Spare Rib

Memphis is known for its dry-rubbed barbecued ribs, which are all about intense spices and the unadorned texture of low-and-slow-cooked meat. The two-step cooking process I use here—the meat is first slow-cooked in the oven, then finished over a hot grill—ensures succulent, crispy-edged, tender ribs every time, rendering sauce fully optional. Even so, sauce person that I am, I usually can’t help myself from cooking the meat in beer and basting it with vinegar-based barbecue sauce for a little added flavor and tang. You can try making these ribs with and without the sauce and decide for yourself. Either way, you’ll need to let the ribs marinate for at least two or three hours before cooking.

Barbecued ribs are a delicacy born of the ingenuity of the poorest—the slaves and servants who were tossed bones by their masters and transformed gristly, fatty “spare ribs” into a complex delicious, finger-sucking feast—the New World equivalent of the French potage. The trick to cooking ribs is keeping them moist: brining is a must. Even the most delicious housemade bacon would envy the subtle woodsy notes infused from the smoked salt used in this brine. Bacony ribs glazed with a rich and spicy sauce: it’s like Christmas in July.

These irresistible ribs are an import from China that have been adopted—and adapted—by Japanese cooks. I like to prepare them with classic Chinese five-spice seasoning, because I love the rich fragrance and flavors of this mixture of cinnamon, anise seed, star anise, cloves, and ginger. But many cooks in Japan prefer to make the spareribs with simply sansho pepper or freshly ground black pepper and salt (use 1 teaspoon of either pepper with 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt). Try these different spice combinations to see which ones you like best!

The most difficult part of making these ribs is waiting for them to be ready. And the best part is that they practically make themselves. It is said that ribs should be cooked low and slow, and this recipe does just that. Cumin, oregano, and chipotle chiles slowly infuse into the meat of these ribs for 3 hours before they are glazed with honey and adobo. A winning combination!

St. Louis–style ribs do very well in KCBS contests, and because they’re larger they tend to be a little bit easier to handle. A lot of folks favor them because they’re surrounded by more fat to flavor the meat, and when they’re cooked right, they’re tender and bursting with real hog flavor. I cook four racks of ribs at competition, so that’s what these recipes call for; that should serve a nice-size group of people, depending on appetites and on what else is on your menu. If you’re going to cook fewer ribs, you’ll still need to make the rub, marinade, and glaze. You can either cut those recipes in half or you can save the leftovers and use them on other meats (the rib rub, for example, would be great on a pork loin roast), and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what you can do with leftover glaze (I like mine on burgers, though). Regardless of how many racks you’re cooking, the cook time stays the same.

Though the introduction of ribs to Big Bob Gibson’s menu was enthusiastically embraced by the locals, the recipe itself was, well, pretty bare-bones—simply a full-size sparerib seasoned with salt and pepper and slow-smoked. In 1979, Don McLemore offered a bonus to any employee who could improve on Big Bob’s ribs. During the next week the rib usage went up tenfold but profits took a nosedive, as the extremely well-fed pit workers experimented with different preparations. When the smoke cleared two weeks later, Steve Bullard earned a dime raise with this recipe.

Over the years the rib recipe at Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q has changed many times, running the gamut from full-size spare ribs to today’s meaty St. Louis–cut spare ribs. The seasoning and the sauce have evolved as well, moving from salt and pepper to a complex seasoning blend and a finishing touch of our own championship red sauce. Spare ribs are cut from the lower portion of the rib cage below the back ribs, including a portion of the breast bone. The bones of the spare rib vary in size and length, ranging from short and round to long and flat, and they have less curvature than baby back ribs. The meat contains a high percentage of fat and thus yields a tender finished product. The term “St. Louis cut” is used when the breast bone and cartilage are cut from a spare rib, leaving a slab of ribs with a more uniform size and shape. The breast bone can be used for stock, and the leftover meat and cartilage can be seasoned and cooked for rib tips. A full-size spare rib can be trimmed easily at home, or your local butcher can trim the rib and give you the bonus cuttings. The recipe that follows is as close to what we use at the restaurant as I can give without being disowned by the family. I think you will recognize the similarities—and perhaps even like it better!

It is impossible to discuss Memphis barbecue without talking about ribs. Where in most places the rib-loving factions are divided between those who prefer baby backs to spareribs (or vice versa), in Memphis the two different camps are partisans of either dry or wet preparations. Wet ribs are daubed with sauce before serving. Dry ribs can have either a dry rub added prior to cooking or a seasoning blend applied after cooking. Either way, no tomato-based sauce touches a dry rib from Memphis.

Pat: Beef ribs are not nearly as common in Memphis as pork ribs, but they are still loved by many and always worth a slab. Because of their massive size—beef rib bones are twice the size of pork ribs—beef ribs are often referred to as the “Fred Flintstone bone.” This size scares a lot of novice grillers, but there’s no need to worry. Beef ribs have more bone than meat, so they will actually take less time to cook and prepare. As with other ribs, they must be slow-cooked at a low temperature for the tenderest results. Cooked for less than 3 hours over indirect heat, these ribs will add real Texas flavor to your backyard cookout.

New York City has a Chinese takeout restaurant on every corner and oddly enough they all seem to have the same menu. Maybe it all comes out of the same kitchen—who knows? What I do know is that Chinese spareribs are one of my favorite junk foods on the planet. This is my variation of the classic Chinese spareribs No. 5. Be warned, they are really addictive. When preparing ribs, slower and longer is always better.

You can precook spareribs without covering them using this easy convection oven method. While the ribs are in their first stage of cooking, make the barbecue sauce for the final glazing and baking, or use your favorite store-bought brand.

Unlike most braises, these ribs aren't browned before they're simmered. The long, slow simmer tenderizes the meat, and the ribs get their brown, shiny exterior from a soy and brown sugar marinade. The ideal drink pairing? Ice-cold Thai beer.

Editor's note: The recipe below is from How to Grill, by Steven Raichlen. To read more about Raichlen and barbecue, go to our feature The Best Barbecue in the U.S.A.

This preparation results in ribs that are dark, glossy, and so tender that just a tug of the teeth will pull the meat off the bone.

If you have a food processor, you can make sausage from scratch. Adding pork fat to the meat gives these bite-size sausage patties a tender texture. Call your butcher in advance to make sure he sets aside some extra pork fat for you. To help the mixture blend more easily, be sure to freeze the pork pieces before grinding them in the processor. Keep in mind that the sausage needs to chill overnight so that the flavors have time to develop.

These addictive and deeply flavored ribs make a great starter as part of a larger Thai meal, or they can be served as a main course accompanied by jasmine rice and a sautéed or braised leafy or bitter green vegetable. On the other hand, they make a terrific snack to go along with a cold beer.