Spare Ribs Recipe for Grill or Oven with Professional Chef Tips for Marinades and Rubs

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is a chef, food photographer, cookbook author and blogger.
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In this article we will deal in detail with the preparation of ribs. The spare ribs recipe shows you different variants for marinades and seasoning mixes which we know in recent times as “rubs”.

Surely one contribution to this topic is better than many? Therefore, here is the ribs-summary which, in addition to the product knowledge and the purchase of everything important to spice mixtures, marinades and the optimal use in the kitchen and garden!

You can print out the secrets around the popular peeling rib and take them with you into the kitchen. As a professional chef, I am happy to pass on the most important tips for ribs that are sure to succeed.

Get inspired to cook for yourself and send me your questions using the comment function at the bottom of the page.

1. Recipe Spare Ribs

In the following instructions I show you my best variations for delicious ribs.

Spare Ribs

Cooked, photographed and written down by chef Thomas Sixt.

Servings 4
Calories 3893
Total Time 60 Min.
Preparation Time 15 Min.
Cook Time 45 Min.

Simple instructions for preparing spare ribs with various marinades and rubs.

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Ribs recipe
Spare Ribs Recipe Image © Thomas Sixt.

Ingredients

My Chef Rub

Pepper
Sweet paprika
curry
Salt
brown sugar
4 cl rum

Peppers BBQ Rub

1 tsp Sweet paprika
1 tsp smoked paprika powder
4 pinches curry
1 tsp Salt
1-2 tsp brown sugar
4 CL cognac

Thyme-lemon-garlic marinade

Salt
1 bunch thyme
1 pc Garlic clove (fein gewürfelt)
1/2 pc Chili
1 pc Lemon
2-3 tbs Olive oil

Asia-Marinade

2 tbs Soy sauce
3 tbs Teriyaki sauce
1 tbs white wine vinegar
1 clove Ginger (fein geschnitten)
1 pc Garlic clove
1 pc Lime

Barbecue Marinade

4 pc Garlic clove (fein gewürfelt)
80 ml Ketchup
3-4 tbs Sunflower oil
6 tbs Soy sauce
2 tbs honey
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 tbs Paprika noble sweet
Salt
1 kg Spareribs Spareribs, pork ribs

Instruction

Prepare ribs

Spare ribs
This post is about these ribs, I've cut the rib strand in half so that it fits better in the photo.

Prepare

Unpack the raw, unmarinated ribs, wash them under cold running water and dry them.

Prepare an appropriate tray or other suitable container for seasoning and marinating.

Unpack and wash the marinated ribs and refine them individually with less seasoning.

Madras curry powder
Absolutely spices in the erotic kitchen use. That's how taste and pepp come into the matter!

My Chef-Rub

Sparingly apply pepper, paprika and curry to the ribs.

Sprinkle salt and sugar on the ribs just before cooking.

Grill the ribs or prepare them in the oven, the variant with rum I only do in the garden.

I flambé the ribs shortly before serving (please be careful!)

Pork ribs strongly marinated with barbecue marinade
Delicious marinated pork ribs, the barbecue marinade is suitable for the grill and the oven.

BBQ Rub

Mix paprika, smoked paprika and curry and rub the prepared ribs with it.

If necessary, leave to marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Sprinkle the ribs with salt and pepper just before cooking.

Flambé with the cognac just before serving.

Attention, I only do the flambé in the garden.

Please be careful – I assume no liability!

glowing, white charcoal, the ideal moment for grilling.
Glowing, white coals are ideal for grilling fish!

Thyme marinade

Season the ribs with salt and cook immediately on the grill or in the oven.

Pluck the thyme, you can also use dried herbs, finely chop the garlic and grate it finely with a little salt, add the chilli finely chopped and finely grate the lemon peel.

Mix all the ingredients with olive oil and marinate the ribs several times with a brush and finish cooking.

Soy sauce and sushi vinegar
White soy sauce and sushi vinegar bottle

Asia Marinade

Reduce soy sauce and Teriyaki sauce in a pot by half.

Grind finely chopped ginger and garlic in a mortar with the warm reduction.

Rub the ribs with the marinade shortly before cooking.

Cook in the oven or on the grill, sprinkle lime grated on the ribs just before serving, the aroma is best developed on the edges when cooking indirectly.

Cut the ribs open and serve.

Ribs from the oven
You can prepare the spare ribs wonderfully in the oven. Place the potato wedges on an extra belch right away …

Barbecue Marinade

Finely chop the garlic clove with the remaining ingredients without salt in a mortar or blender.

Barbecue:

Salt the ribs and grill them for 20 minutes, then brush them several times with the marinade and finish cooking.

Oven:

Season the marinade with salt and rub the ribs with the marinade.

Cook at 220°C and reduce the temperature as the ribs begin to brown.

You can find another recipe for ribs in another article.
In this variation, I cut the ribs before marinating and preparing them.

Courses

2. Nutritional Values

3. Shopping Tips for Spare Ribs

We all know spare ribs from the meat counter, where you can usually get the raw product without marinade. Personally, I prefer to buy unmarinated ribs and then romp around in my own world of taste.

Unmarinated ribs are first choice when shopping – we conjure up the taste ourselves!

