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Prep

This was the most difficult step of the entire recipe – I read online that it was important to remove the membrane/silver skin that lines the back of the ribs – otherwise the ribs can be chewy and lack flavour because the dry rub won’t permeate through to the meat. I watched a few videos on the process and it seemed simple enough – basically you take the blunt end of a knife and lift it under the membrane and it should just pull off.  However it wasn’t that easy for me – I couldn’t get a handle on it and it didn’t just pull off in one piece.  On top of that I don’t even know if it was the membrane that I was removing – I read online that sometimes Costco removes them for you (but not always).  After multiple attempts I just kind of gave up and went with what I had.  The ribs turned out tender so either I removed it well enough or it was already removed for me.

Modifications

SWEET COLA BBQ SAUCE

• I used grapeseed oil in place of vegetable oil (because it’s the oil I cook with)
• I swapped the can of Cola with a can of Dr. Pepper.  We only had Coke Life in the house which is made with stevia and isn’t as sweet.
• Instead of 1/2 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar, I used 1/4 cup of White Vinegar and 1/4 of Apple Cider Vinegar.  There was already a lot of sweet components in this sauce so I thought splitting it between the two would cut the sweet a little bit.
• I used 1/4 of onion powder instead of 1/2 tablespoon as I find onion powder really overpowering (plus there’s already chopped onion in the sauce)
• I added a generous sprinkle of Smoked Paprika
• I substituted lime juice for lemon juice because I didn’t have lemon juice on hand
• I simmered the sauce for probably around 4 hours rather than the suggested 1.5 hours.  I did taste it after the 1.5 hour mark and it was good but I felt the flavours were definitely intensified after simmering for longer
• The recipe didn’t mention anything about straining or blending the sauce but I hate chunky sauces so I strained mine before serving

DRY RUB

• I added 1/4 teaspoon of Johnny’s Garlic Spread & Seasoning and a 1/4 teaspoon of Club House’s Italiano Seasoning.
• I didn’t use all of the rub – I applied a generous layer to the ribs and then some, and still had some leftover (which I put it stored away for next time)
• I let the rub sit on the ribs for about 6 hours before cooking

COOKING

We cooked the ribs for 1.5 hours total, basting them in the last 1/2 hour.

Accompaniments

We paired the ribs with a caesar salad, roasted baby potatoes and corn on the cob.

Rating

4 out of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this recipe!  The ribs were very flavourful and tender.  Unfortunately I think we overcooked them a bit as they were slightly dry – I misread the recipe so I probably should have only cooked them for an hour tops (our ribs were smaller than what they listed in the recipe).  That’s not the recipe’s fault though!

Another sidenote – I picked up my ribs at Costco and I’d definitely recommend it.  I paid around $19 CAD for approx. 4 lbs/2 kgs of ribs.

I’m glad that I reduced the amount of onion powder in the bbq sauce; after simmering for 1.5 hours I found it very oniony (simmering it for longer seemed to help with that).  I liked the kick that the white vinegar added to it as well.

What I’d do differently next time

• Cook the ribs a little less
• Add a little more smoky paprika
• Apply the dry rub the night before for more intense flavour