On the grill or in your kitchen, take a rack of ribs to the next level with The Great Eight
Who doesn’t love a good rack of ribs, fresh off the grill and tender to the bone? But as we all know, it can be an all-day affair to pull out the grill, fire up the charcoal, and slow-cook that rack for two to three hours. It’s time-consuming, laborious, hot, and worst of all, weather-dependent.
I love grilling out for a crowd of friends, but it shouldn’t always have to be such a big production to make a rack of ribs for date night or dinner for you and the kids. Consider swapping out that grill for a stock pot or a pressure cooker for a quick path to tender ribs that practically fall off the bone. It just takes a few simple steps.
Beyond the method, you choose for cooking ribs, the real dealmaker or breaker is often the dry rub and sauce one chooses. There’s no easier way to ruin a good rack of ribs than with a stale dry rub or a generic barbecue sauce. Greenville local Ryan Lindemer began making his barbecue sauce—The Great Eight—as a hobby, but it has quickly grown into a job, even earning him a top ten finish in the Kansas City American Royale, an annual national sauce competition.
“I was doing it for fun, and then I took some samples to work, and in one day I had sixty orders,” Lindemer says. “That support from family and friends showed me I could take it a step further.”
The Great Eight Original Sauce is a simple combination of eight basic ingredients that result in a fresh, vibrant sauce, and The Great Eight Dry Rub is deep and flavorful. They combine to make the perfect rack of baby back ribs. The secret, according to Lindemer, is balance. “The idea is you get notes of sweet, savory, sour, and I like to play with different flavors to create well-roundedness,” he says. “That keeps things as flavorful as possible.”
Ribs require a slow cooking process, something that can take hours in a smoker or grill but can be simulated much faster with steam. By steaming ribs in a stock pot or pressure cooker, you can maintain consistent temperature in a sealed environment while also ensuring that your meat doesn’t dry out. Just finish them off with a few minutes under a broiler or with a crème brûlée torch to achieve that nice charred skin. It’s way faster and easier than firing up the grill, not to mention that the rain can’t ruin your dinner plans since this entire process can be done in the kitchen.
While you’ve got that dry rub handy, remember that it’s good for a lot more than just seasoning meat. Try tossing cauliflower steaks with it before throwing them in the oven for a tangy vegetarian entree. Or consider melting some butter and simmering the seasoning before tossing with some roasted potatoes for a decadent and flavorful side dish. It’s also a great way to spice up your scratch mac and cheese by including a little of that dry rub when making your béchamel. Just remember that dried spices like chili powder, garlic, mustard, and cayenne need a little heat to really bring out their flavor.
Steamed Baby Back Ribs Recipe
Ingredients:
1 rack of baby back ribs
The Great Eight Dry Rub
The Great Eight Original Sauce
Worcestershire sauce (optional)
Apple cider vinegar (optional)
Apple juice (optional)
Instant Pot Method:
- Begin by trimming the excess membrane at either end of the rack of ribs. It may also run down the underside of the rib, so trim that as well. Generously apply the Great Eight Dry Rub, rubbing it gently into every inch of the meat. Place the ribs in a bag and allow it to marinate for at least an hour and up to 48 hours, until the rub has begun to be absorbed by the meat.
- Place the steaming rack in your pressure cooker pot, adding enough water to cover the bottom of the pot but not enough to touch the base of the steamer. Dash in a few glugs of Worcestershire sauce so that your steaming liquid has a little flavor. Feel free to use a little apple cider vinegar if you prefer vinegar-flavored barbecue ribs, or substitute the water for apple juice if you like a sweeter rib. Add the rack of ribs, wrapping them in a semicircle with the arch of the bones pointed inwards so that the meat is at the core of the circle.
- Seal the pressure cooker, seal the steam vent, and set the cooker to high pressure, cooking for 25 minutes. IMPORTANT: after 25 minutes, do not manually release the pressure valve. Allow a full natural release of the pressure, which should take an additional 15-20 minutes.
- Turn on the broiler in your oven and move the rack to a close position to the broiler (within six inches). Brush the ribs with The Great Eight Original Sauce, and place them under the broiler for around 10 minutes or until the tops of the rack begin to brown. Or, alternatively, blast them with a crème brûlée torch, blowtorch, or Searzall.
- Plate and serve your ribs, allowing guests to add more sauce if desired.
Stovetop Method:
- See above step 1
- See above step 2, but follow instructions using a stock pot or large Dutch oven. Place a penny in the steaming liquid. The penny will rattle as the pot boils and will stop making a sound if you run out of steaming liquid, in which case, add more liquid.
- Cover the pot and bring liquid to a boil. Reduce to a simmer over medium heat, and steam covered for 45 minutes, until the ribs are just beginning to fall from the bones.
- See above Step 4.
- See above Step 5.
Retail Guide
The Great Eight sauces and rubs are available at area butcher shops and markets. See the full list of retail outlets, along with more recipes, at thegreateightsauce.com.
