Oven Baked Dry Rubbed Baby Back Ribs V1

Have you noticed the table under the plates in these pictures has changed?  You have 2 options, a wood table (means we are eating inside) or a glass table (means we are outside).  It's been pretty beautiful here in Michigan. Reminds me of why I live here.  Took long enough, jeesh! the winter was a chilly one.  

This is titled "Oven Baked Dry Rubbed Baby Back Ribs Version 1".  The version being important as there are many ways to oven bake ribs. 

I am not a snob when it comes to ribs.  But I was blogging for ways to bake ribs, and I used a collaboration of directions. I remembered the last time that I cooked ribs was for about 2 or 3 hours at 300 degrees. But there are many different versions.  One thing I did learn that I never knew was the difference between spare ribs and baby back ribs. Baby back ribs have more meat than spare ribs. 

After this meal, I've now had both and I can gladly say that I would prefer baby back ribs over spare ribs.  Unfortunately, you will pay for the difference.  I think the one slab of the ribs cost me about $13. 

• 1 slab of baby back ribs
• 1 container (or 1/2 cup) of seasoning rub

When dealing with ribs, the first thing that you must do is remove the membrane. It's a thick layer of ...well membrane... that is attached to the  bone side of the ribs.  It can make the ribs pretty tough to tear through when you're eating.  The secret is to use a filet knife.  On a rib bone near the end of the rib cage, get the flat side of the blade underneath the membrane.  Sometimes you have to slice the membrane at the rib bone. Either way get a hold of the membrane, and peel it off the entire rib cage.  The middle picture above shows you partial part of the membrane being pulled off the slab of ribs.  The picture on the right is the membrane completely removed. 

I do have to admit for the 3 or 4 times I have made ribs, this is the only time I've been successful with removing the membrane.  All the other times it was pretty brutal and I tried manually to remove the membrane with a knife.  Those other times I believe were spare ribs and not baby back though.  

On to the easier part, rub the seasoning all over the ribs.  Leaving no part uncovered.

This is the "version 1" way.  The way I made these ribs was cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, and put a oven safe cooling rack on the cookie sheet. The reason the aluminum foil is dirty in the above picture - was because I totally forgot to take pictures of the important parts.  HAHA.  So this is after the rib has been baked.

Anyway, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. One recipe I did called for 275, which I followed and wasn't impressed with - because although the meat was baked and not raw, it wasn't fall off the bone. I should have either raised the temperature or let it cook longer, but I didn't have the time to cook it longer.  It was already in the oven for 2 hours and 30 minutes so I was hungry.

So the lower the temperature the longer you will have to bake it for.  I say 300 for 2 hours and 30 minutes at least. Starting at 2 hours, check it every 30 minutes.

When it's done, pull it out of the oven and let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes.

I think the next time I make these kind of ribs I will wrap them tightly in foil and bake stated above.