Beer-Brined Indoor Ribs

Hello again! Somehow this summer got away from me and I didn't get around to sharing anything here, but the Anchor Brewery Picnic Contests at the Stern Grove Festival gave me the chance to come up with a few new things, one of which was these delectable, tender, low and slow, cooked indoors because I live in a third floor apartment ribs. They helped us win Honorable Mention (two tickets to the SF Symphony) the first time, and First Prize (a private tour of the brewery for 8, plus Nutcracker tickets) the second time. Jane's watermelon whale and Jason and Steve's shandies made from fresh juices put us over the top!

You can do these ribs any time you need to be reminded of summer. For AH purposes, these are strictly phases 2 and 3, and you can search the FB group or the upcoming cookbook for Hayda's Sugar-Free BBQ Sauce to make and brush on top for the last half hour of cooking. 

I mean, did you think you could get these results without a BBQ?

Recipe here, step by step following: 

It takes some time and some advance planning, but it's worth the effort for a special dinner or picnic. Here's what you need: 

And, of course (I've been very happy with the ribs I've bought at Trader Joe's): 

They're delish without a sauce, but you can put on your favorite bottled one, or try Hayda's recipe from the AH FB group or this one I riffed off of for the picnics to add more beer to the recipe: Porter BBQ Sauce. For the ribs I made for this blog post, I just mixed together a quick glaze of dijon, honey, and more Anchor Steam. 

dissolve salt and sugar in one bottle of beer, add garlic, peppercorns and bay leaf

remove membrane from rib side of racks

Add mixture, the other two bottles of beer, and the ribs to a large glass or plastic bowl.
add water to cover or turn ribs after a few hours. Cover bowl and place in fridge for 20-24 hours.
Osmosis will do its thing over this time and the salt and flavors will work their way into the meat. 

After brining, prepare rimmed pans with foil for easy cleanup and racks to hold ribs
above the pans. You can MacGyver a rack with rolled up foil if you don't have anything else,
but don't cook them right on the pan or they'll kind of steam.
Preheat the oven to 300 and place each rack on a pan. Turn front to back after one hour
and then again every thirty minutes until three hours are up.  

If using a glaze or BBQ sauce, brush it on when you turn it the last time and
let it cook for just the last 30 minutes. 

Let rest for at least ten minutes when you take them out of the oven...it'll be really
hard because you'll have been smelling them for so long...cut
 them apart with a sharp chef's knife and enjoy! 

The winning team, AKA The Champagne Mafia. Ribs to the right of watermelon whale :)