Simple Baby Back Ribs & Why They are Like Prayer Requests

Ribs & Prayer? Is this guy off his Rocker?

I know what you are thinking. Baby Back Ribs are not simple. They are difficult to handle, they take too long to cook and they are very easy to burn if you try to cook them completely on the grill. Someone told me a few years back (I think it was Cheryl & Kevin) a different way to make ribs. I have made some slight changes to the original description, but trust me this is an easier recipe than most and it will make mouthwatering ribs. It does not require a smoker. I know that the lack of a smoker is a big problem for some people and I am sorry for doing this to you, but the main objective for my cooking is trying to simplify ways to make great tasting food. So I apologize to the Baby Back Rib Smoker Purists out there ... this recipe is for those of us that are "smoker challenged"!

So why are Baby Back Ribs like Prayer Requests? This thought came to me after my wife and I were talking. I could take a few slabs of baby back ribs and just throw them on the grill. After 10-15 minutes I could throw on some BBQ sauce and after 20 minutes or so I could have them on the table. Quick ribs! Problem is that they would be hard to eat because they would be tough and tasteless. But if I take the time, as I have shown in this recipe, ribs made this way the mouthwatering delicious. The meat falls off the bone as you eat them. You taste the BBQ sauce in every bite. This seems to work in the same manner as our LORD answering my prayers. You see if I throw up a prayer request and then get frustrated with the LORD because my request is not answered in my time it is because I have not given the LORD time to impregnate my heart. I think the LORD wants to slow cook me and my heart like the ribs. HE wants me to simmer in his word. HE wants me to get tender because I am under a just enough heat to make me uncomfortable and to make me want to change. This is, I think, how the LORD strengthens us, over a long period of time he works us and makes things a bit hotter than we desire.

So as you make this recipe think about how the LORD works on you. Enjoy the ribs and even more than that enjoy the heat that the LORD has you under right now because he is making you into a great person that he is longing to love.

Mouth Watering Baby Back Ribs

4 Full Slabs of Baby Back Ribs
1 18-oz Jar of Hickory flavor BBQ Sauce
1/2 Cup Red Wine Vinegar
Salt & Pepper to Taste.
Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Mix together the BBQ Sauce and the wine vinegar and then set aside. Take ribs and remove the membrane from the under side of the ribs. The easiest way to do this is to slide the tip of a sharp knife under the thin skin of the rib. Then take your finger and slide it underneath the membrane you will see it start to separate from the ribs. Pull this membrane off and discard it. Rinse the ribs under water and pat dry. Lay the ribs out on paper towels on the work surface. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Then take half of the BBQ sauce and brush both sides of each slab of ribs. Wrap two slabs of ribs in two layers of the heavy duty aluminum foil. Put the wrapped ribs in a large backing pan or cookie sheet with sides. (This is to catch any dripping that may occur.) Bake for 3 1/2 hours. Remove the wrapped packages and then let them stand on the counter, wrapped, for about 45 additional minutes.

Prepare the grill so it is at about 350 degrees F or at a medium to low flame. Put the ribs on the grill and brush each side with the remaining BBQ sauce. Cook the ribs on each side for only about 5 minutes, brushing additional BBQ sauce on the ribs each time you turn them over. (Remember the ribs are already cooked all we are doing now is finishing the process.) Remove the ribs from the grill and cut the ribs into one or two rib sections.

I like to prepare the ribs the day before I will serve them. This makes serving ribs to guests much easier and quicker. I take the wrapped ribs after they have sat on the counter for about 45 minutes and I put them into the refrigerator. Then I pull them out of the refrigerator for about 15 minutes before I put them on the grill. Then just grill them and add sauce as I have explained.

I hope you will try these ribs and I hope that you will enjoy the way they taste and more than that you will see how the LORD is trying to change you!

Ciao,
Mark