Oven Braised Country Style Ribs

Although they’re called country style ribs, they’re actually thick cuts of the pork shoulder. The shoulder is a working muscle, that means it’s a tough meat with lot’s of connective tissue, so, it needs to cook low and slow. But, this also means it will develop some amazing flavors during that slow cook. It is one of my favorite cuts of meat, with two recipes posted: slow cooker pork shoulder, and mojo pork. Because country style ribs are part of the shoulder, I will cook them the same way, slowly

The history of country style ribs comes from the Chicago area. Back in the late 60’s to early 70’s an enterprising butcher was looking for a way to market the fatty, bony end of the pork shoulder, and he called it the country style rib. Cooking is the same as the shoulder, which means a long time. Once cooked, it becomes a versatile cut, cover with sauce, stick under the broiler to crisp up, throw it on the barbecue for some smokiness, or just serve it straight from the oven, like in this recipe. Any way you cook it, it’s delicious.

When the butcher processes the meat cuts he uses all the tools at his disposal, knives, saws and cleavers. Although these are washed and cleaned during the day, there’s always residue left. Because of this I like to rinse the ribs first. Then a bath in a weak solution of water and apple cider vinegar. This will give the meat some flavor, but also is a tenderizer. Mix everything together and put in the refrigerator for an hour. Now for the marinade

The marinade includes mojo sauce. This works because the citrus in the mojo counters the fattiness of the ribs, and also tenderizes the meat as it cooks. The other spices will enhance the flavors of the meat. Mix everything up in an appropriate size container, make sure the ribs are covered. The marinade takes a little longer, I would say overnight is probably best option, remember, time is needed for the flavors to be absorbed.

Once they have had a chance to sit in the marinade for a while, it’s time to cook. The secret to cooking tough cuts of meat is to breakdown the connective tissue. And there is a secret to this, quite simply put, it’s 195 degrees. That’s the magic number. But this isn’t a quick process, it needs time. Firstly choose a deep oven dish, these cuts of meat generate a lot of juices.

Start by putting the ribs on a bed of coarsely chopped onions. There’s a reason for this, it keeps the ribs off the floor of the pan preventing any burning. Plus, the onions get to cook in the spices and juices from the pork, they’re absolutely delicious.

Now lay the ribs on the bed of onions, cover with foil making sure it’s sealed as best you can. This will stop any evaporation, the idea is to keep all the liquid.

Put this in a preheated 300 degree oven for 3 hrs. Remove from the oven, when you peel back the foil the ribs will happily swimming in their juices. These are a combination of the seasoning, the connective tissue that has dissolved, liquid within the meat and fat. . And it is all delicious

Now is the time I add some diced carrots and peppers. When I serve the country style ribs, they’ll be a delicious side, full of the flavor from the ribs and seasonings. Now reseal the foil cover and put back in the oven for another 3hrs. During that 6 hr cook, what was once a tough cut of meat has become melt in you mouth delicious. I is a good idea to temp check the meat, remember, you looking for that magic 195 degrees or more.

Now serve. The options are endless. Put on the barbecue to char a bit, or under the broiler too. I’m just going to serve them on a plate with some vegetables. However it is that you do, I know you’ll enjoy, and thank you for reading. Check out the video below to see how everything came together.