ON WEDNESDAYS, the NY Times features a cooking section. It included “101 Reasons to light the Grill” Some recipes sound great, some kind of weird…and I’ll use some of them another day, But, the one that kept my attention was a separate article “The Secret to Ribs Is Already in the Kitchen: The Oven” the premise being that most home grills are too small to keep the meat safe from the heat. It explained in detail that ribs need very slow cooking to conserve as much of the meat’s moisture as possible. The concept is to cook them low and slow in the oven then give them a brief finishing hit of high heat or smoke on the grill. The seasonings in the recipe are to duplicate the charcoal flavor. We may not want to heat up our kitchen with this…but it may be worth a try! Note it takes 6 + hours, but you don’t have to stand and watch it!

Smoky Oven Spareribs

1 cup Brown sugar

2 Tablespoons ancho chili powder or paprika

2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

5 pounds spareribs, cut into 4 slabs, rinsed and patted dry

2 teaspoon mild or hot smoked Spanish paprika

1 tablespoon cider vinegar or red or white vinegar

1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Heat oven to 200 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, ancho chili powder or paprika, salt, garlic powder, cloves and cinnamon.

Place each slab of ribs on a piece of foil large enough to fold into a packet. Sprinkle spice rub over the ribs, rubbing in thoroughly on all sides. With the ribs meat-side down, tightly fold the foil to form sealed packets

Put a rack on a baking sheet, place packets on the rack and put in oven. Bake for 4 hours, then reduce heat to 175 degrees and bake for 2 more hours or until a fork easily penetrates the meat.

Open each packet and pour the accumulated juices into a saucepan, then refold the packets. Bring juices to a simmer over medium heat and reduce by about half, until they cling to a spoon. Remove from the heat and stir in the smoked paprika, vinegar and vanilla extract.

Remove ribs from foil, coat with the sauce and serve. The ribs can also be finished for 2-3 minutes ion an open hot grill or smoky closed one, or under the broiler, then coated with sauce. Yield: 4 servings.

Other recipes call for pre-simmering ribs in water. These are with baby-back ribs, from a Barbeque issue of Bon Appétit 1989

Barbecued Spareribs

with Red-Hot Sauce 1 1/2 cups bottled chili sauce 1/3 cup apple jelly 2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 Teaspoons hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)

1/2 Teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 1/2 to 5 pounds spareribs, preferably baby back, cut into 3-rib sections

2 teaspoons salt

Bring first 7 ingredients to boil in heavy small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer 1 minute. Cool completely (Sauce can be prepared 3 weeks ahead. Cover and refrigerate)

Place ribs in a large pot. Add enough hot water to cover. Cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat. Add salt cover and simmer 25 minutes. Drain well. Transfer ribs to large baking dish. Pour 3/4 cup of sauce over: turn ribs to coat. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature.)

Prepare barbecue grill (high heat). Grill ribs until sauce browns slightly and ribs are heated though, brushing occasionally with additional sauce, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to platter, Pass remaining sauce separately.

Note: Wow! It is noted that much of the “fire” of the sauce is tamed as it cooks with the meat on the grill, but suggests that, “lots of iced tea, cold beer or a fruity red wine will help tame things a bit too!”pgg