Ribs, St. Louis Style

Believe it or not, it is possible to make delicious BBQ without actually owning a grill. The secret is moist heat. Moist.

Love that show. Great writing.

Ahem. Anyway, to achieve moist heat in a BBQ, you either put a pan of water in there to simmer with the meat, keeping it 100% humidity so it won't dry out during the low and slow cooking process... or you wrap your meat in aluminum foil like this:

Note the cookie sheets underneath to catch any spillage. While these are St. Louis ribs with a dry spice rub so they won't drip burning BBQ sauce onto the oven floor to smoke and burn, they can drip fat from the ribs. Also note that the foil is in direct contact with the wire rack rather than resting on a pan which might burn the surface. This is preferred for good cooking.

If I had the inclination and the propane, I'm sure I could spend every 30 minutes basting the ribs while they cook. I don't have the inclination. In about two hours these will be slow cooked in their own moist heat and juices to perfection and I will enjoy them with some potato salad and some yellow crookneck squash. Yes, its very early for dinner, these being a late lunch, but it gives me time to deal with the insulin requirements for them and get that under control before bed tonight. And I prefer that. I won't be eating many of them, instead keeping them for snacks and for Dad when he gets home. If he's not up for stew, we'll have these as backup. So yay. This would easily cost $50 at a restaurant, considering its enough ribs for 4 people, or two hungry college boys anyway.

UPDATE: The ribs were salty, and one of the spices was cayenne pepper, a pepper that gives me really painful indigestion. All night worth. I will be leaving the rest of these to my Dad. Rolling agony in the belly is very unpleasant.