Crockpot Pork Loin Back Ribs

[George Cantstandya]

This year I only had a few people over for the Super Bowl. So I decided to do ribs in my slow cooker. I bought 4 lbs of pork back ribs. For prep flip them over and slice the membrane on the bone side and peel it off (holding it with a paper towel helps since the membrane is slippery). I was feeling lazy so bought a Kansas City BBQ dry rub I found in the season section of Kroger instead of making my own. Applied the dry rub liberally to both sides of the ribs. Cut up half an onion and a few cloves of garlic. Put the ribs in with onions and garlic, cook on low for 8 hours.

Close to serving time, set oven to broil, remove the ribs from the slow cooker with tongs and place them on a foil lined baking tray for easier clean up, coat them with BBQ sauce (I used Montgomery Inn Sauce), and broil for about 10 minutes to add a bit of char.

They came out great. Due to slow cooking the meat just falls off the bones and is moist and tender. A lot of the fat cooks off and ends up in the bottom of the slow cooker. Broiling the sauce on gives it a nice BBQ taste and I think the dry rub helped a lot with flavor as well.

I also made crab cakes but they ended up a bit bland so I won't share that recipe. :)

[jfkbengals]

Sounds like a good spread.

When I do ribs in a crock pot, I prefer to do country style ribs.

For regular racks of ribs, I prefer putting them in a roasting pan covered tightly in saran wrap with a layer of foil overtop cooked for 2.5-3 hours in the oven on 225°. At that point I baste them and finish either in the broiler or on the grill.

I'll do the country style ribs that way as well...


EDIT: Just to clarify, the foil and saran wrap are removed after the low temp time is done and the ribs are broiled/grilled uncovered.

[Benton]

(02-03-2020, 10:58 PM)jfkbengals Wrote: Sounds like a good spread.

When I do ribs in a crock pot, I prefer to do country style ribs.

For regular racks of ribs, I prefer putting them in a roasting pan covered tightly in saran wrap with a layer of foil overtop cooked for 2.5-3 hours in the oven on 225°.  At that point I baste them and finish either in the broiler or on the grill.

I'll do the country style ribs that way as well...


EDIT:  Just to clarify, the foil and saran wrap are removed after the low temp time is done and the ribs are broiled/grilled uncovered.

Hmmmm. I've never put Saran wrap in the oven. I always assumed it would melt.

[Truck_1_0_1_]

That sounds beyond awesome (licks lips).

And what about the crab? I have a fairly good crab cake recipe :)

My dad made chili (like he does every year), I made Chen-style mild Mapo Tofu (look it up ) and then a pizza for halftime. Also made wings for my wife as she's allergic to beans.

[George Cantstandya]

(02-03-2020, 10:58 PM)jfkbengals Wrote: Sounds like a good spread.

When I do ribs in a crock pot, I prefer to do country style ribs.

For regular racks of ribs, I prefer putting them in a roasting pan covered tightly in saran wrap with a layer of foil overtop cooked for 2.5-3 hours in the oven on 225°.  At that point I baste them and finish either in the broiler or on the grill.

I'll do the country style ribs that way as well...


EDIT:  Just to clarify, the foil and saran wrap are removed after the low temp time is done and the ribs are broiled/grilled uncovered.

Curious why you use saran wrap during low temp cooking.  I've not heard of doing that. 

[George Cantstandya]

(02-04-2020, 05:40 PM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: That sounds beyond awesome (licks lips).

And what about the crab? I have a fairly good crab cake recipe :)

My dad made chili (like he does every year), I made Chen-style mild Mapo Tofu (look it up ) and then a pizza for halftime. Also made wings for my wife as she's allergic to beans.

For the crab cakes I don't know where I went wrong.  It was a recipe I found online and kind of made on a whim. I think maybe I didn't measure out the seasoning properly.  They were just kind of boring as far as flavor, not bad, but not great either.  What's your recipe?  I'd like to try it.

[jfkbengals]

(02-04-2020, 10:21 AM)Benton Wrote: Hmmmm. I've never put Saran wrap in the oven. I always assumed it would melt.

It doesn't melt, but it does draw tight onto the pan.  Think shrink wrap material.  It basically keeps all the moisture in, and the foil overtop of it helps distribute the heat.  Maybe without the foil it would get some holes, but with the foil it draws to a tight seal.  To anyone trying this method, be extremely careful when you go to take it off as a lot of steam will be released and can burn your hand.  It's best to pull it up at a corner and let go.  It will snap over the lip of the pan and a cloud of steam will rise.  Once the cloud has dissipated you can take it off the rest of the way.

