I love ribs and rarely have a chance to indulge in them, so when I came across this recipe in More Best Recipes (the book version of the magazine Cooks Illustrated) I had to give it a try.
You start by making your own BBQ sauce (a whole jar of apricot jam! pureed bell peppers!) so the crock pot doesn’t save that much time, but you can use jarred sauce if prep speed and ease is what you’re looking for.
The results were mouth-watering.
It makes a lot and takes time, so it’s recipe for company.
Sweet Sticky Babyback Ribs in the Crockpot
1 onion
1 red bell pepper ( I used orange)
6 garlic cloves
1 6-inch piece of ginger, peeled and diced into 1/4-in rounds
vegetable oil
2 T tomato paste (I used the whole small can)
1 12-oz jar of apricot jam (I used the one for Trader Joe’s)
1 frozen pineapple juice (I used orange b/c that’s what I had)
6 T soy sauce
1/4 c brown sugar
5 T rice vinegar
1/4 red chili flakes
6 #s babyback or St. Louis-style ribs.
chopped cilantro for garnish (I skipped this)
1. Pulse the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and ginger in food processor ~8 times. Saute the veg puree with the tom sauce for 8-10 minutes until soft. Stir in jam, juice, soy sauce, sugar, half the vinegar, chili and cook until slickly thickened ~ 5 minutes.
2. Pat the ribs dry. Stack them standing spirally in the crockpot with the meaty side facing the heating wall. Pour the sauce over them. Cook 4-5 hours at low.
3. Transfer ribs to carving board and tent with foil. Let the sauce rest and then skim fat. Strain sauce through strainer and then simmer until reduced to 2 cups of BBQ sauce 15-20 min. (I didn’t do this until the second time we ate these ribs.)
4. Stir in remaining vinegar and season with salt and pepper.