Don't Be Intimidated Baby Back Ribs

I've wanted ribs for about oh, two years now. Ridiculous, I know. But they are kind of pricey and come in big packs and I didn't think they made good left overs and I just found them kind of all around intimidating. But I talked my parents into them and between the three of us and google and a rub recipe we made some pretty good ribs.

Unfortunately I don't know which of the steps we took were important to the end result and which didn't matter, so I'll just give you all of 'em.

You'll need:

3 or so pounds of pork back ribs (or however much you want really)

apple cider vinegar, a few cups

water

a dry rub of your choice, we used Meatheads Memphis Dust- (see notes at bottom for how I changed it)

Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (you knew it was coming!)

napkins, lots and lots of napkins

We rinsed the ribs thoroughly in the sink. Then we cut the rack in half to make it more manageable and laid it meaty side down in a baking dish. Over the bony side I poured about 2 cups of apple cider vinegar and 1-2 cups of water. The ribs were not covered, but there was about 1/2 inch or so of liquid in the dish. We wrapped plastic wrap over the top of this and put it in the fridge for two hours. Then we remembered that many websites said to "remove the membrane", which I didn't remember seeing. So I pulled the ribs out and saw the disintegrating membrane on the bony side. I peeled this off, flipped the ribs over in the dish, and spooned the vinegar liquid over the meaty side of the ribs. Rewrapped and back in the fridge for 2 or so more hours.

Then I removed the ribs, which I felt were visibly tenderized, rinsed them, and patted them dry. I rubbed the Meathead's Memphis Dust all over the ribs on all sides. (My dad said he couldn't taste the rub coming through, so feel free to use A LOT). My mom grilled the ribs straight on the hot grill for about 15 minutes. I think you could skip this step if you don't have a grill. Then we baked them in a baking dish (without the vinegary liquid) covered over with foil at 300 for about 2 1/2 hours. We topped them with Sweet Baby Ray's and baked them another 20 minutes uncovered. The bones were slipping out of the meat when we tried to pick them up, so cook until you get everything nice and tender! We dished 'em up with fresh Indiana sweet corn (sooo good) and my not-gooey green bean casserole.

We went grill before baking because we were afraid the really tender meat would fall through the grill and didn't see the point of finishing them on foil on the grill. It seems to be a matter of opinion.

Meathead's Memphis Dust my way- On advise of a friend we cut the paprika in 1/2. We didn't have any onion salt so we skipped that and the rosemary. In the future I think I'll include the onion salt and maybe just a touch of rosemary. I will definitely be making ribs again!

Oh, and a leftovers note: We cleaned all the leftover meat off of the bones (I'd also recommended cutting out the really fatty parts that you aren't going to eat anyway) and storing in Tupperware. The meat resembled shredded meat, reheated well in the microwave, and made a fabulous sandwich the next day!