Nana’s Fall-Off-The-Bone Ribs and “Barb”-Ecue Sauce

You all know my Dad was the undisputed king of ribs. He had them down to an art, and everyone wanted his ribs at every gathering. I’ve spent years trying to live up to that legacy, and I think I’ve come pretty darn close with my “Famous” ribs. At this point, all I have to do is mention making them and somehow I’m suddenly hosting dinner. 

The first time we made them for a group, the table went completely quiet. Not because everyone was speechless, but because they were too busy eating. The only sounds coming from the table were occasional “mmmm” noises. That’s when you know you’ve got a winner.

Those ribs are still my tried-and-true favorite. But I have a whole collection of other rib recipes I want to experiment with. The problem? I always chicken out and make my usual ones instead. Not this time.

Blueberry was coming over to hang out for a while, and I knew she’d be willing to be my guinea pig. So I decided it was finally time to try something new: Nana’s Ribs.

I have a soft spot for recipes that have someone’s name attached to them. I always find myself wondering about the person behind the recipe. Who was Nana? What was she like? How many times did she make these ribs for her family? The creator of The Food Charlatan explains that Nana was part of her husband’s family, and apparently Nana knew exactly what she was doing.

These ribs were incredibly tender. Like, ridiculously tender.

The recipe has you bake the ribs first and then finish them on the grill so the barbecue sauce gets all charred, sticky and caramelized. Sounds fantastic, right? It was—except the ribs kept falling apart every time I tried to move them to the grill.

And I mean falling apart.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with ribs that are so tender the meat practically slides off the bone. In fact, plenty of people would probably consider that the ultimate rib achievement. These were delicious, without question.

But I personally like my ribs to have just a little more structural integrity. I want to pick up a rib, get my hands messy and gnaw the meat right off the bone. With these, I just had to look at them and the meat would fall off.

Still, I certainly wasn't going to complain while eating them. Tender, saucy, caramelized and delicious? Yeah… I had no trouble filling my plate. And then filling it again.

Nana’s Fall-Off-The-Bone Ribs and “Barb”-Ecue Sauce

Recipe from The Food Charlatan

Serves 8

For the ribs:

• heavy foil
• 7 pounds racks of ribs*
• 6 ounces Applewood rub**, you might need more!

For the sauce:

• 2 cups ketchup
• 2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoons celery seed
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 4-8 drops Tabasco sauce

Lay out a generous amount of heavy foil on a large rimmed baking sheet. Lay one rack of ribs on the foil and rub generously with Applewood rub. You can be very generous. I used at least 1/3 cup per rack.

Pull the long edges of the foil up over the ribs and seal them together by folding down, until you have neat package that seals on top of the ribs. Fold the two ends in on themselves, upward, so that juices don't drip out. The ribs should be completely covered.

Repeat with the other racks of ribs.

Let the ribs sit for at least 30 minutes. Overnight in the fridge is better! I always do it the day before. You can lay two racks of ribs on a large half baking sheet. (Two prevent raw meat drippings spilling in your fridge, no thanks.

When you are ready to cook, preheat your oven to 250 degrees F.

Place the ribs in the oven, sitting on a baking sheet in case they drip, and roast for about 3 hours. Take the ribs out when they are fork-tender. Sometimes they take longer to get really soft and tender, so plan ahead, you might need more like 4 or even 5 hours if you have very thick or meaty ribs. It's better to have the ribs done ahead of time and sit in a warm oven for a while than to have to wait for dinner! I always start roasting mine in the morning.

For the sauce:

Well ahead of time, combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a 3 quart pot. Stir together over medium high heat until the mixture comes to a boil.

Lower heat to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, until thickened slightly. Remove from heat and allow the sauce to cool. It will thicken more as it cools down. (I also love my homemade BBQ Sauce on these ribs, you could try both!)

When the ribs are done, take them out of the oven and unwrap the foil. Cut the ribs into 1, 2, or 3 piece sections, whatever you like.

Heat your grill to medium high, about 450 degrees F.

Generously brush the ribs with the barbecue sauce. Or pull an Eric and dunk them in the sauce completely. (The ribs are cooked. Stop looking at me like I’m a heathen.)

Grease your grill grates, and grill the ribs for about 2-3 minutes per side, until there are grill marks.

Remove from the grill and cover with foil until ready to serve.

Serve ribs with the remaining sauce. Eat with your hands!