[jfkbengals]

(02-04-2020, 06:17 PM)George Cantstandya Wrote: Curious why you use saran wrap during low temp cooking.  I've not heard of doing that. 

I was in the restaurant industry for twenty years or so.  That trick came from a chain I once worked at that had some amazing ribs.  As I stated in my last post, the plastic wrap shrinks up forming a tight seal.  The moisture that cooks out of the meat creates a high humidity environment similar to cooking in an Alto-Shaam (it's a type of oven that slow cooks and holds foods at temperature with a sheet pan of water in the bottom to create humidity).

[Truck_1_0_1_]

(02-04-2020, 06:22 PM)George Cantstandya Wrote: For the crab cakes I don't know where I went wrong.  It was a recipe I found online and kind of made on a whim. I think maybe I didn't measure out the seasoning properly.  They were just kind of boring as far as flavor, not bad, but not great either.  What's your recipe?  I'd like to try it.

I can't for the life of me find it; I'm pretty sure it was on my old phone (that I lost while on Honeymoon in Italy), hence why I can't find it and haven't made it since then lol.

This one though is the closest I could find (spent the last 30 minutes online trying to find a similar recipe):

https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/maryland-crab-cakes-0

I don't use milk or egg whites, I use Sour Cream (about 1-2 tablespoons per pound of crabmeat, depending on how much is absorbed after mixing for a bit, as sometimes the crab meat is more watery than not and the breadcrumbs) and tone down the amount of breadcrumbs (I use regular{plain} and panko, sometimes no panko). Otherwise, this is pretty close (I put in a bit more green onion and parsley; their flavor combined with the crabmeat is on point).

Don't know it's the sour cream, but I've made them 5 times and they've never been dry. My wife has been bugging me for literally almost a year now to make them again lol, so I think I will sometime soon

When I make them next, I'll snap a pic and share how they turned out! :)

[George Cantstandya]

(02-04-2020, 10:45 PM)jfkbengals Wrote: I was in the restaurant industry for twenty years or so.  That trick came from a chain I once worked at that had some amazing ribs.  As I stated in my last post, the plastic wrap shrinks up forming a tight seal.  The moisture that cooks out of the meat creates a high humidity environment similar to cooking in an Alto-Shaam (it's a type of oven that slow cooks and holds foods at temperature with a sheet pan of water in the bottom to create humidity).

I think that is why cooking the ribs on low in the slow cooker worked out so well.  The moister is held in well.  It is basically a constant humid cooking environment for 8 hours.  I did notice I forgot to mention in my OP that I also added 1/2 cup of water before putting the ribs in the crockpot.  I'll give your version a try sometime as well.  Thanks for the info.

[George Cantstandya]

(02-05-2020, 11:10 AM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: I can't for the life of me find it; I'm pretty sure it was on my old phone (that I lost while on Honeymoon in Italy), hence why I can't find it and haven't made it since then lol.

This one though is the closest I could find (spent the last 30 minutes online trying to find a similar recipe):

https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/maryland-crab-cakes-0

I don't use milk or egg whites, I use Sour Cream (about 1-2 tablespoons per pound of crabmeat, depending on how much is absorbed after mixing for a bit, as sometimes the crab meat is more watery than not and the breadcrumbs) and tone down the amount of breadcrumbs (I use regular{plain} and panko, sometimes no panko). Otherwise, this is pretty close (I put in a bit more green onion and parsley; their flavor combined with the crabmeat is on point).

Don't know it's the sour cream, but I've made them 5 times and they've never been dry. My wife has been bugging me for literally almost a year now to make them again lol, so I think I will sometime soon

When I make them next, I'll snap a pic and share how they turned out! :)

Thanks, I'll give that recipe a try next time.   I noticed a difference between the recipe you linked and the one I used is that I didn't add green onion or lemon juice.  So maybe that would improve the flavor.   Also the recipe I used called for mayonnaise instead of 2% milk.

[Truck_1_0_1_]

I try to avoid mayonnaise in anything; it is just so unhealthy for you.

I've subbed Sour Cream for it in Crab Cakes, Potato Salad (SO MUCH BETTER with Sour Cream), Smoked Salmon and even in sandwiches; tastes better, healthier and probiotics!

I think that recipe called for milk, just to give the breadcrumbs a bit of oomph; we do the same in all Italian dishes and burgers, until my dad stopped including milk+bread and the dishes came out better

Pretty much the only thing I'll use mayonnaise on nowadays, is if I'm making a chipotle-esque mayo or when I make Takoyaki.