Memphis Dry Rub Ribs in the Oven

I’m not the biggest fan of ribs, but when I do have them, I want them to be super moist, tender and fall-off-the-bone good. With a slightly hot rub and some sticky BBQ sauce.

These ribs are great because you can prep them the night before and let the flavours marinate overnight. Then you just bake them for 3 hours. Much easier than spending the day manning the BBQ, but still tasting just as good.

What you’ll need:

rack(s) of pork back or baby back ribs (1 lb per person)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp chilli powder
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp mustard powder
1 tbsp chipotle pepper powder
favourite BBQ sauce

Mix the dry ingredients together in a small bowl to make the rub. This makes enough rub for more than one rack of ribs, but I put some of it away in a sealed jar to make sure that I didn’t contaminate the whole bowl of rub. I used about half of the rub for 4 lbs of ribs.

Using a sharp knife, carefully pull away the silver membrane on the bone side. If left on, this will prevent the rub from getting into the meat.

Pat the ribs dry with paper towel and then massage the rub all over the ribs, thoroughly coating both the top and the bottom, and along all the sides.

I cut my ribs into two smaller pieces because I didn’t think they would fit on the baking sheet, but you don’t have to if it will fit in the oven okay. Wrap each piece with two layers of tin foil, with the seams meeting at the top, and the bone side facing down. I put one final piece over top of the seam on the top, to ensure that it was well sealed.

Put the ribs in the fridge for at least 8 hours or overnight if you can.

Preheat the oven to 300°F and then place your rib packages onto a foil lined baking sheet. Place on the middle rack of your oven and bake for 3 hours.