Beef Back Ribs Slow Cooked in Oven

This tender and easy oven baked beef back rib recipe is slow cooked in the oven at 275F for ~ 3 ½ -4 hours, basted with barbecue sauce, and then broiled a couple minutes until caramelized.

How To Cook Beef Back Ribs In The Oven:

• This oven baked beef back rib recipe is EASY! Salt and pepper the back ribs. Snuggle them (bone side up) into two layers of tightly wrapped aluminum foil.

• Bake the beef back rib package on a sheet pan in the oven at 275F ~ 3 ½ -4 hours long or until the meat separates from the bone.

• Open the aluminum (careful - it's HOT!), flip the ribs to meat side up, baste with BBQ sauce, and broil on the sauce until it's caramelized. Watch this carefully if your broiler runs hot. Don't walk away and burn your ribs after all the careful attention you've given them in 4 hours.

2 racks of back ribs. The left is bone side up and the right is bone side down (meat side up).

Because the back ribs are basted with barbecue sauce at the end, I do not put any spices on them other than salt and pepper.

Feel free to add your favorite spices (paprika, cumin, oregano, chili powder, dry mustard, etc...) but bbq sauce is a strong flavor and might overpower the spices anyway.

Beef ribs are done when the meat shrinks away from the bone and the meat is tender.

Ribs release fat / grease when cooked. Before basting the ribs and broiling, remove them from the aluminum packet, flip them over to meat side up (bone side down) and place on an aluminum lined sheet pan. This method can avoid a grease fire when broiling on the barbecue sauce (highly unlikely but still advised).

What is The Membrane on Ribs?

The membrane on ribs is tough and chewy. Your teeth can't chew it and your body can't digest it. It's a thin skin like layer on the bone side of the ribs that is more well known as silver skin.

Can't figure out how to get the membrane off the ribs (or even if it's there at all)? Don't sweat it - most people don't remove it anyway. Just cook the ribs. It's generally not edible and can be pulled away as you're eating.

Use paper towels to hold on to the slippery fat and skin when pulling off the membrane. Can't figure it out? Skip it. You can remove it easily after it's cooked too.

What's The Difference Between Beef Back Ribs And Beef Short Ribs?

Beef back ribs are the back ribs nearest to the shoulder of the cow, closest to the spine and tend to be elongated. They are larger than short ribs (which come more to the breastbone or underside of the cow).

The back ribs extend downward towards the much smaller beef short ribs. They are also meatier in between the bones with not a lot going on meat-wise on top or below the visible bones. Beef short ribs are meaty on top of the bone.

Cooking the ribs bone side up allows the meatier side to cook or braise in it's own fat leaving it more tender and moist.

Back ribs are what is left over when you cut the bones off a prime rib roast or ribeye steak. Therefore, they are much more affordable (and also well marbled for flavor). They need to be cooked a long time to coax out that delicious flavor but they are a very easy and crowd pleasing dinner.

Ribs release fat / grease when cooked. Before basting and broiling, flip ribs over to meat side up and remove from grease so as to avoid a grease fire when broiling (highly unlikely but still advised).

The entire rack of beef back ribs is generally ribs 6-12 (8 ribs) but they don't always come in one big rack.

In this recipe and video you can see that I have two separate half racks (still 8 ribs total) and they are smallish and from nearer to the hind end of the cow. Larger back ribs will come more from the shoulder end of the cow.

After cooking for 3 ½ hours, baste with barbecue sauce and toss back in the oven to broil a couple minutes or until caramelized.

Easy Oven Baked Beef Back Rib Recipe FAQS

Can this beef back ribs recipe be made keto, low carb, paleo, or whole30?

Make this beef back ribs recipe keto, low carb, paleo, or whole30 approved by using a barbecue with no or less sugar. Most barbecue sauces are labeled for these diets.

Do I cook the back ribs bone side up or bone side down?

Bake beef back ribs in the oven with the bone side up. Cooking the ribs bone side up allows the meatier side to cook or braise in it's own fat leaving it more tender and moist.

Can beef back ribs be cooked in the crockpot / slow cooker or Instant Pot?

Yup! Cook beef back ribs on low for 8 hours in the crock pot or follow your basic instructions for the Instant Pot for tough cuts of meat like ribs or stew meat like chuck roast. Cut the back ribs in sections if it doesn't fit. Honestly, the oven is the easiest way to cook back ribs.

Ready to eat!

Print

Easy BBQ Oven Baked Beef Back Ribs

This tender and easy oven baked beef back rib recipe is slow cooked in the oven at 275F for ~ 3 ½ hours, basted with barbecue sauce, and then broiled a couple minutes until caramelized.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 210 minutes
• Total Time: 3 hours 50 minutes
• Yield: 4 (2 Ribs each) 1x
• Category: Main Dish
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Gluten Free

• 4 lb beef back ribs (8 bones)
• ¾ cup bbq sauce (regular, gluten free, keto, or low carb)
• salt
• black pepper

• Preheat oven to 275F.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (for easy clean up).
• Pull off the membrane on the bony side of the beef ribs with paper towels (see video).   Skip it if you can't figure it out 🙂
• Liberally salt and pepper both sides of the back ribs.
• Place ribs bone side up (meat side down) in 2 layers of aluminum foil and cinch.  Ribs may be too large for a baking sheet and may need to be cut in half, if not already done by the butcher.
• Place aluminum rib packets on rimmed baking sheet. This ensures that any leaked grease doesn't spill on the bottom of the oven.
• Place in oven for 3 ½ - 4 hours or until meat is visually shrinking back from the bone and tender when done (see pic above).
• Unwrap back ribs, remove from grease if there is a lot, (the last thing you need is a grease fire in the oven if you broil them - unlikely but possible), flip to meaty side up (bone side down) and place back on the aluminum lined rimmed sheet pan (see pic above).
• Baste top (meat side) with desired amount of barbecue sauce.
• Place back in oven on a low broil for 2-4 minutes or until broiling and the barbecue sauce has caramelized.  Some ovens broil fast - watch carefully so it doesn't burn.  Happy eating!  Beckie

Notes

• Ribs are done when the meat shrinks away from the bone and the meat is tender.
• Don't want to cook them in the oven? Cool- toss them in a crockpot with the bbq sauce and put on low for 6-8 hours or until tender.
• Can't figure out how to get the membrane off? Don't sweat it - most people don't remove it anyway. Just cook the ribs. It's not edible and can be pulled away as you're eating.

Keywords: Ribs, Back Ribs, Beef Ribs, Comfort Food, BBQ, Barbecue, Gluten Free, Whole30, Paleo, Superbowl, Christmas, 4th of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day

Reader Interactions

hoffmansperwit.blogspot.com

Source: https://eatsimplefood.com/easy-bbq-oven-baked-beef-back-ribs/

Share this post