Neighborhood Fall off the Bone Oven Baked Pork Ribs

You know I am not a wing girl or a "wib" girl.

I save that for the boys. I never liked the mess and the small amount of meat you get from sucking on a wing or rib.
Sorry.

Give me a thigh or drumstick and I am happy.
I save the ribs for the boys.

I know you are surprised to see a rib recipe here, not the norm, but here's the story:

I live in a great neighborhood for the most part.

There is the occasional ringing car alarm or the inconsiderate person who mows his lawn at 7 pm on a Sunday evening when you are having a quiet dinner on the patio, but most people in our surrounding neighborhood are kind and generous, especially when it comes to food.

To my surprise, a neighbor I only know to wave to, rang our doorbell, bringing me 2 huge racks of Hatfield pork ribs, about 10 lbs.

???

Why.

Because.

He won a BBQ contest in Hatfield, PA., and 2nd place prize was a case of Hatfield pork ribs, but since they had been previously frozen, he had to give them away to the neighbors, because you can't refreeze meat.

I had no choice but to give 1 rack to my friend Peter, and cook 1 rack for us.
You follow me?

I never make ribs, and my husband was very excited about this lovely gift from the neighbor.

What to do with them?

I chose this recipe after looking at many on the internet.
It sounded very easy and was written by a Southerner, so it had to be good, and I didn't have to light my grill and babysit the ribs on the hot coals all night.

I could leave the house w/ the oven on at a low temperature (that might not make you comfortable) for a few hours and come home to a wonderful smelling house and fall off the bones ribs.

Ok, I was sold.

The verdict:

My husband and my friend Peter said these ribs were a 10!
The quality of pork was also very good, there was a lot of meat and fat ratio, so that was also factored in.

I followed this Mississippi gal's recipe and the next time I have a summer party, I will serve these easy ribs as one of the dishes.

I also learned from her that spareribs are from the belly of the hog, and are fairly large and meaty. They have more fat and flavor than baby back ribs, and some people refer to them as St. Louis Style ribs.

Baby backs, or pork loin back ribs are from the loin of the pig. They are more tender and more expensive.

Ok, now that we have the useless rib facts out of the way, let's cook some "wibs".

Fall off the Bone Pork Ribs ("WIBS") (adapted from Deep South Dish):

Total cooking time about 4 hours.

For the dry rub:

1 tbsp garlic powder
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp paprika
20 turns of black pepper
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano

I used these measurements for 2 racks of pork ribs, about 5 lbs. each.

Cut the ribs in half if they are too big (like mine were) to fit on the pan.
Line a large baking sheet with foil and place the ribs on a rack (I used a cookie drying rack) on the lined sheet pan.

Preheat oven to 250F.

Rub the dry spices on top of the ribs and place in the hot oven. Bake uncovered for 2 hours.
The house will start smelling great after 30 minutes.

After 2 hours, depending on how wet you like your ribs, brush some BBQ sauce on top of the ribs.
I used commercial BBQ sauce (STUBBS brand), but feel free to make your own (Deep South recipe here).

Cover the entire sheet pan tightly with foil and bake for another 2 hours.

The ribs will be tender and falling off the bone. They will melt in your mouth.

Serve with cole slaw, quinoa salad (recipe tomorrow) or potato salad, share with your neighbors and enjoy.

I think every neighbor that night made a rack of ribs ("wibs" is what the 8 year old boy next door calls them, because he can't pronounce the letter "R").

Thanks Phil for the delicious ribs!

:)