Use pork spare ribs, not another type.

Set oven temperature to 325°f.

Make: Texas BBQ Rub #2: (brown sugar version) which is found under "Everything BBQ" under the "Cookbook" section.

Wash off the thawed spare ribs under running water. Use your hands to scrub off the gritty, pinkish bone dust before applying dry rub or cooking.

The ribs will bake placed on a rack placed over a deep baking pan that is at least one inch deep. A deeper pan is safer, as the fats will render out as it bakes, and collect in the pan.

If possible don't cut the rack into sections, leave it whole if you can. This ensures the meat stays as juicy as possible, and guarantees the best flavors. Do not remove anything, such as "silver skin", as these will cook gelatinous and tender.

If the rack of ribs is too big for your pan, slice the rack into half or thirds. If the rack of spare ribs is a huge one, then it's ok to cut it into fourths. I don't recommend cutting them more.

Use your hands to rub the dry rub into all sides of the spare ribs (once cut). Use a light coating. A heavy coating will taste too strong from the spices and might scorch due to the sugar. Don't sprinkle on the spice rub, that won't stay stuck at all, rub it into the meat.

The boney side of the ribs will be placed facing downward, the meaty side of the ribs cook facing upwards. This prevents the heat from drying out the meaty side, and ensures all that heat enters the bones on bottom, fully cooking them, and protecting the meat from overcooking.

Once the ribs are cleaned, sliced (if necessary), spice rubbed and ready, place them boney side down on the rack. Put the pan of spare ribs in the center of the oven. Bake them at 325°f for 30 to 40 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 250°f.

Bake the spare ribs at 250°f for 3 to 4 hours, then remove and allow them to rest. Four hours will be needed for the huge rack of spare ribs, 3 hours for an average sized rack.

Do not slice these at all until they've had about 20 to 30 minutes to rest. Don't pull out the rib bones yet. The spare ribs must rest uncut so the meat will reabsorb it's juices. Cutting them without a rest allows most of the juices to run out.

If you want to bake them sauced, then coat them in sauce in the final hour of baking to bake on the sauce, and to thicken the sauce, making it stick to the meat.

I never brush or "mop" on sauce, as the brush or mop itself rubs off the spice rub. I dip the ribs in warmed sauce to coat them. Or pour the sauce on the spare ribs straight from the BBQ sauce bottle.

To make double sure the meat is cooked completely, it's highly recommended to use a probe style instant read thermometer and check. The internal temperature of the rib meat should be reading 160°f to 170°f. Don't put the probe onto a bone, poke it into the meat to get accurate readings.

A Trick I Use:

If you only want to serve the spare ribs BBQed, and not the gristly side of the rack, then simply cut off that gristly side prior of spice rubbing or cooking the ribs. This turns a rack of spare ribs into St. Louis style ribs.

Save that gristly section you cut away. That section can be cut into smaller portions or chunks for making soups or stews. They're particularly tasty when cooked about 4 hours in a Crock-Pot with dry beans, just slow cook them both together. That way, both parts of the spare ribs are used in the dishes they're best suited for.

I've BBQed pork spare ribs with this recipe since the 1990's. I have always used an off-set pit BBQ smoker/cooker or baked these in my kitchen oven.

They cook up tender and extremely juicy. The bones come out of the slab by grabbing a bone and give it a twist. The cartilage cooks tender and is easy to chew.

I've cooked these ribs for my family's meals, or our family reunions, workplace food get-togethers, and for visiting friends.

I only cook this recipe with pork spare ribs. The *one* time someone insisted I use baby back ribs instead, the baby back ribs were dried out, and tough. That's not how a rack of spare ribs will cook. Please only use this recipe with spare ribs.

I'm saying this because:

#1: I want you to have a really good BBQ!

And #2: spare ribs and baby back ribs aren't the same piece of meat, they won't cook the same way. Spare ribs come from the belly area of the hog. Baby back ribs come from the top of the hog from the spine area. I don't want anyone to end up with tough, dry, chewy ribs. That's a waste of money and time.

If you want tender, juicy, fall off the bone ribs, then please use spare ribs with this recipe. Often, the reason any BBQ fails is because someone didn't follow the recipe.

I've been trained in pit BBQ cooking by a Texas tournament winning Pit Master. I was his Assistant Pit Master. He was my boss, my nextdoor neighbor and friend. I never entered BBQ tournaments, but he had for years, and he often won. That's the guy who taught me, and I'd love to teach you too!

If any part of this recipe needs better explaining, please don't hesitate to message me, I'll get back to you as soon as I'm able!