We went through St. Louis at Christmas time. Just to make sure these were the best ribs, we stopped at several St. Louis BBQ joints and I can proclaim these ribs are still the best. And you don’t need to set up an all day smoker box, nor a hillbilly hot tub (but a hilly billy hot tub helps to hold the beer once you have soaked and drained it), to make them at home. You can make these ribs completely in the oven! I know, heresy in many places, but true.
We have tried a bunch of rib recipes including the famous Willingham’s World Championship Ribs and making my own BBQ sauce, but I keep coming back to this favorite recipe, which comes from my Uncle Tom. The recipe and technique are simple and still tastes best for all the homemade ribs that we have found. But we were given some Tender Belly Berkshire pork ribs which make this recipe complete, as it can now be proclaimed the best!
In a cooking bag add:
- a rack of Tender Belly Berkshire pork ribs
- 12 oz. of Coca-Cola
- 1 T. vinegar
Marinate all ingredients overnight with meat side down (the ribs curving upwards) in a Reynolds oven bag.
Take out of bag and season with salt, pepper, and 1/4 c. of Emeril’s Bayou Blast (see my spices and seasonings page for the recipe).
Heat a grill to hot and put on the grill for a total of 6-8 minutes turning once. Then 335°F in the oven for two hours to two and one-half hours on a foil lined baking sheet, covered with another sheet of foil. Remove the top sheet of foil for the last 10 minutes 20 minutes.
