This morning I put ribs in the slow cooker to do their thing all day and be delicious and fall-off-the-bone ready for dinner. This is something I have done many, many times before with consistently awesome results, so imagine my surprise when I got home from work, lifted the lid to check on the ribs, and discovered that they were well on their way to becoming burnt. Luckily it was just the sauce that was turning black, so I put the ribs in a covered baking dish with some more sauce, stuck them in the oven to finish, and they turned out just fine.
Normally, the slow cooker works perfectly for these ribs, so I don’t know what the problem was. I think it might be time for a new slow cooker, because it was on low and the lid was on properly and everything. Anyway. The ketchup can be substituted for any tomato product (perhaps with an added dash of cider vinegar) – once when I was out of ketchup, I subbed in some cherry tomatoes from the overabundance growing on the porch, which turned out to be incredibly delicious. And if you don’t have a slow cooker (or just don’t trust yours anymore!), these can also be done in a covered dish in the oven.
Really Really Good Ribs
1 strip of pork back ribs (about 12-16 ribs worth)
Sauce:
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup maple syrup or brown sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1-2 tsp chipotle puree or sambal sauce
2 cloves of garlic, squished
fresh ground pepper
Mix together sauce ingredients in a slow cooker insert. Add pork ribs and turn to coat. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, until tender and saucey. Alternately, bake in an oven-proof dish with a lid (or covered in foil) at 200˚ F for about 4 hours, or at 300˚ F for about 2 hours. Serve over mashed potatoes with the sauce spooned over the top. Serves 2-3.
I would think that the timings would be the same for cooking in a slow-cooker on “Low” and covered in a 200ºF oven. As I understand it:
Slow cooker “Low” = 200ºF
Slow cooker “High” = 300ºF
I generally use a covered pot in the oven rather than the slow cooker. (No remaining counter space.)
I originally came up with this recipe before I had a slow cooker, and the times I’ve given are what I used for the oven. I modified it for the slow cooker to be able to put it all together in the morning before I left for work, leaving it on low all day. The resulting ribs are more tender and fall-off-the-bone than the oven method, simply by virtue of being cooked for longer. My point is, I don’t think it really matters – the longer you cook them, no matter what method, the more tender the ribs will be.
Really weird. The very same thing happened today with my ribs in my crockpot, one day after it happened to you. But my recipe wasn’t nearly as good as yours. I’d adapted a recipe I got in grade 8 Home Ec for shortribs and used tomato paste instead of ketchup. When I got home, one side of the crockpot was burned and overdone and the other side wasn’t . Weird. Anyway, we’re eating it over quinoa and brown rice, but next time I’m trying your recipe.
Weird indeed!
Now tell me true: Have either of you yet made a Glorious One-Pot Meal in a 2-qt cast iron dutch oven as specified?
I did try it out in a 2-quart stainless steel Dutch oven, and it sort of worked – it ended up tasting OK, but all the vegetables didn’t fit, and I also didn’t really like how the chicken didn’t get browned at all. You are right about her recipes being kind of bland though – if/when I try again, I will add more herbs/spices/whatever.
It occurs to me that one reason for the cast iron might be the weight of the lid. I, too, tend to pile high the veggies (which is why I like the Texsport: 2.5 qts), and the lightweight (relatively speaking) stainless lids of the All-Clad stuff I normally used would not have worked well at all.
You might give it a go next time with fish: fish is more comfortable (I think) with not being browned and fish cooks extremely well with this method. And perhaps a more strategic selection of veggies. 🙂
But I think the cast iron makes a difference.
I submit that ribs are quite possibly the best “welcome spring/summer!” dish ever. Is there anything else that screams “let’s eat outside and be warm and get messy” as well as ribs? Probably not. And how much more awesome is it that I can make these in my slow cooker?! (Can you tell I’m stoked about this recipe? lol) Thanks for sharing.
🙂
Unfortunately it’s not quite “let’s eat outside and be warm” weather here yet, but when it is, I’d like to try finishing these on the bbq. Then they would definitely be the perfect spring/summer dish!