Hard Cider BBQ Ribs

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Earlier this year, a good friend asked if I would create some images for a hard cider guide he was writing. Or maybe I volunteered and he accepted. The important thing is that I ended up in Portland shooting for HipCider. It was a blast and kicked off my cider education.

While photographing over twenty variations of cider, I tasted more than a few, soon realizing that ciders were every bit as varied as craft beer and wine. It wasn’t long before I had picked out my favorites. Add cider to the growing list of things I’m snobby about (pizza, ramen, Mexican food, etc.).

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We were talking about pairing cider with food and it wasn’t long until I started thinking about things I could cook using cider. I decided I was going to do some hard cider recipes and do some cross-promotion between shootwhatyoueat.com and hipcider.com. This was the first time I’ve ever really sat down to create a recipe for a specific purpose.

Admittedly, pork dishes are the low-hanging fruit (no pun) because everyone knows pork and apples go together. I figured a BBQ sauce using hard apple cider was a good place to get my feet wet. I don’t have a smoker, and trying to do ribs on a regular grill is just plain insane, so, I slow cooked the ribs: first in a dry rub sitting on a bed of onions, and then hard cider.

I put chipotle in the sauce because I like the kick and it adds some of the smokiness to the ribs that could be missing. I also finished the ribs on the grill to sear the meat and caramelize the sauce.

I don’t make ribs a lot, but I’ve made my fair share. I can honestly say that these are the most tender, fall off the bone and delicious ribs I have ever made.

Hard Cider BBQ Ribs

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours 15 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 1 rack pork spare ribs
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 1 cup hard apple cider

For the dry rub:

  • 2 tbsp salt
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp coriander (heaping)
  • 2 tsp chili powder

For the sauce:

  • 1 cup unsweetened apple butter
  • 2 cup hard apple cider
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tblsp chipotle powder
  • 1 tblsp cinnamon

Instructions
 

  • Mix dry rub spices together and rub over both sides of ribs. Spread out onions on a sheet of foil large enough to fit the ribs with a few inches on all sides for sealing. Lay ribs on top of onions and place a piece of foil on top and seal the edges. Place the seal ribs on a pan and refrigerate for no less than 6 hours to overnight.
  • Preheat oven to 225º. Open foil enough to pour 1 cup of cider in the bottom and reseal. Place ribs (in pan) in the oven for 6 hours. Pull ribs and let rest while making sauce. Even refrigerating them for a couple of hours will help them hold together on the grill.
  • Combine apple butter, cider, brown sugar, chipotle powder and cinnamon in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until reduced by half and sauce thickens.
  • Place ribs face down on hot grill and coat with almost half of the sauce. Let sear for a few minutes and then flip over. Slather with the rest of the sauce and close the lid for 3-5 minutes until the sauce on the top gets a glaze-like sheen. Remove and rest the ribs for a few minutes.
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