Cathy: Ribs from St. Louis Missouri. Whether you prefer spicier beef ribs from Texas or a dry rub style from Memphis, each state (mainly from southern states) has their own style – pork/beef, wet/dry, spicy/sweet/mustardy. There’s nothing better than a fall-off-the-bone rib dinner with mashed potatoes. Perfect for a winter evening – even in California weather with a 70 degree high yesterday. Sorry Nor-east friends/not sorry :-)
St. Louis style ribs start with a dry rub that includes paprika, garlic powder and brown sugar – rested in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes. The recipe I used allowed for an Instant Pot or slow cooker prep (but most bake in the oven slowly) and since I had an all day project going on, I opted for the slow cooker – which created amazing smells from the kitchen as I walked thru throughout the day. BTW – St. Louis style means pork “spare ribs” with the breastbone cut off and the ribs in a rectangular shape. Compared to baby back ribs, spare ribs are larger and fattier (which is probably one of the reasons they were SO good – the fatty part). Any which way you make them, they all have one thing in common – the need for lots of napkins!
Prep time: 30 minutes Rest time (the ribs, not you): 30-45 min Slow cook time: 8 hours
- 2 1/2 lbs St. Louis-style spareribs
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/2 Tbs paprika
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 Tbs brown sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce (use your favorite sweeter, tomato based sauce)
- Remove the silver skin off of the ribs (I didn’t know what that was so I didn’t do this). Place the rack of ribs on a cookie sheet. In a bowl, stir together the seasonings (salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, oregano and brown sugar). Rub the seasoning all over the ribs, top and bottom. Place the cookie sheet into the fridge and let it sit there for at least 30 minutes (I did 45 minutes).
- If cooking in an instant pot, place the trivet in bottom and pour in one cup of water. Place the ribs in the pot so the ribs coil around the inside of the pot. Cover and press valve to “sealing”. Press manual and set the timer to 28 minutes. Once the timer beeps, let the pressure come down naturally for 25 minutes and then open the Instant Pot.
- If cooking in the slow cooker, wrap the ribs around the inside of the crock, or cut in half and lay them on top of each other. Pour the water in the bottom. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
- Remove the ribs from the pressure/slow cooker and place on a cookie sheet. Turn on the broiler of your oven. Baste the ribs on both sides with plenty of BBQ sauce. Broil for 3 minutes. Alternatively, you could grill them on the grill on high heat for 3 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and enjoy!
Recipe inspired by 365 days of crockpot
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