Succulent BBQ Rib Recipe

I've been on the hunt for a good rib recipe for some time. Some that I have tried are messy and end up tasting like a thick, dried chunk of leather with BBQ sauce. Some end up with a unpleasant overly porky flavor without the smokey undertone of good ribs. I've also tried precooking them and finishing them on the grill. While at our Sunday cooking class at William Sonoma we learned about a delightful and easy way to make amazing, sweet, succulent BBQ ribs. At first I was suspicious of the recipe, but tried it and am now converted. Using this recipe you end up with tender, sweet ribs that fall apart as you eat them. Here is the recipe:

Succulent BBQ Ribs

You'll need:
Pork Ribs (this may work for beef ribs, too)
Brown Sugar
(Northwoods Fire Spice - optional and wonderful!)
Cayenne Pepper
Black Pepper
BBQ Sauce
plastic wrap
aluminum foil

Prepare by washing your hands then laying out a large piece of foil topped with a large piece of plastic wrap. Place a medium amount of ribs on top of this. (I worked with 3 ribs at a time.)Begin by making a sugar rub for the ribs. We used quite a lot. The proportions are mostly by feel but go something like 1 cup brown sugar to 1 tea. cayenne and 1 tea. ground pepper. We also added Northwoods Fire Spice from Penzy Spices. It is totally optional and wonderful. It adds a deep smokey note to the recipe. You might also be able to use a tiny bit of liquid smoke to get a similar effect. Mix well and use your hands to rib the sugar mix onto the ribs. Try to coat them fairly well. Do this to all of the ribs that will be wrapped together.

Next, wrap the ribs very tightly with plastic wrap. Then wrap that with one or two pieces of foil. The package should be tight and compact. Do this to the remaining ribs. Place these on a jelly roll pan or casserole dish. Bake at 225 degrees for about 4 hours.

Take them out of the oven and carefully unwrap them. There will be a lot of sweet liquid from the ribs. Place them on a new cookie sheet and brush with BBQ sauce. Place this under the broiler just long enough to heat up the sauce.

We made a lovely veggie side dish by sauteing zucchini slices and pepper slices that have been coated with olive oil and seasoned with poultry seasoning.