Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs

This is from a Cook's Illustrated recipe for ribs, cooked in the slow cooker and finished under the broiler. It's great because you don't have to do anything with it for the 5- 6 hours that it cooks-- so you can set it up, enjoy the day, and then finish it for dinner.  The worst part was boiling down the sauce, and removing the ribs from the slow cooker (they fell apart!)

Method
Buy 3 lbs of pork ribs. Select small ones, like baby back as they are easier to maneuver.  Specifically you want the width of the ribs (i.e. the length of hte longest rib bone) to be shorter than the height of your slow cooker.

Use a spice rub/mix to coat the meaty side of the ribs. My spice mix is:
8 TB paprika or smoked paprika
4 TB white sugar
1 tea onion powder

 Place the ribs into the slow cooker, wrapping them inside with the meaty sides facing the walls of the cooker.The rib bones will be perpendicular to the ground (i.e. standing upright).

Pour 3 C barbecue sauce over the ribs in the slow cooker. I make my own with this BBQ sauce recipe.

Cook on low 6-8 hours.


Prep a large, rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Check at the 5-6 hour mark- are the ribs tender?  Once tender, remove the ribs, placing them meaty side down on the prepared baking sheet. Tent with foil.


Let the barbecue sauce in slow cooker cool for 5 minutes, which will let the fat rise to the top. Spoon off and discard the fat. Pour the barbecue sauce into large saucepan. Bring to a boil, and simmer until the sauce is thickened down to 2 cups (approx 15- 20 minutes).  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Brush ribs with some of the sauce. Broil 2-4 minutes or until beginning to brown.

Flip ribs over (meaty side up now), baste with more sauce. Continue to broil 9-12 minutes until browned and sticky. You can baste with additional sauce while cooking if you want.

Let rest 10 minutes. Then serve.