How To Bake Ribs in the Oven

Rib meat is fairly tough, and it needs a long time to break down and become tender. The oven is actually an ideal environment for this kind of slow and steady cooking. After a few hours, the meat is nearly falling off the bone and you'll be licking your fingers in no time.

Go ahead and adapt one of the oven-roasting techniques below to any recipe for barbecued ribs that you take a fancy to. You simply sprinkle both sides of the ribs with your favorite spice rub and refrigerate overnight - brush them with mustard before adding the rub, if desired. They will then bake using one of the two techniques. The barbecue sauce will be brushed on during the last hour of cooking. The sauce you use should match the flavors of the rub that was used at the beginning.

Rack of spareribs or baby back ribs
Favorite rub
Favorite barbecue sauce, store-bought or homemade

(see Grilling and Barbecue page for several rub and barbecue sauce recipes)

One thing that you don’t get with this method is the smoky barbecue flavor. Sad, but true. To capture a bit of that delicious flavor, add some extra smoked paprika to your spice rub, or if brushing the ribs with mustard before adding the rub, mix some liquid smoke, about 1 teaspoon, into the mustard before brushing it on.

Two Methods for Oven-baking

When it comes to oven-baking ribs, there are two schools of thought.

  1. The first method is to cover the ribs and braise with some liquid until they're tender, followed by a brief blast of high heat to caramelize them.
  2. The second is to sear the ribs first and then give them a long, slow cooking time.

In both cases, you cover the ribs with foil for part of the cooking time to prevent them drying out. Either method works as long as you use low heat and allow several hours cooking time for the ribs to become tender. Baby back ribs are smaller than pork spareribs, have less meat, and will require a shorter cooking time. Lifting the ribs above the baking sheet or pan on a rack lets the heat circulate on all sides. Be sure to lay the ribs on the rack in a single layer.

Note: For pork spareribs, plan on a total cooking time of 4 hours. For baby back ribs, plan on a total cooking time of 3 1/2 hours. When the ribs are completely cooked, the rack will be limp if picked up on the end, but will not tear or separate. The meat will have pulled away from the bone ends by about 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch.

*Slow From Go

  1. To braise ribs, place a rack on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan and place the ribs with the dry rub directly on the rack, meat side up. Add a bit of liquid, such as apple juice or water, to the bottom of the pan to keep the ribs moist. Cover the ribs with aluminum foil. Slow cook the ribs at 300 F for two to three hours on an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Baby back pork ribs cook quickly, while spareribs need longer time. Don't worry if they're not completely tender at this point—they'll continue to cook when you brush on the sauce and bake them again.
  2. Remove the ribs from the oven and raise the temperature to 400 F. Discard the liquid. Brush the ribs with a BBQ sauce, if you like, and cook them an additional 30 - 60 minutes, brushing on more sauce as needed. It's difficult to use a meat thermometer with ribs, but when the ribs are completely cooked, the rack will be limp if picked up on the end, but will not tear or separate. The meat will have pulled away from the bone ends by about 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch.

Start Hot

  1. For the second method, line a baking sheet or roasting pan with aluminum foil for easy clean up and place a rack on the foil. Place the ribs with the dry rub on the rack, meat side up. Heat the oven to broil. Broil the ribs for five minutes or so, until they're golden brown and the rub is bubbly.
  2. Reduce the heat to 300 F and place the ribs in the center of the oven. Cook pork ribs for 45 minutes; cook beef ribs for one hour.
  3. At this point, cover the ribs with aluminum foil. Cook an additional one to two hours, or until the ribs are tender.
  4. Remove the foil, brush on a BBQ sauce and bake, uncovered, at 300 F for an additional 30 or more minutes until done. Brush the ribs with more sauce as needed. You don't need to raise the heat at the end because you browned the ribs initially. When the ribs are completely cooked, the rack will be limp if picked up on the end, but will not tear or separate. The meat will have pulled away from the bone ends by about 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch.