Crock Pot Ribs

Every once and a while I get a craving for some fall-off-the-bone-good BBQ.  However, it seems that (around here at least) to get good BBQ, you're going to pay a pretty penny for it.  Even the guy who sells ribs out of a trailer/smoker thing charges $20 for one slab of ribs!  Since I'm not made of money, I figured I ought to figure out how to satisfy my craving at home.  I've heard about people doing ribs in the crock pot, but I'd never tried it, so my good friend, Bobby, and I put our heads together and came up with this recipe:

1 slab of pork spare ribs

1/2 cup seasoning of choice*

1/2 cup 'flavor makers'**

1/2 cup water

1 bottle of BBQ sauce of choice

Rub down the entire rack of ribs with your seasoning.  If you have a really large slab, you may want to use more than a half cup.

Rubbed down!

Put the water and 'flavor makers' in the bottom of the crock pot.  Add ribs (mine were too large to do in one layer, so I just folded them over to make them fit).  Cover with lid and turn the crock pot on low.

Let roast for about 8 hours.  

Ready to Roast!

Line a baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup and CAREFULLY remove the ribs to your covered baking sheet.  Mine were falling off the bone so I had to use a large spatula to scoop them out.  Cover in your BBQ sauce and pop them in a 350 oven for 10-20 minutes (watch them and pull them out when the sauce begins to caramelize but don't let it burn.)

Before

After

Serve hot and enjoy with a light summer salad!

*Seasonings*

I used a rub made for pork but you can use Cajun seasoning, jerk seasoning, basic salt and pepper with a little cumin...whatever floats your boat.

**Flavor Makers**

"Flavor Makers"

OK so this one REALLY makes a difference.  I've actually done this recipe twice now to get it perfect and I tried something different each time.  You've gotta add a little something into that water to give the meat flavor.  You can use just about anything your little heart desires.  The first time, I used tri-colored peppers and onions that had been sauteed (they were actually left overs from dinner the night before but had great flavor).  The second night I chopped up an onion, threw in a spoonful of minced garlic and a splash of soy sauce.  The flavor of these things really gets into the meat!  You could do chipotle peppers if you like a spicy flavor or you could do liquid smoke if you want the smokey flavor without the smoker!

These were SOOOOO good!  I'll definitely be making these more often now that I know it's so easy!  Be sure to use foil on your baking sheet, though...it's so much easier to just throw that away than to scrub at stuck-on BBQ sauce!