It has been two
months since the tornado came through and destroyed our home. Two
weeks ago we finally moved into the new place, but it is definitely a
work in progress. Today is July 3rd and I decided that we would make
some keto friendly ribs to celebrate Independence day. Primarily
because they are on sale for $1.99/lb, which is about 50% off there
regular price. Usually, I like to cook my ribs in the smoker or on
the grill, but both of these are either MIA or out of commission at
this time due to the tornado. That's Ok, even if you do not have a
grill or a smoker, you can make delicious keto friendly ribs in your
oven that you and your family will love, I promise!
In this article, I
wil be talking about cooking baby back ribs. You may notice in the
picture the packages are labeled 'loin ribs', which is the actual
butcher's term for this cut of meat. Loin ribs are cut from where the
rib meets the spine or backbone of the animal after the loin has been
removed. Because they are a smaller cut than the 'St. Louis style
(aka spare rib)' they have acquired the more common name “baby back
ribs”.
The Ribs
When a pig is
butchered, the complete rib cage (just below the spine to the ends)
can be broken down into several options depending on the butcher or
processor. When breaking down the rib cage to be sold as ribs, the
most common cuts are back loin (baby back's) spare ribs, and rib
tips. As previously mentioned, loin or back ribs are cut from where
the rib cage meets the spine after the loin is removed. This upper
portion of the ribs are more commonly called baby back ribs, not
because they come from a baby pig, but because they are a smaller cut
and are located closer to the spine or back. The larger portion or
middle of rib, those that come in the big cryopack packages in your
supermarkets meat department are spare ribs. Rib tips, are the small
portions, or tips of the ribs that are cut from the lower part or
bottom of the rib cage. When I worked in the restaurant, we purchased
whole slabs of pork ribs and seperated the racks ourselves. These
days, the ability of the home cook to purchase a complete rack of
pork ribs (loin, spare, and rib tips) is pretty rare. So there you
go, a small lesson in the way that pork ribs are cut and processed.
Believe it or not, no baby pigs were hurt in the making of these
ribs. Having said that roast suckling pig is quite a delicious dish
if you ever have he opportunity to try it, I highly recommend that
you do. Anyway, let's go cook some amazing ribs in the oven!
The Rub
As with my article
'Ketofied Texas Brisket' I will be using my all-purpose barbecue rub.
I no longer add any sugar to my barbecue rubs, but if you can if you
wish, just remember you have to account for the sugar in the
nutritional information. If you like you can add a zero calorie sugar
substitute such as erythoil (¼ – ½ cup) which is popular in the
LCHF /Keto community, but I personally do not like the cooling effect
that erythoil has on the palate. The following recipe yields about 1
1/3 cups of rub.
5 tablespoons chili
powder
4 tablespoons garlic
powder
4 tablespoons onion
powder
4 tablespoons
paprika
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon black
pepper
2 teaspoons red
pepper
2 teaspoons cumin,
ground
1 teaspoon cinnamon,
ground
In a bowl, combine
all dry ingredients and mix well. Place the baby back ribs in a
heavy-duty baking pan and sprinkle each side generously with the dry
rub making sure to rub the spice mixture into the meat. Cover the pan
with plastic and place in the refrigerator overnight.
Whole Recipe (1 1/3
cups)
Calories – 445,
protein 19.4 grams, fat 10.9 grams, carbohydrates 57.8 grams
Per Serving (¼ cup)
Calories – 89, fat
2.18 grams, protein 3.88 grams, carbohydrates 11.6 grams
The Recipe
2 slabs pork loin
(baby back ribs)
½ cup all-purpose
barbecue rub
LCHF barbecue sauce
of choice (optional)
Place the baby back
ribs in a heavy-duty baking pan meat side down. At this point you
should be looking at the inside of the rib cage. You will notice that
there is a smooth, shiny membrane on the back of the ribs. This
membrane is the lining of the pleural cavity (lung cavity) and needs
to be removed before your rub is applied. It takes a little practice,
but work at picking away the membrane until you can get a finger or
two underneath the membrane and simply peel it off. It may take you a
few tries until you get it all off, but it needs to be removed before
your rub is applied and the ribs are cooked.
