Mom makes amazing ribs that are tender and flavorful. I never could seem to make them as good as her so I thought I would leave them to the expert. She makes them in the oven & I really wanted a recipe that could be made in the slow cooker. My biggest complaint about the slow cooker is the texture almost gets too soft & too stringy.
Then on one of my daily foodgawker visits...okay thrice daily....okay not counting the foodgawker app which would probably make 6-9 times daily visits I decided to look up rib recipes. I stumbled on this recipe. And it was exactly what I wanted! Tender yet a slightly crispy coating. Here is how they looked. in my crock-pot.
There are a few key steps to this recipe. I think the most important step for me was having the ribs stand up in the crock pot. (I think because they aren't sitting in the sauce they just get tender & not soft) Then after they have been in the crock-pot all day (and you wish you would have planned an outing instead of doing housework 'cuz you have to smell them cooking alllll day while your stomach annoyingly growls). You thicken the sauce and put them in the oven on broil. And you put them on the bottom rack for a slow broil.
I just used bottled barbecue sauce with a few extra sprinkles of liquid smoke. The taste was very good - restaurant like. But, I want to try them next time with a homemade barbecue sauce and will report back.
Oh, these were good.....like comfort - sit and slowly savor each bite good. I may or may not have texted Glenn while eating them and told him to hurry home from work as there might not be any left by the time he got home.
This recipe or more correctly this cooking method is definitely going to be a repeated many-many times in our home!
