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St. Louis Ribs

Homemade Smoked Barbecue St. Louis Style Pork Ribs with Sauce

WHAT ARE ‘ST. LOUIS’ RIBS?

St. Louis ribs are pork spare ribs from the belly side of the pig without the brisket bone. They have more connective tissues and cartilage that baby back ribs, which come from the upper part of the pig where the spine meets the ribs. Flatter than baby backs, St. Louis ribs also come with an extra layer of fat that increases the flavor of the rib.

SO WHERE DID THE NAME COME FROM?

Barbecue as we know it began with a gentleman named Henry Perry, who gained fame in Kansas City for his slow-cooked meat flavored with hickory and oak wood. Eighteen years later, a St. Louis man by the name of Louis Maull began selling the first coined “BBQ Sauce.” These two innovations met with a third: the smaller meat-packing plants in St. Louis embraced a new technique for cutting pork ribs. Taken from the lower in the belly of the hogs and cut more rectangular in shape, these ribs were marketed as “St. Louis-style.” The trifecta of a pioneering cooking style, unique sauce, and new cut of meat gave birth to a fad that commanded a premium price and still lives on today.

Raw St Louis Style BBQ Ribs with Rub Ready to Cook

LOVE THEM TENDER

To make the best ribs you’ve ever eaten, one step you should not skip is tenderizing. Soaking the St. Louis-style ribs in an acidic marinade (like apple cider vinegar) will allow the breakdown of some of the connective tissue without overwhelming the pork-flavor of the ribs themselves. The trick is to find that happy medium- somewhere between 2-8 hours, otherwise the ribs will take on a mushy texture.

While this recipe itself is not complicated, the prep and cook time is extensive. This is the type of recipe that you plan as a Sunday slow-cook while you watch baseball, golf, or hang out at home with the family.

raw st louis ribs with rub ready to cook

OVEN BAKED ST. LOUIS RIBS

PREP TIME: 2-8 hours

COOK TIME: 4.5-5 hours

SERVES: 4-6

ATTRIBUTE: Draeger’s Market

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4 lb St Louis Pork Ribs

MARINADE INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

RUB INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic salt
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp ground fennel
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 2 cups BBQ Sauce (recipe below)

SAUCE INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 ½ cups ketchup
  • 1 ½ tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 ½ tbsp Dijon mustard
  • ½ cup whiskey
  • ½ cup apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ soy sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Place your St. Louis-style rib racks on a cutting board, meaty side down. Insert a butter knife between the ribs and the membrane and pull up. Use a dry paper towel to grasp the membrane and gently, but firmly, pull the membrane to completely remove it. If the membrane breaks as you are removing it, simply grab the new edge and begin the process again, pulling gently but firmly.

Mix the marinade ingredients and add them to a large plastic Ziploc bag. Add the ribs to the bag and place them in the refrigerator for between 2-8 hours to soak. When you are done marinating the ribs, pat them completely dry and set them aside.

For the best results, remove the ribs from the refrigerator and leave them covered on the counter until them come to room temperature (about 30 minutes prior to cooking). When you are ready to cook the ribs, preheat your oven to 250˚F.

In a small bowl, combine the onion powder, garlic salt, kosher salt, ground fennel, cumin, black pepper and paprika. Once the rub is ready, sprinkle the spices on the ribs, lightly patting the spices down to make sure they bond with the meat.

Using heavy duty aluminum foil, wrap each rack of ribs into a packet. Place each rack on a baking sheet, bone-side down. Bake for 1 hour, then rotate the baking sheets in the oven and cook for another hour.

After 2 hours, open the foil packets and place the ribs directly on the baking sheets, still bone-side down. Return to the oven and bake for 2 more hours, rotating the baking sheets half way through just as before.

During the last hour of the baking process, mix together your barbecue sauce. In a medium-sized bowl, thoroughly mix the ketchup, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, whiskey, apple cider vinegar, and soy sauce.

When the last timer goes off, remove the ribs from the oven and turn the oven to broil. Flip the ribs over and brush the bone side lightly with barbecue sauce, reserving the majority of the sauce for the other side. Leaving the ribs bone-side up, broil one rack at a time on the upper rack until the sauce bubbles, 2 to 3 minutes. Once all racks have been ‘bottom broiled,’ flip the ribs over and brush the tops of the ribs liberally with the remaining barbecue sauce. Again, broil one rack at a time on the upper rack until the sauce bubbles and darkens in color, 2 to 3 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!