Well this Texan will tell you the proper way to cook ribs is low and slow on the grill -- no oven (we use a dry rub but no marinade) and sauce only in the last 15-20 minutes. But soy sauce, ginger and 5 spice aren't aiming to be Texas ribs anyway. I suspect Bobby Flay is somewhere in between, but I haven't seen that recipe. What is your goal for the end product?

May I offer a technique change. After marinating, place the ribs in a parchment and foil packet with some of your marinade and seal tightly. Bake at 325 for 1 hour, and they should be tender. If not, reseal and bake a bit longer. Open up the packet and turn the foil back, pour off the juices and defat. Use these baking juices to create your basting sauce. Put the ribs back in the oven and baste with your sauce, about another half an hour. They should be fork tender and delicious.

I think it's the baking in a sealed packet that makes them so tender, it keeps all the steam / juices in the meat.

Steve

Almost fall of the bone. Not too sweet, but a little spicy. I realize this is not authentic, but it's good, I did forget to add that we do finish them on the barbeque. I always get complements on the recipe. I also wonder if the ribs themselves are not what they used to be. A friend told me she has been having the same trouble.

I can second Steve's method of baking in the foil packet. I have used Alton Brown's method and they have always come out great. Fall of the bone tender and not dry. I don't generally use Alton's rub because I feel it is really salty but I do cook them in the braising liquid he suggests.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ribs

What Steve said. I more of less do that with country ribs then finish on the gas grill for a crisp exterior.

Louise, if they are a little dry, that suggests that they have lost too much moisture ( sorry, don't mean to offend by making it sound too obvious). While I used to think differently, from what I read I now understand that the main thing that effects the moisture in the meat is the temperature of the meat. If you steam meat or even boil it to an internal temp of 175, or put it a dry environment to the same internal temp - the moisture in the meat will be exactly the same ( would have been helpful to know that before I bought my combi steamer ) BTW - yes, the ribs cooked in the dry heat will be a little drier on the outside, but the inside of the meat will be just as moist as the one cooked in steam. The best way to retain moisture is to cook long and slow to break down the fat in the meat, and to try to avoid overcooking, and drying out, much of the meat. Another method is to use the closed cooking container - the moisture in the container allows the meat to transfer to the meat more efficiently. The worst method, of course, would be to put it uncovered in an oven at 500, by the time the middle of the rib meat came to a proper temp, the rest of the ribs would be a much higher temp, and be extremely dry. If you are a rib fanatic, you have a couple of choices, imho. Low and slow on a smoker ( or a gas grill, indirect heat, with smoking chips ), or low and slow in a gas oven, finish on the grill, or, if you are truly insane, smoke for 30 minutes on a smoker or gas grill with chips, then sous vide for 36 hours at 142 F, then finish for 5 to 10 min on a grill or in a broiler . I have adopted the sous vide method, yes it is a pain to do all the steps, but the direct time spent cooking while you are watching is pretty short ( just the time on the grill or broiler ) and the texture is unbelievably moist, and the timing works great for me, I smoke them, put them in a bag in the fridge, next morning put them in sous vide, and they are ready for dinner the following night. If you are looking for sauce recipes, or anything to do with cooking ribs, amazingribs.com is a great resource, even though they don't cover sous vide.

Here is a link that might be useful: amazingribs

"---- if you are truly insane, smoke for 30 minutes on a smoker or gas grill with chips, then sous vide for 36 hours at 142 F, then finish for 5 to 10 min on a grill or in a broiler .----"

Are you talking about me?

Basically what I did two days ago. Smoke, sous vide (24 hrs) and grilled.

How tender? Look at my pictures and compare with other pictures. Notice the difference?

Typical BBQ ribs has a lot of bones showing from meat shrinkage. This extreme low and slow sous vided BBQ ribs has practically no shrinkage. No shrinkage means juicy meat.

What about flavor? sous vide 24 hours is the same as marinating for 24 hours.

dcarch

dcarch, what temp did you use for your ribs, and what is your sauce recipe? Those ribs look great. I tried a 24 SV at various temps, but found I had to go 147 to get the ribs to come clean off the bone, which is why I switched to 36 hours. I am still playing around with timing issues, I normally smoke 4 sets of ribs, then vacuum seal and freeze 3 sets, and SV the last one, in the next few weeks, defrost and SV the remaining sets. I am thinking of smoke, then SV, then freeze to see if that improves texture - have you tried that?

Barry, People who eat with me want more fat rendered, and less pink, so I sous vide at 152F, which makes 24 hours workable. I do sometimes go lower temperature and longer cooking time.

I have a very different smoker, PID controlled and fed by a motor driven cold smoker, which can generate extreme TBS consistently and efficiently for a very long time. Furthermore the smoker has a humidifier, that permits me to smoke slow and low then grill or freeze.

I don't have any special recipes for rubs or sauce, but I like 5 spice and hoisin sauce in the mixes.

dcarch

Thanks for all the help. I remember now that I used to use the foil wrap method and can't remember why I went away. I will try these suggestions.