Considering trying some baby back ribs in a crock pot but wasn’t sure how they would turn out. Has anyone tried this and what were the results? Curious to hear recipes or recommendations on how to slow cook these to perfection.
Baby Back Ribs
- Thread starter HoosierNole
- Start date
If this thread goes anything like the last, we're going to have a nationwide outbreak of botulism in the next 24 hours.
Microwave them on high first for 5 minutes a side to get a good sear. It really seals in the flavor.
If you want BBQ from a crock pot, the only acceptable technique is throw in a tenderloin,1 bottle of sauce and wait 4 hours. Why bother messing with ribs?
Then throw in the oven for a few hrs, then broil a few mins to get the char and still make a respectable rib. If done in a croc pot, then that's essentially boiling/braising them and turning them to mushy ribs that will literally fall if the bone. Pork shoulder, roast, or loin in a croc pot is so much better.
This. The ribs fall off the bone in a Crock pot because it ends up boiling part of them in the fat and other juices that gets rendered to bottom. That's not what you want to do with ribs. Pork shoulder is fine if making pulled pork and you can drain it and you want the bone out. If doing ribs use oven and broiler pan if you can't grill or smoke.
If you want to do Crockpot BBQ, the only thing I consider acceptable is the Western Carolina pulled pork sammies I suggested in the potluck thread. They are very easy to do in the crockpot and come out almost as good as the real smoked variety. It doesn’t beat the true high quality smoked Western Carolina pulled pork sammies you get from places like Lexington BBQ, Red Bridges BBQ or Alston Bridges BBQ, but it does beat the pants off what Texans and Sonny’s wrongly do to the pork. So if you follow my instructions in the potluck thread on the first page you’ll get pulled pork sammies that equal an 8 or 9 out of 10. It will be close just not quite perfect.
Ribs on the other hand are never good out of a crockpot. I’ve had plenty of peoples crockpotand instant pot ribs in potluck dinners over the years and they’re always overly soft and greasy (not only is all the connective tissue destroyed which can be a good thing if you’re not trying to make toothsome competition or Korean style ribs, but there’s no place for all of the fat to escape so it just sits in its own flabby fat).
There is an easy alternative or two to the crockpot ribs though that doesn’t involve smoking, just do an oven baked or sous vide rib. If you do the oven baked recipes it tastes even better if you bring your gas or charcoal grill to high heat afterwards and sear in a crust right after you take them out, but you can get a decent crust just by removing foil from the ribs a little early if it’s raining or you’re being lazy. Sous Vide ribs on the other hand MUST do the two step process of sous viding the ribs until at the texture you want and then finishing on a high heat grill.
Here’s an instructable on the oven method I’ve used. To improve it simply take them out of the oven about 3-5 mins early and then finish on a high heat grill until they get a little bit of charry crust (but not solid black then you’ve cooked them too long, it only takes a min or two at max to finish on the grill. I use my gas grill for this as it’s easier than charcoal.)
https://www.instructables.com/id/Oven-Cooked-Ribs-with-Dry-Rub/
Then add whatever bbq sauce you like IF you need them. I assure you the dry rub ribs featured here are good enough without a sauce but you can buy or make one and use it.
I never even made ribs. Just like how the thought of making ribs in a slow cooker rustles so many jimmies.
I think you could find baby food in pork flavor, would be very similar. Enjoy.
I don't know, lots of good reviews for pressure cooker ribs. Trick is to finish off under the broiler. If I give it a shot I'll report back and let you guys know you can sell your fancy smoker rigs.
Cook the ribs how ever you like, who cares. Just don't call them BBQ, they are baked/pressure/crock pot.
The most important thing about bbq baby backs is that you are meticulous about maintaining a vigorous boil during the first hour-and-a-half of cooking.
My competition friends add a kosher salt mixture to the water to raise its boiling point. The magic number is somewhere between 240 and 245 degrees Fahrenheit, with the liquid smoke brine-pour at 230 on the rampdown.
Have never tried them in a crock pot, but my wife does boston butt in a crock pot and it turns out pretty good. I par boil my baby backs for about an hour in a big pot. This gets them very tender. I then put them on the grill on low temperature. After turning once, I start putting on barbeque sauce and keep turning and adding more sauce. This firms them up a bit (but still tender) and gives them a good flavor and a nice coating. After about 15-20 minutes, they are ready to eat.
