Dump Meals

Pork Freezer bag

Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs

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Baby back ribs rubbed with brown sugar and smoked paprika, cooked until tender, then brushed with sauce and broiled.

Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs, served
A computer-made picture of the finished dish, not a photo of this recipe.
Serves
5
Prep
15 minutes
Cook
Low 6 to 8 hours, or high 3 to 4 hours
Slow cooker
6-quart

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Slow cooker baby back ribs come out tender enough to pull from the bone without a grill or a smoker. The ribs are rubbed with brown sugar, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper, cut into pieces that fit the pot, and cooked slowly over a little broth and vinegar.

The slow cooker does the long, gentle cooking, and a few minutes under the broiler does the rest. Brush the cooked ribs with barbecue sauce and broil them until the sauce bubbles and darkens at the edges. That last step gives them the sticky finish you would get from a grill.

Stand the rib pieces on their edges, meaty side out, around the pot and then in the middle, so they cook evenly. Serve with coleslaw, corn on the cob and baked beans.

Ingredients

Into the slow cooker

  • 5 pounds pork baby back ribs, 2 racks, cut into pieces of 3 or 4 ribs
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ cup chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Near the end

  • 1 (18-ounce) bottle barbecue sauce

To serve

  • coleslaw, for serving

Directions

  1. If your meat is frozen, thaw it completely in the refrigerator first. Never put frozen meat in the slow cooker.
  2. Peel the membrane off the bone side, if there is one. Mix the brown sugar and seasonings and rub it over the ribs. Wash your hands and anything the raw pork touched with hot, soapy water.
  3. Pour in the broth and vinegar. Stand the ribs on edge, meaty side out, around the pot; fill in the middle.
  4. Cover. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours or on high 3 to 4 hours, until tender.
  5. Check the thickest meat between two bones, not touching bone, with a food thermometer. It must read at least 145°F. Let the ribs rest 3 minutes.
  6. Heat the broiler. Brush the ribs with 1 cup sauce and broil them meaty side up on a foil-lined sheet 3 to 5 minutes, watching closely. Serve the rest of the sauce on the side.

It's done when a food thermometer between two bones reads at least 145°F, followed by a 3-minute rest, and the meat pulls from the bones.

Leftovers go in the refrigerator within two hours. Reheat them on the stove or in the microwave until hot all the way through (165°F), not in the slow cooker. Slow cooker safety

Make it a freezer dump bag

Put the rubbed rib pieces, broth and vinegar in one 2-gallon freezer bag, then slip it inside a second bag so the bones can't poke through. Keep the barbecue sauce for cook day. Press out the air, seal, label and freeze flat.

Bag: 2-gallon freezer bag. Keeps: 3 months for best quality; safe indefinitely at 0°F in the freezer.

Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs

Frozen on:

Thaw in the refrigerator 36 to 48 hours, until no ice is left in the middle. Never cook it from frozen, and cook it within 2 days of thawing. Dump into a 6-quart slow cooker. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours. Check with a food thermometer that the meat between two bones, not touching bone, reads at least 145°F and is tender, then let it rest 3 minutes. Brush with about 1 cup barbecue sauce and broil 3 to 5 minutes, watching closely.

Best within 3 months of the date above.

Plan several bags at once with one shopping list and printable labels.

Cooking for two

Use 1 rack (about 2.5 lb) cut into 3-rib pieces, half the rub, 1/4 cup broth and 1 tbsp vinegar; brush with about 1/2 cup sauce before broiling. Use a 4-quart slow cooker, so the ribs still fill it about halfway. Start checking at 5 hours on low.

More in Cooking for two in a slow cooker.

Tips

  • The ribs are very tender when they come out, so lift them with tongs under the middle of each piece.
  • Country-style pork ribs work too. Cook them the same way and check them at the low end of the range.
  • Ribs are safe at 145°F, but by the time they are tender they usually read well above that.

Food-safety sources

More pork

  • Pulled Pork Low 8 to 10 hours, or high 4 to 5 hours Freezer bag Pork shoulder cut into pieces, rubbed with paprika and brown sugar, cooked until it shreds. Serve on buns.
  • Carnitas Low 8 to 10 hours, or high 4 to 5 hours Freezer bag Pork shoulder cooked with orange, lime, cumin and oregano, shredded, and crisped under the broiler.
  • Hawaiian Pork with Pineapple Low 8 to 10 hours, or high 4 to 5 hours Freezer bag Pork shoulder pieces cooked in pineapple juice, soy sauce and ginger, shredded and served over rice.
  • Sausage with Peppers and Onions Low 4 to 6 hours, or high 2 to 3 hours Browned Italian sausage links with bell peppers, onions and marinara, ready for rolls or pasta.