Oven-to-Grill Baby Back Ribs

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When you want smoky grilled flavor, make your baby back ribs in the oven and finish them on the grill. Get a head start by baking them the day before and refrigerating overnight. A quick 15 minutes on the grill is all it takes for crispy on the outside, tender on the inside baby back ribs. Be sure to lather it up with the homemade BBQ sauce.

Prep Time:
20 mins
Bake Time:
1 hrs 30 mins
Grill Time:
15 mins
Total Time:
2 hrs 5 mins
Servings:
4

Ingredients

  • 1 3.5 pound rack pork loin back ribs

  • ¼ cup yellow mustard

  • 1 cup BBQ Rub (recipe follows)

  • ½ cup BBQ Sauce (recipe follows)

BBQ Rub

  • 1 ½ teaspoon celery seeds

  • 1 ½ teaspoon cumin seeds

  • 1 ½ teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

  • 1 ½ teaspoon coriander seed

  • ¾ cup turbinado sugar

  • ¾ cup dark brown sugar

  • ½ cup paprika

  • 3 tablespoon fine sea salt or kosher salt

  • 4 teaspoon onion powder

  • 1 tablespoon chili powder

  • 1 ½ teaspoon dried oregano

  • 1 ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

BBQ Sauce

  • 2 ½ cup dark brown sugar

  • 2 ½ cup ketchup

  • ½ cup yellow mustard

  • ½ cup cider vinegar

  • ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

  • Juice of 1 lime

  • 1 tablespoon salt

  • 1 tablespoon onion powder

  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder

  • 1 ½ teaspoon paprika

  • 1 ½ teaspoon black pepper

  • Pinch cayenne pepper

  • Dash liquid smoke

Directions

Oven-to-Grill Baby Back Grill
Andy Lyons
  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. With a pastry brush, spread the mustard all over both sides of the ribs. Generously sprinkle the rub all over both sides of the ribs.

  2. Place ribs in the middle of a double thickness of heavy foil cut 6 inches longer than the ribs. Wrap ribs in the foil. Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until tender (the two middle bones of the rack should start to pull apart easily).

  3. Remove ribs to a tray (discard liquid in foil packet). Spread the sauce all over both sides of the ribs. Grill on the rack of a covered grill directly over medium heat for 15 minutes, brushing with additional sauce every 5 minutes, turning once. Adjust heat as necessary to prevent burning.

BBQ Rub

  1. Place celery seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and coriander seeds in a spice grinder and grind until fine. Mix together with remaining ingredients.

BBQ Sauce

  1. Whisk all ingredients together in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool to room temperature. Cover and chill up to 2 weeks.

Doneness Cues for Your Baby Back Ribs

Bone Tips: When the ribs are close to being done, the meat will begin to retract, exposing the rib tips. U Shape: Hold the ribs in the middle with tongs. When they are ready, the rack will sag in a reversed U shape. The meat may crack, too, which is a good sign. Rib Twist: Grab an exposed bone tip with your tongs and gently twist. If the bone turns easily, the ribs are done. Toothpick Test: The meat is tender when a toothpick easily penetrates the meat between the ribs.

Instant Pot-to-Oven Baby Back Ribs:

Spread ribs with mustard and season with rub as above. Curl rib back inside the 6-quart pot of an electric pressure cooker with the meaty sides toward outside of pot. Sprinkle with any rub that falls off. Add 1 cup water to bottom of pot. (do not pour over ribs). Lock lid in place. Set to cook on high pressure for 40 minutes. Allow pressure to release for 15 minutes. Release any remaining pressure. Remove ribs to a foil-lined shallow baking pan, bone sides down (discard liquid in cooker). Preheat oven to 400°F. Brush some of the sauce over ribs. Bake ribs for 15 minutes, brushing with remaining sauce every 5 minutes.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

530 Calories
21g Fat
46g Carbs
43g Protein
Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 4
Calories 530
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 21g 27%
Saturated Fat 7g 35%
Cholesterol 131mg 44%
Sodium 2337mg 102%
Total Carbohydrate 46g 17%
Total Sugars 39g
Protein 43g
Vitamin C 4.4mg 22%
Calcium 120mg 9%
Iron 4.2mg 23%
Potassium 848mg 18%
Folate, total 9.9mcg
Vitamin B-12 1.1mcg
Vitamin B-6 1.2mg

*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

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