How to Cook Ribs in the Oven Without Special Equipment

Posted on October 3, 2022 by resourcefulman

Ribs are a “project” dish, or they have such a reputation. Perhaps this is their intimidating appearance: a large pile of bones. Perhaps it’s because they’re part of a culinary tradition known as “barbecuing,” which can be overwhelming if you’re used to cooking everything indoors or don’t have a grill. But you can cook ribs in the oven, even if this oven is in a tiny apartment, and they will be very tasty.

Oven-cooked ribs won’t taste the same as charcoal-smoked ribs, but that’s okay. There are ways to mimic that smoky flavor (down to the pink ring), but there’s also nothing wrong with ribs, which are just sweet and sticky, with tender, pliable meat that comes off the bone easily.

To simulate grilled ribs, you will need liquid smoke and Prague powder, only one of which you most likely have in your pantry. You can read AmazingRibs.com ‘s guide on how to use these ingredients, but again, there’s nothing wrong with making tender ribs that taste just like pork and your favorite sauce (and BBQ sauce). And it’s easy.

Cooking ribs in the oven consists of three stages:

Roasting in foil (retains tenderness without overdrying)

Naked roasting (keeps them from getting wet and softened, promotes crust development)
Broiling (caramelizes the sauce)

The first two stages take two hours each; the latter takes all five minutes. But before you get there, you need to do a little prep work.

How to prepare ribs for the oven

First things first: you need to get rid of the membrane that runs along the back of the rack, unless you want to spend precious minutes in your mouth chewing on the tough membrane. (You don’t.) Recall that this membrane is easy to spot and even easier to remove (you don’t even need a knife):

If you look at the less meaty side of the ribs, you can see that it is a little shiny – almost like a gossamer-thin gauze is stretched over the meat and bones. This is because there is, like. It’s a membrane (called the peritoneum, yum!), and unlike collagen and connective tissue, it doesn’t soften when cooked… To remove the rib membrane, all you need is your hands and a paper towel. Flip the grill over with the meaty side down, then, starting at the smaller end of the ribs, use your fingernail to separate the shiny membrane from the row of meaty bones. Once you’ve peeled off a small piece, grab it with a paper towel, hold the smaller end of the rack with your other hand, and pull.

Once that’s done, move on to seasoning.

How to season ribs in the oven

Unless you’re using the liquid smoke and Prague powder method, you only need two things to season your ribs: seasoning and sauce. Both can be bought at the store, but if you like to mix your little powders and/or liquids together to make custom ribs, be my guest – there are plenty of good recipes for both rubs and sauces. I used Meathead’s Amazing Smoked Pork Seasoning and Dry Brine because Meathead is a friend of mine and he sent it to me and because it’s really good. For the sauce I used Sweet Baby Ray’s, another great product.

Shake the rub all over the ribs to create an even, opaque layer. If your rub contains salt, do not salt the ribs; if not, season each side of the rack with 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt before adding the rub.

If your oven cannot accommodate a full rack of ribs, cut it in half. Wrap each piece (or the entire rack) in foil and you’re ready to fry.