Once you have
removed the membrane from the inside of the ribs, sprinkle each side
generously with the dry rub making sure to rub the spice mixture into
the meat. Cover the pan with plastic and place in the refrigerator
overnight.
The next day, about
three hours before you are ready to eat the ribs, remove the pan with
the ribs from the refrigerator and place each rack on a sheet of
heavy duty aluminum foil about four inches longer than the slab of
ribs. Wrap the ribs tightly in the aluminum foil making sure to fold
the ends tightly to seal the packet. While you are wrapping the ribs,
do not forget to pre-heat your oven to 250 degrees.
Once the oven it has
reached the desired temperature of 250 degrees, place the foil
wrapped ribs on a baking sheet and bake for 3 hours. No muss, no
fuss, and no need to baste, as the sealed foil packages will use the
meats own moisture to keep the ribs nice and juicy. After three
hours, remove the ribs from the oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes
before opening the foil packages.
Chef's Note: If
you like, once the ribs are done, you can immediately open the foil
packages and lightly brush them with your favorite warmed barbecue
sauce, increase the heat of your oven to 350 degrees and cook the
ribs for an additional 15 more minutes to slightly thicken and
carmalize the sauce. Just be careful as the steam released from the
foil packets when opened is very hot and you can burn yourself
easily. Usually, I let the foil packages cool for about 10 minutes
before opening and brush them with warmed barbecue sauce and serve as
is.
Nutritional Data
Determining the
exact nutritional data for baby back ribs is somewhat an art form
rather than a science as each slab of ribs will have a slightly
different amount of fat on the rib cage. I have done my best to give
you a general idea of the amount of fat and protein that you can
typically expect in one pound of uncooked ribs. By adding this to our
all purpose rub, I have come as close as possible to providing you
with the most accurate information that I can. The average size of a
cryopack loin or baby back ribs before cooking is 2.5 pounds, which
is what the following nutritional values are based on. I use about ¼
cup of rub per rack of ribs.
Whole Rack Baby Back
Ribs (2.5 lbs, no rub)
Calories – 2025,
fat 163 grams, protein 133 grams, carbohydrates 0 grams
Whole Rack Baby Back
Ribs (2.5 lbs, with rub)
Calories – 2114,
fat 165.18 grams, protein 136.88 grams, carbohydrates 11.6 grams
Half Rack A Of Ribs
(1.25 lbs, with rub)
Calories – 1057,
fat 82.6 grams, protein 68.44 grams, carbohydrates 5.8 grams
Third Of A Rack Of
Ribs (0.83 lbs, with rub)
Calories – 704,
fat 55 grams, protein 45.6 grams, carbohydrates 3.8 grams
Conclusion
That's all there is
to making delicious, tender, and juicy baby back ribs that you and
your family will enjoy. Best of all you did not have to pay
restaurant prices for this fabulous meal. So go ahead and sing to
your hearts content “I want my baby back, baby back, baby back
ribs” with the satisfaction of knowing you saved a ton of money by
making them yourself without having to leave the comfort of your
home. If you need a good LCHF / Keto barbecue sauce to pair with your
ribs, check out the variety of barbecue sauces from our blog by
clicking on one of the links below. As always if you and your family
have enjoyed this LCHF / Keto recipe and you have found the
information useful, we ask that you share it with your friends on
Facebook, Pintrest, and Google+. Don't forget to follow us on
Facebook, or add us to your circle of friends on Google+.
Related Article On
Our Blog:
Condiments, The Diet
Killers: Making Your Own LCHF Condiments (This article contains
recipes for making Texas and Carolina Style LCHF / Keto barbecue
sauces).
No comments:
Post a Comment