Ribs in Slow Cooker - which BBQ Sauce?

[Don]

OK. I have two racks of ribs festering in the slow cooker. Rubbed with Jamaican Jerk seasoning.

My plan is to smother 'em in BBQ sauce and pop them in the oven for 15 minutes at the end.

Now I could make Huw Fearnley Whittingstall's homemade BBQ sauce. It's yummy.

But I'm feeling lazy.

If I buy a bottle of good BBQ sauce and use that it surely will make tonight's dinner easy.

So what sauce? Any recommendations?

[Don]

Sheets Tabuer said:

How can you be lazy when it is ketchup brown sugar and soy sauce thrown in a pan

HFW does pop garlic and some other things in too...

[Don]

Digger said:

How many hours will they be festering for Don? On Low?

I've got 'em on low with just a jerk rub on them - no sauce yet.

They'll be festering in the Cooker for about ten hours today. It's an experiment - I might change the length of cooking on the next occasion.

But I will be finishing them in the cooker smothered in sauce for about ten to fifteen: just enough to blacken the sauce a little.

I'm hoping this will result in meltingly tender ribs. No smoke flavour, of course, but you can't get everything without doing 'em properly!

I'll try and remember to post on the "Photo of your Dinner" thread...

[Don]

dougc said:

Good call. Good call. Wilkins and Sons from Tiptree Essex.

Will do.

[Don]

Steve H said:

May I ask, do you just put the ribs (with seasoning) in the slow cooker...any liquid?

OK. We just ate 'em.

DAMN! They were GOOD!

The Mrs complained badly that I hadn't made HFW's BBQ sauce. I couldn't get Wilkins and Sons so I used Newman's Own (him being a Petrolhead) but homemade is important...

The slow-cooking, on the other hand, worked absolutely brilliantly.

Absolutely no liquid added to the pot. Just slow "roasted" in the slow cooker for ten hours. Then smeared with BBQ sauce and finally blasted in the oven for just ten minutes.

Yes I am going to fine tune the recipe and experiment with BBQ sauce on from the beginning rather than starting with a rub etc etc but the overall result is FAB. The meat just fell off the bone - you could have noshed it with a spoon had you wanted to...

YUM.

Worth persevering with. I will be back with refinements but if you want to start experimenting with the slow cooker and ribs I heartily recommened it: no added liquid, use it as a slow roaster.

Pics to follow...

[Don]

Mmmmm.

I can do better. But they were fab. And absolutely no trouble whatsoever.

[Don]

FasterFreddy said:

10 hours in the slow cooker seems a long time for ribs, but the result sounded and looked very good. What temperature is it at?

For BBQ ribs, I usually put ribs in a very slow oven (maybe gas 2-3) and leave them for 1-2 hours then finish them off on the barby.

Did you find the slow cooker made the meat too tender to survive turning a few times on a barbeque i.e. would a rack stay together or would the ribs fall apart too easily to be turned?

Sorry - didn't spot your question.

IMO the ribs need gentle handling once slow cooked. They DID stay together to be smeared with sauce and popped into the oven but I think if I'd manhandled them about with tongs I might have had a disaster.

Yes they really were very, very tender.