Best Ribs I Ever Made... Ever!

My experiments with brine went so well with chicken and with pork chops that I wanted to try it with pork ribs.  I have made ribs in several different ways over the years, but many of those recipes have too many steps, and some of them didn't come out very well.

Brining ribs has turned out to be the most successful so far - they were juicy and flavorful and falling off the bone with only a few steps.

Boil 4 c water with 1c kosher salt.  Stir until salt dissolves, which is only a few minutes.

Add 1 tsp red pepper flakes.   (optional)

Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then add 3-4c apple juice.  Soak ribs in brine at least 6 hours.  You can make more or less brine, as long as you have enough to completely cover the meat.  I usually do this in a plastic container, but you can use a plastic bag also.

Remove ribs from brine, place on a piece of foil in grill with low/indirect heat for 2 hours, flipping only once.  It helps to spray the foil with cooking spray before putting it on the grill...


Baste with bbq sauce and roast for another 10-15 minutes.  Flip ribs, removing foil, and baste the other side with sauce too.  After 10 minutes or so, flip once more just to flame the last side a little bit and caramelize the bbq sauce.

That is really all there is to it: soak the meat, then grill.  No parboiling, no messy pans, no browning in oil, no fussing with tons of ingredients, and no need to heat up the oven.

There now, wasn't that easy?

Savory Burger & Blue Cheese Roll!

Yet another use for Pillsbury dough! They should be paying me or something... :)


1. Cook 1# of ground beef, or moose, or whatever you have 150 lbs of in your freezer.



2. Unroll pizza crust dough on greased cookie sheet, spread with barbecue sauce, then spread layer of cooked meat.  Don't spread all the way to the far end - you want a little flap for closing the roll.


3. Top with crumbled blue cheese and shredded mozzarella.


4. Roll from near short end like a big jelly roll with closing flap last; this keeps it from unrolling while it cooks.  It will look like some kind of big white larvae from a sci-fi movie, but trust me that it will look better when it is cooked!

5.  Bake according to dough package directions.  Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella for last 5 minutes.



6. Slice to serve with bbq sauce.