Slow Cooker BBQ Sticky Ribs
Who can possibly say no to a bunch of sticky BBQ ribs? It is hard to do, right? Especially when the meat is falling right off the bone and it's nice and juicy. Well good news! I have found the perfect way to make your very own BBQ ribs, sticky, juice and melt-in-the-mouth amazing...
I got a little bit of help though... from Crock-Pot! I received a slow cooker, specifically this one. And honestly it has become my best friend! I cook almost everything in it and I friggin' love it. Just chuck in all the ingredients and a couple of hours later, done! I even loved cooking potatoes in it (potatoes cut in wedges, rosemary, whole garlic cloves, salt and olive oil. 4hours on high and done!) for a quick and easy lunch of eggs and 'taters :)
Then I got to thinking...
I decided to try the Crock-Pot for ribs, because I had heard these are amazing for pulled pork and thought this might do the trick for soft, succulent ribs. I like my BBQ ribs sweet and savoury so I cooked them in organic apple juice for flavour. They turned out amazing! With a final caramelisation under the grill covered in home-made BBQ sauce right before serving, these ribs are heaven!
(Of course if you don't have a Crock-Pot, I suggest you place the ribs in an oven tray in the apple juice marinade and covered with aluminium foil. Cook at around 100°C for about 4 hours for regular sized ribs.)
What do you need? (2 servings)
- 1kg ribs (should be enough if you're serving them with potatoes and salad)
- Organic cloudy apple juice (enough to cover the ribs in the slow-cooker
- 1 orange
- 3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled and cut in three or two pieces
- 4 cloves
- 1 star anise
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 fresh chili
What do you need to do?
Place the ribs in the Crock-Pot and cover in apple juice. Add the juice of the orange and chuck in the orange halves you just juiced. Add the cloves, garlic, star anise, salt and fresh chili cut into 3 or 4 pieces.
Turn on the Crock-Pot and cook for 5 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
To make my basic BBQ sauce, add olive oil, honey, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper together in a bowl and stir it all together. I don't like to give you amounts, but my ration is more or less ketchup : honey : worcestershire sauce : olive oil - 5 : 2 : 2 : 1. Make it to your own taste as you go along. I don't add many more ingredients because the ribs already cook in a lot of flavours.
When the ribs are ready, remove from the Crock-Pot and place on a baking sheet. Take some of the apple juice cooking liquid and add to the BBQ sauce, stir it together.
Slather the ribs with the BBQ sauce and pop them under the grill. Keep a close eye on the ribs and remove when caramelised. You can always add several coats of BBQ sauce if you like, to make it extra sticky ;)
Enjoy with some oven roast potatoes and coleslaw or salad (which I like to dress with some simple lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper).