Recommends Chef Thomas Sixt

Ribs that have already been cooked or marinated have a big disadvantage: Mostly pickling salt is used for seasoning, this salt is unfortunately not good for the stomach, intestines and health. In addition, these are usually pre-cooked ribs. I simply don’t like them, for me the typical grilled meat mouthfeel is missing here, so I prefer to eat a boiled prime beef named “Tafelspitz“.

I learned to cook in a 19-point restaurant with a Michelin star, the circus, which is partly made around the ribs, is totally strange to me and I don’t understand many things about it. Usually you can only buy “normal” spare ribs from us. These ribs need about 30 minutes on the grill. You can also cook the ribs with a lid or grill them indirectly longer on the edge.

Precooking the German ribs is neither necessary nor does it promise a better taste experience. We only do this because of the shelf life, because meat on the bone simply spoils faster.

The pre-cooking of the ribs comes from another country, the USA. From there we also know 3-2-1 ribs: This stands for a preparation time of 6 hours, of which 3 hours are smoking, 2 hours steaming 1 hour glazing. Not even a roast pork from Bavaria with the preferred pieces of meat pork belly or pork neck needs that long. But where do these long preparation times come from?

Very simple: The piglets are cut differently in the USA and therefore more meat remains on the ribs. Thicker pieces of meat have to be cooked longer to soften the meat. It certainly doesn’t need the 6 hours for that and I assume that this recipe was made by a cowboy without any cooking skills :-).

You’re not getting any unseasoned spare ribs? Buy raw marinated prime ribs and wash them down for your own seasoning!

Recommended by Chef Thomas Sixt

Back to our home made ribs: I’ve included a picture below so you can find one at the butcher’s. Let’s take a look at the most important ways of preparing them next.

Spare ribs
These ribs are the subject of this article, I have cut the rib strand in half so that it fits better on the photo.

4. Prepare Spare Ribs in Oven

The oven version has some decisive advantages: It is very fast, you don’t have to worry about the ribs and the preparation is sure to succeed, you can save yourself heating up the grill :-).

Step by Step Instructions How to Prepare Ribs in the Oven:

“Rub” is nothing but the dry seasoning for the ribs. The seasoning is added to my ribs just before cooking, sometimes even later…

Recommends Chef Thomas Sixt

It’s easy and quick, it’s not a circus and you can enjoy wonderful, home-made spare ribs. By the way, you don’t need a higher temperature, otherwise the ribs will dry quickly. The baking paper is heat-stable up to 220°C and the baking tray is quickly cleaned again.

Ribs from the oven
You can prepare the spare ribs wonderfully in the oven. Put the potato wedges on an extra baking tray and cook with them…

5. Prepare Spare Ribs on the Grill

The grill variant is particularly popular, I prefer the charcoal grill over the gas grill, because the coal has a positive influence on the taste. I like it smoky at this point and simply find the resulting taste better. Sometimes I put a few small pieces of beech wood into the embers and wait until the wood is almost burned down. My ribs fry indirectly next to it and keep the fine beech wood aroma. That tastes delicious!

glowing, white charcoal, the ideal moment for grilling.
White glowing coals are ideal for preparing meat and fish.

Step by Step Guide Ribs on the Grill:

Rippchen vormarinieren ist Blödsinn: Salz enzieht Wasser, viele Marinaden verbrennen. Lieber später bzw. im Verlauf des Grillvorganges nach und nach würzen bzw. die Marinade kurz vor dem Servieren auftragen und die Ripperl final glasieren!

Recommends Chef Thomas Sixt
Ribs marinated from the grill
I prepared these ribs on the grill and applied a light lemon-thyme-garlic marinade with a little honey.

6. How to Handle Spare Ribs Marinades

Marinades are always liquid and consist of aromatics such as garlic, lemon peel and onions as well as oil. Marinades can be chunky or very finely mixed, that is a matter of taste.

As a man in the kitchen I always cut the ingredients finely first and then use the mortar. I think the taste is better then, in the world people mix too much anyway!

Adding sugar has proven to be a good idea because the sugar caramelises during preparation and conjures up a great flavour on the ribs. I don’t want to list the marinades here, because everything is listed further down in the recipe.

Marinades for grilling are always prepared fresh and zeinah, garlic and onions can ferment quickly at hot temperatures!

Recommends Chef Thomas Sixt
Marinades picture
You can try out the marinades or consult the recipe below. If you have any questions please use the comment function!

7. Use Rub and Spice Mixtures for Spare Ribs

In a small internet screening I found out Most rubs on the market are a mixture of spices and salt. Therefore please always season just before grilling. If you put the salt on the meat too early, it will simply pull out the meat juice and make the ribs dry.

If you do not want to do without marinating for hours, prepare a mixture without salt and sugar yourself and add the salt and sugar just before cooking.

Apply BBQ Rub and spice mixes with salt just before cooking, so the ribs stay nice and juicy!

Recommends Chef Thomas Sixt
Spare ribs with honey and curry
The spare ribs with honey and curry are very successful. I only marinated them towards the end of the cooking time, otherwise the curry and honey would burn.

8. More Ideas for Grilling

Comments, Cooking Questions and Answers

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