$4, All Day Apartment Ribs: Indoor BBQ Time!

Ribs. Juicy, fall-off-the-bone, delicious ribs. This post tackles a food I didn’t think I could make on a grill, let alone inside a one bedroom apartment. Did I mention it will cost you less than $4 for a half rack of mouthwatering apartment ribs and only requires 20 minutes of hands-on time?

Print Recipe

$4 All Day Apartment Ribs

Live in an apartment with no easy access to a grill? No matter, this oven roasted apartment ribs recipe is for you!

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time8 hrs

Total Time8 hrs 20 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: ribs

Servings: 2 servings

Calories: 725kcal

Author: apartmentchefnick

Cost: $8

Equipment

• Baking sheet lined with aluminum foil
• Extra sheets of aluminum foil
• Knife
• Paper towels
• Brush (optional)

Ingredients

• ~3 lb rack of pork baby back or St. Louis style ribs
• 1/4 cup apple juice or water
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• ~3 tbsp dry spices of your choice (dry rub)

Dry Rub

• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp sweet or spicy paprika
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder

Instructions

The Night Before

• Mix all spices together in a small bowl to create dry rub.
• Place ribs bone side up on a cutting board and remove the thin layer of see-through skin on top of bones.
• Place ribs on the baking sheet, brush with olive oil and cover all sides completely in dry rub.
• Cover with cling wrap and place in refrigerator overnight.

Rib Day!

• Preheat the oven to 235F
• Remove cling wrap, bake the ribs bone side down on the baking sheet for 4 hours
• Remove from oven and wrap the ribs completely in aluminum foil and add apple juice before closing off.
• Place ribs back in the oven and bake the ribs bone side down for another 3-4 hours
• Unwrap and enjoy!

Notes

If you’re working under a time crunch, you can cook them for 4 hours at 325F! (Wrap in foil after the first 2 hours).

Tips:

Step 1 – Go crazy here. Put in whatever like. Thyme sounds great. Obsessed with sage, go for it. Got some leftover coffee grounds, toss them in. You can use any spices you’re in the mood for to create the rub. No sugar needed – a good quality rack of ribs already tastes like candy.

Step 2 – Removing this skin allows spices to sink into the bottom side of the ribs. Do not skip this step or assume the skin is not there because you can’t see it! This clear skin is definitely there unless the packaging says otherwise and it can be a pain to remove. Check out other websites and blogs for tips – personally I try to dig under it with a knife, grab it with a paper towel and yank it off. I’ll be the first to acknowledge that this might not be best practice, but hey, it gets the job done.

Step 3 – The Kosher salt is the heaviest spice and will tend to sink to the bottom of your dry rub mixture. Make sure to scoop all the way to the bottom of the bowl to give each rib a little bit of everything (great song by Keith Urban btw). You should probably play it while you’re cooking since nothing goes better with ribs than some good country music.

Step 4 – I prefer to let the spices sink in overnight because that way I don’t have to do any prep in the morning. I can just roll out of bed, put the ribs in the oven and feel like I accomplished something.

Step 5 – Who knew ovens went down to 235F?? I figured they had a cap at 300F. I learn new things every day.

Step 7 – Be careful that the bones don’t puncture the aluminum foil. The trapped apple juice or water is being used to keep the ribs moist. If it escapes, you are in danger of drying out the ribs.

Step 9 – Open the doors/windows and vent your kitchen unless you want it to smell like ribs for a week. Wait actually that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, quick close all your windows and doors!

Cost:

• 3 lb rack of pork baby back ribs ~ $6.50 (Buy them whenever they’re on sale at the grocery store!)
• Spices ~ negligible.
• Apple juice ~ $1 (if you’re really cooking on a budget, water will also get the job done)

Cost per homemade half rack = $3.75

Story Time:

For some reason, I’ve always considered being able to cook a really good rack of ribs to be one of the milestones of adulthood. I thought it took years of practice and experimentation and a lot of frustration before this feat could be accomplished. I considered juicy, fall-off-the-bone ribs to be a testament to years of hard work and heartbreak. Based on these lofty preconceptions, I had been putting off even attempting ribs until I felt like I had a least a couple weeks to dedicate to the process.

Finally, I built up the courage, tried it and the results were demystifying. Not only were apartment ribs extremely easy to make, they were as juicy and tender as I could have only imagined in my dreams. No more than a touch and the bones fell right out. And this happened on my first try! Just mix some spices together and put it in the oven – anyone can do that!

Conclusion:

Ribs are yet another example of a food I had built up in my brain as “un-makeable” but in reality ended up being the opposite. Not only did I have an amazing meal, I finished the day with a sense of accomplishment that can only come from doing something myself. It’s all about figuring out the simplest, most efficient way that works best for you! Next opportunity, pick some ribs and impress your friends – and yourself!

As always, make informed food decisions. Know your ingredients, know your costs!

Apartment ribs pairs great with the following Cafe4111 recipes:

• $0.25 and 15 Minute Stove Top Grilled Corn
• $0.90 and 40 Minute Cauliflower Faux-tato Salad
• $0.60 and 30 Minute Avocado Key Lime Pie (gotta save just a little room for healthy dessert of course!)