My ultimate recipe for actual fall off the bone ribs that will beat smoked ribs any day of the week. Brined, braised and finished over charcoal. Try these and you may never go back to smoked ribs!
1tspAleppo chili flakesor ½ tsp regular chili powder
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Instructions
Remove the membrane from underneath the ribs using a butter knife and a paper towel to grip the membrane. Pull firmly to remove.
For the Quick Brine
Measure half of the water (500ml) and add to a small pot with the salt and the bay leaf for the brine. Bring to a boil. Make sure all of the salt is dissolved. Let this cool.
Now fill a measuring cup with ice and fill it with cold water up to 500ml in total. Add this to the dissolved salt water. Let this cool completely before adding the ribs.
Once the brine is cool, add the ribs and use a small plate to hold them into the solution. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit overnight or for at least 6 hours.
Braising the Ribs
Set the oven to 350°F/175°C. Remove the ribs from the brine and place leave out to temper for about 20 minutes. Add the onions, garlic and bay leaves with the ribs to the casserole dish. In a separate pan, bring the chicken stock, salt and soy to a boil. Pour the hot stock over the ribs making sure the ribs are completely covered in liquid. Cover with a double layer of tin foil or a lid. Set in the oven for 2-2+1/2 hours. Check after 2 hours. The ribs are done when the bone pulls away effortlessly from the meat. If the ribs are still tough, put them back in the oven until they become tender. (Another +30 minutes)
After the ribs are cooked, let them cool in the braising liquid for about 30 minutes. If you are not going to cook the ribs today then wrap in plastic wrap and set in the fridge once cooled. If you want to eat the ribs now then remove them from the liquid and set on paper towel. Set in the fridge and quickly chill for about 20 minutes. (This will make it easier to handle on the grill)
Now get that BBQ fired up! While you are waiting for the grill to heat up make the spice seasoning. Get a brush, bbq sauce and the softened butter ready.
Remove the ribs from the fridge and rub with the softened butter. Season generously with salt and the spice seasoning.
Brush a nice layer of BBQ sauce all over the ribs and start grilling! The technique is to continuously flip the ribs over and brush more BBQ sauce over the ribs when they look dry and then repeating this step multiple times to achieve a nice crust.
Finish with a sprinkling of more seasoning and lots of BBQ sauce and serve on a board. Enjoy!
Notes
I cool the brine down quickly by dissolving only half of the water with the salt. I add ice to the other half of the water to allow it to cool down faster. This will cool down much faster than bringing the entire brine to a boil and waiting for this to cool.