Well, I’m not, Alex is. I just get to say how.

What follows is an amalgamation of information on many web-sites, plus my own experimentation.

Now, before we get started, let’s clarify why you’d want to do this. Quite frankly, because they’re amazing. If that’s not a good enough reason, how about “I don’t own a grill” or “it’s too cold to grill”.

Ingredients

  • 1 rack of ribs
  • Smoking chips (preferably soak for several hours or overnight)
  • Approximately 2 cups of plain white vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt

Dry rub

  • 1 T salt
  • 2 T brown sugar
  • 1 t white pepper
  • 1/2 t cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 t ginger

Directions

  1. Ribs must be thawed first, so if they’re frozen, move to the refrigerator a day or two beforehand or set in some cold water large enough to cover them, usually the whole sink.
  2. Prep the pan few hours (or the night before) before prepping the ribs
  3. In a throwaway or roasting pan
  4. Lay down a long sheet of foil “wings” that will turn into the tent later
  5. If using a roaster, line with foil (Teflon or shiny side up) … if possible, make the foil “water-tight” so cleanup is much easier later … the chips will bake onto the bottom, and you’d really rather that be foil than the roaster itself!
  6. Lay down a thin layer of smoking chips
  7. Partially cover (but don’t drown) the chips in filtered (not distilled) water
  8. Set aside for at least an hour, which works out perfectly if it’s setup and then you remove the ribs from the fridge
  9. Remove ribs from the refrigerator 30-45 minutes before starting preparation because all the handling is easier at room temperature
  10. Thoroughly clean and rinse the sink
  11. Write down the weight! You’ll need to know this later
  12. Remove from packaging and rinse under cold, running water
  13. Remove the excess fat from the front of the ribs
  14. Remove the back film from the ribs
  15. Use a sharp knife and slide it under the white membrane on the back of the ribs so that the knife is between the meat and membrane.
  16. if that doesn’t work, cut a hole into the membrane or slice it (not the ribs)
  17. Hold a paper towel for extra grip, and use your fingers to slide under the membrane and pull it away from the meat,
  18. Remove all of the outer membrane and discard.
  19. Cut slab into three or four bone sections for easier handling, careful to keep them approximately the same weight
  20. Set all portions in a large bowl, douse with vinegar, cover with filtered water, add 1 Tablespoon kosher salt, rubbing or rolling over to get to all of the meat
  21. “Stab” pieces to get more vinegar and salt in there to tenderize better
  22. Let sit for a few minutes (or several hours in the refrigerator, stirring occasionally)
  23. Set the oven to 225
  24. Put racks over the soaking chips, and make sure the chips are still covered with water
  25. Rinse ribs well with water, using filtered (but not distilled) for the final rinse
  26. Pat dry with paper towel
  27. Dunk the front of the ribs in the dry rub mixture
  28. Place the ribs on the rack(s) over the chips
  29. Cover tightly with a foil tent (this is when the “wings” really help!) to allow the smoking chips moist flavor surround and infuse the meat while cooking
  30. Place the whole thing on a foil lined baking sheet that’s bigger than the racks; this saves a lot of oven cleanup time later because you’ll be taking them out to check the water level, baste, etc., several times
  31. Calculate the total cooking time … roast for one hour per pound, plus 30 minutes for “fall off the bone” tender
  32. Place the ribs in the oven
  33. After one hour, check to make sure the chips still have water, adding some if needed, again to cover, not drown
  34. In 45 minutes, open foil, slather on bbq sauce, re-tent, and raise oven to 300
  35. In 35 minutes, check the water level in the chips, and add more if needed, slather again with bbq sauce, re-tent, and raise oven to 350 until the end of the total cooking time
  36. Turn the oven off and let sit for 15-30 minutes
  37. Remove from the oven
  38. Remove the foil
  39. Drain the juices and chips (can strain to save for stock later, if you’d like … it’s f’awesome!)
  40. If desired, broil on high for five minutes
  41. Remove from oven, cut apart (if necessary), and enjoy!

Photo credit http://caribbeanpot.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/oven-bbq-ribs-10.jpg