Easy BBQ Baked Oven Baked Ribs Recipe | How to Bake Ribs (2024)

FAQs

Should you cover ribs when baking in oven? ›

Baked ribs can be cooked either covered or uncovered. Covering ribs can mean wrapping the racks tightly in foil or covering the whole pan with foil before sliding it into the oven. The benefits of covering ribs are that it helps to keep moisture in and allows a wider margin of error in your baking time and temperature.

5Bake the ribs until the meat falls easily from the bones, 2 ½ to 3 ½ hours. I check the ribs after 2 hours to see how they're doing. Ribs are ready to come out of the oven when the meat is cooked through and tender. To check, pierce them with a sharp knife.

Halfway through cooking, cover the ribs with aluminum foil to protect them from drying out. Brush with barbecue sauce. About 30 minutes before the end of cooking, brush the ribs with barbecue sauce, re-cover with foil, and continue cooking.

Do you bake ribs covered or uncovered? You can cook ribs either covered with foil or uncovered. Foil is used to stop the meat from drying out but is not essential. If cooking uncovered and you notice the meat is drying out or browning too quickly, you can cover with foil for the remaining cook time.

The ribs need to be elevated to cook so that air can flow over and under the meat. This way, the ribs do not need to be flipped or turned during the cooking process. Line a large cooking tray or cookie sheet with aluminum foil (for easy cleanup) and place a large cooling rack on top of the foil.

Place ribs, meat side down, in baking dishes. Cover the baking dishes with aluminum foil and place in the oven. If you are using small baby back ribs, take out after 3.5 hours. If you are using regular baby back or St. Louis style ribs, then take out after 4 hours.

The reason you would boil ribs before cooking them is simple. This process helps tenderize the ribs and makes them more juicy. It not only shortens the cooking time significantly, but it also helps make the meat far easier to chew.

Ideal Technique & Temperature For Cooking Ribs

Prepare and season the ribs with your favorite rub. Preheat your smoker, charcoal grill, or gas grill to 225°F - the ideal temperature for cooking ribs. Smoke/slow cook for 3 hours using indirect heat.

Cooking any kind of meat for too long will usually leave it dry, tough, and utterly unappealing. In all honesty, cooking BBQ ribs to perfection is something of an artform. It's not something the home chef does very often, and overcooking the ribs is a common way to disappoint yourself when you sit down to eat.

For the steam, Flay uses water, orange juice, ginger, and soy sauce, but you can just use water or impart different flavors by getting creative with other ingredients. Tightly wrap your ribs in foil and let them cook on your oven's highest setting.

What is the secret to juicy ribs? ›

Be sure to wrap the foil tightly to lock in moisture, as the steam from the ribs helps tenderize the meat, imbuing it with its own porky flavors. This is pork on pork, and one of the best ways to ensure the juiciest results.

When oven baking ribs, olive oil as a binder helps the spice rub stick as well as caramelize to form a great bark. A rub binder is a layer that's applied to the meat before adding the spice rub. It's purpose is to help the rub adhere to the meat.

So by not wrapping, you're in a constant battle. The meat wants to push all the moisture out during the cooking process, so if you don't want dry bbq you have to do what my buddy Birm calls, “Render and Replace” You can replace moisture in a couple of ways.

The key to cooking great baked ribs is a balance of low temp, lots of time, and moisture retention. I cook these at 300° for 2 hours under a tightly wrapped layer of foil. Don't skip covering your ribs with foil—it ensures that not too much liquid escapes while the low-slow cook breaks down the connective tissue.

The Texas Crutch: Wrap In Foil Or Butcher Paper To Tenderize And Speed Cooking. Share on: Called the “Texas Crutch” because some folks think it was developed in Texas, practically all the top competitive barbecue teams use this technique for ribs, pork shoulder (pork butt), and beef brisket.

The best temperature to bake ribs is typically around 275°F to 300°F (135°C to 150°C). Cooking ribs at this temperature allows them to cook low and slow, which helps break down the tough connective tissues and makes the meat tender and juicy.

Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 1 hour. Turning or stirring occasionally. You can use broiler for these ribs, just watch more closely, and adjust cooking time. These ribs are also great finished on the grill for a few minutes on each side.

Most oven-baked recipes involve the "low and slow" approach, cooking ribs at a temperature of around 225 degrees F for three hours or more.