You don’t need a backyard grill to serve up some great tasting baby-back ribs slathered in barbeque sauce.
All you need is your kitchen oven, your favorite barbeque sauce and your favorite marinade.
These days, I’m just cooking for mom and me.
Here is what I use for my oven roasted ribs. You’ll need:
- One rack of ribs
- ¾ cup Goya Mojo (or your favorite brand of mojo)
- 1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon Badia Adobo Seasoning
- Pinch of salt and pepper
- Barbeque sauce
- 2-2.5 hours of cooking time
I prefer baby-back ribs over St. Louis style ribs, but you can oven bake either one.
First thing to do is to remove the thin membrane on the bony side of the ribs. Take a fork and scrape against the membrane until you can slide your finger underneath to pull it up. Grab as much as you can in your hand and pull it across the rack of ribs until it is completely removed.
I like to let my ribs sit in the marinade, a minimum of 2 hours, but preferably overnight. I cut the rack of ribs in half, only because of limited space in my refrigerator. I place the ribs in a bowl and pour the mojo over them and mix them around to ensure they are covered with the mojo.
After letting them soak for about two hours I dust the ribs with the seasonings I had mixed in a bowl. Place them back in the bowl of mojo, cover the bowl with the lid or tinfoil, and let the ribs continue to marinade in the refrigerator.
If I only have two hours before cooking, then I cover them with mojo and dust them with the seasonings all at once and place in the refrigerator.
Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees. Place tinfoil on a cooking tray. I often use my cast iron skillet and will place the tinfoil down and leave enough tinfoil extending out so that once I place the ribs in the skillet, meat side down, I can cover them with the foil.
Cook the ribs covered in foil for the first hour. After an hour I remove the skillet from the oven so I can turn the ribs over and remove the tinfoil. If using a cooking tray just uncover the ribs and turn them over and leave them uncovered for the rest of the cooking time.
Cook them for 30 minutes, then take them out of the oven and slather your favorite barbeque sauce all over them. I’m partial to Sweet Baby’s Ray’s barbeque sauce. Cook them for another 20-30 minutes. Turn off the oven and let them sit in the heat for 5 minutes. Take them out of the oven and let them rest for another 10 minutes before cutting them.
Cooking times vary by oven, but the final internal temperature should be 190-200 degrees. Also, not every rack of ribs is the same size or pound weight so cooking time could be slightly longer.
You could cook the ribs in the oven using the low and slow method as well at a temperature of 275-300 degrees for a longer cooking time of 2.5-3 hours.
I’m not a professional chef at all, but I am a home cook and have used my oven bake method for years. The ribs come out tender, allow for a nice bite, and pull away from the bone easily.
If you want your ribs extra tender, you should use the low and slow method and cook the ribs until the internal temperature reaches between 190-202. This higher temperature allows the meat tissues to break down, resulting in a tender, "fall-off-the-bone" texture.
Pair the ribs with your favorite side like French fries, mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables or corn on the cob. Sometimes I make tostones or maduro plantains to add a Cuban touch. You can learn how to make those at A Beginner’s Guide To Plantains: Sweet, Savory And Delicious.