Fall-to-Pieces Ribs

By charlotteh371

Ingredients

• his recipe can be very easily halved or multiplied.
• 2 large, meaty racks of baby back or St. Louis ribs (2-2 1/2 pounds each)
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt (or half as much table salt)
• 1 teaspoon celery seeds
• 2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
• 1 teaspoons granulated garlic (aka garlic powder)
• 1/2 cup white vinegar mixed with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon liquid smoke

Preparation

Step 1

Make the rub: mash the celery seeds and salt together with a mortar and pestle until the celery seeds looked pretty powdery (or else use celery salt and cut back on the salt a bit). Add the paprika and garlic powder, and stir together well.

Lay each rack of ribs on a large, rimmed baking sheet (I put them on parchment for easier clean-up), then sprinkle them all over with the rub, massage it into both sides. Refrigerate them for a few hours (overnight is ideal) if you can spare the time, otherwise, go ahead and pop them in a 275 oven to bake for 3-4 hours (or 4-5 for St. Louis). The longer the better: you want all the fat and connective tissue melted so that the ribs are falling apart. If at any point the ribs seem to be browning excessively, turn the heat down to 250.

When you suspect that that the ribs are about an hour from being done, brush the vinegar mixture all over the ribs every 15 minutes or so.


When the ribs are truly and totally falling apart (try to lift the rack with a pair of tongs and see if it wants to come apart) they’re done. Use a sharp, heavy knife to cut the racks into individual ribs, give them one last brush with the remaining vinegar mixture, and serve with lots of napkins. (And, if people require, with bottled sauce.