Let the ribs sit for at least 30 minutes. Overnight in the fridge is better! I always do it the day before. You can lay two racks of ribs on a large half baking sheet. (Two prevent raw meat drippings spilling in your fridge, no thanks.
When you are ready to cook, preheat your oven to 250 degrees F.
Place the ribs in the oven, sitting on a baking sheet in case they drip, and roast for about 3 hours. Take the ribs out when they are fork-tender. Sometimes they take longer to get really soft and tender, so plan ahead, you might need more like 4 or even 5 hours if you have very thick or meaty ribs. It's better to have the ribs done ahead of time and sit in a warm oven for a while than to have to wait for dinner! I always start roasting mine in the morning.

For the sauce:

Well ahead of time, combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a 3 quart pot. Stir together over medium high heat until the mixture comes to a boil.
Lower heat to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, until thickened slightly. Remove from heat and allow the sauce to cool. It will thicken more as it cools down. (I also love my homemade BBQ Sauce on these ribs, you could try both!)
When the ribs are done, take them out of the oven and unwrap the foil. Cut the ribs into 1, 2, or 3 piece sections, whatever you like.
Heat your grill to medium high, about 450 degrees F.
Generously brush the ribs with the barbecue sauce. Or pull an Eric and dunk them in the sauce completely. (The ribs are cooked. Stop looking at me like I'm a heathen.)
Grease your grill grates, and grill the ribs for about 2-3 minutes per side, until there are grill marks.
Remove from the grill and cover with foil until ready to serve.
Serve ribs with the remaining sauce. Eat with your hands!

Notes

*You can use any kind of ribs that you like. Spare ribs or Baby Back are good. Spare ribs are what I used for these photos. They are a lot meatier than Baby Back, so they will serve more people.

**If you can't find Applewood rub, use my homemade spice rub found on this Pulled Pork recipe. I was going to try to recreate the Applewood spice rub at home, but it calls for solidified molasses and Apple cider vinegar solids. I didn't think I would be able to recreate it without some serious dehydration! So for now I'm just buying it like Nana did!

A note on the sauce: I like to have this much sauce for 2 racks, but this is a generous amount. If you are doubling the recipe, you may only need to 1 and 1/2 the sauce recipe. I also love to make this recipe with Homemade BBQ Sauce.

I made this once without grilling before we bought a grill. After removing the ribs from the oven and brushing with sauce, raise the temperature to 300 degrees F. Return it to the oven uncovered for 20 minutes. Brush with sauce again, cook another 20 minutes, or until fork tender.

Source: This recipe is from Eric's grandmother, Barbara Johnson, or Nana. She's also the contributor of this classic Beef Barley Soup.

Nutrition

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