So, I don't have a smoker yet (plan on getting a pellet smoker soon) and was really wanting some ribs. I found a great deal on a rack of spare pork ribs and thought, why not?

I found this cooking method online and honestly didn't have high hopes. Well, they turned out much, much better than I could have imagined. I have eaten ribs from a bunch of different BBQ restaurants over the years and these were as good or better than some I've had.

This really could not have been easier. Here is what I did for anyone else who might want to give it a try:

1. Peeled the skin off the back as you should always do. Trimmed some excess fat and patted dry.
2. Sprinkled on a generous portion of dry rub (I used Stanley's rib rub) to both sides.
3. Wrapped in foil and let sit for an hour while oven was pre-heating to 275.
4. Placed on a large cookie sheet and placed in the oven for 3.5 hours.
5. Took the ribs out and uncovered from the foil. Brushed on a generous portion of Salt Lick honey pecan BBQ sauce.
6. Put back in the oven under the broiler for about 6 or 7 minutes to caramelize the sauce.
7. Removed from oven, wrapped in foil again, and set in my cooler for 45 minutes.

Surprisingly, these had a slight smokey taste which I suppose is from a combination of the rub and BBQ sauce. I know many of you would consider this to be sacrilege (cooking in the oven), but sometimes you have to make do with what you have and again, they turned out great!

Years ago, before I got smokers, I also cooked them in the oven, in a similar way. There is nothing wrong with cooking Ribs with what you have. Now since I got into smoking meat, I would never go back, but you can make a dang tasty rib the way you did it.

Maybe check on that oven of it takes an hour to heat up.

I see HEB has ribs on sale, I may do similar as I do not have a smoker. I've done it many times, but it's been a while since I last cooked ribs.

One more tip, put foil on the cookie sheet as well. Something always leaks out of the wrapped foil and then you have a lot of scrubbing to do without the foil on the cookie sheet.

I'd eat that. I've seen worse from cooks with stick burners.

The other day I saw my wife looking at cookie sheets in the store. I said "we have 3 of those, that's enough". She said "yeah but they're filthy. I'm gonna throw them out". I explained to her why they're not really "filthy".

(She not very familiar with kitchen stuff)

The sacrilege is putting BBQ sauce on them.

Agree to disagree

TylerAg98 said:

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Surprisingly, these had a slight smokey taste which I suppose is from a combination of the rub and BBQ sauce. I know many of you would consider this to be sacrilege (cooking in the oven), but sometimes you have to make do with what you have and again, they turned out great!

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Totally disagree. You won't get the smoke flavor you want (other than what you got), but other than that, nothing wrong with cooking like this. People like to make it sound like smoking meat, bbq, etc is some sort of magic rocket science. It's smoke and heat. You got heat from a different source, big deal.

I think it's awesome and anyone that has other words to say about it probably isn't experienced enough to make the opinion worth hearing. I have been to more than a few 'award winning' restuarants and cookoffs and all of it tastes about the same. You can and should end up with a better product at home.

Good work! They look awesome! Hope everyone enjoyed!

My wife does a version where she cooks them in a crockpot then the oven. They are ok, sometimes too done. But I don't complain when I get home and have ribs with no work on my part

Weve been making the Tony Roma's Carolina Honey baby back ribs for probably 20 years. They marinate overnight in the sauce and wrapped in foil and then start in the oven (still wrapped) then finish on the grill over hot coals. Since I always grill multiple meats whenever we cook on the grill, I'll cook the chicken, sausage, hot dogs, and anything else going on first, then finish the ribs.

Oven ribs are legit. Instead of broiler, we finish on the grill for 10 mins or so just to add char and smoke

JSKolache said:

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Oven ribs are legit. Instead of broiler, we finish on the grill for 10 mins or so just to add char and smoke

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I start them on the grill and finish in the oven.

rilloaggie said:

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EMY92 said:

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you have a lot of scrubbing to do without the foil on the cookie sheet.

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My cookie sheets get tons of use between my wife's baking and me using them to roast stuff in the oven. I have some non-stick ones that still look nice but if they are anodized or bare metal they just about look black these days. Don't be afraid of the patina my friends!

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I'm not against the patina, I'm against the need to soak and scrub. That's why I put the foil down when cooking over ribs. Foil in the trash and the cookie sheet cleaned in seconds versus minutes of scrubbing.

Sounds damn good to me. I love ribs oven ribs, smoked ribs, dry rub, sauced, crock potted, etc

The important part is you made some ribs you enjoyed.

Only difference between an indoor oven and a pellet smoker is sawdust.

Use the right BBQ sauce and oak smoked pepper by Southside market you get basically the same thing

PerdidoKey2030 said:

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Only difference between an indoor oven and a pellet smoker is sawdust.

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I was once ridiculed a bit on this board for asking about oven ribs! Glad to see this thread. Those ribs look outstanding.

Mine are in the oven.

Yep. Oven gets it done.