Baby Back Ribs with Espresso Barbecue Sauce
These lip-smacking oven baked ribs are finished on the grill
Equipment
- Half sheet pan with rack I use these super versatile pans for so lots of baking and roasting
- Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt This is the salt I use for everyday cooking and baking
- Non-slip Cutting Board These plastic cutting boards are non-slip and are dishwasher safe
Ingredients
Rub for the Ribs
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
- 1½ tablespoons Smoked Paprika
- 1½ tablespoons Mexican-style chili powder
- 1 teaspoons Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoons Onion Powder
- 1 tablespoon Ground Cumin
- 1 teaspoon Fresh ground black pepper
- 3 racks Baby Back Pork Ribs
Expresso Barbecue Sauce
- 1 Bottle 18-ounces, good-quality barbecue sauce I like Sweet Baby Rays
- 1 can 12-ounces dark beer Substitution: Chicken stock
- ½ cup Water
- 2 tablespoons Golden brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon Instant espresso powder
Instructions
Make the ribs
- Remove the membrane or silver skin from the back of the pork ribs (see notes). A lot of packaged ribs already have this removed.
- Preheat oven to 400℉. Whisk the rub ingredients together in a small bowl to blend. Rub the spice mixture all over the ribs and place on a baking sheet pan or shallow baking pan.
- In a medium sauce pan, boil the beer until it's reduced to 1 cup, about 5 minutes. Pour the beer around (not over) the ribs. Cover the pan tightly with heavy duty foil and bake for 90 minutes.
To make the barbecue sauce
- In a medium sauce pan, combine the barbecue sauce, ½ cup water, the brown sugar, and espresso powder. Simmer until flavors blend and sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
- NOTE: The ribs and barbecue sauce can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover separately and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature to continue.
To barbecue the ribs
- Prepare the barbecue to medium heat. Brush the ribs with some of the barbecue sauce. Grill the ribs just until heated through and have a little char, about 3-4 minutes per side.
- Transfer the ribs to a butting board and cut apart. Place ribs on a platter and serve with remaining barbecue sauce.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!