The Step You Should Never Skip When Prepping Ribs For The Grill

While it is possible to cook ribs directly on the grill until they're ready to fall off the bone, there's a more efficient way to prepare them that involves one simple step. Getting the temperature and the timing just right to get the smoky flavor and tender consistency you're looking for with a grill cook can take some practice, and the last thing you want to do is come away with dry, tough meat after hours of work. Just like boiling brats before grilling them helps them cook correctly, ribs benefit from being partially cooked ahead of time. Instead of preheating your grill when making some baby backs on a summer afternoon, start by preheating your oven.

Ribs are best cooked slow and low, which can be tricky on a grill but easily achieved in the oven. After applying your favorite rub to room-temperature ribs, preheat the oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Then wrap them in two layers of aluminum foil to keep all the juices locked in with the meat. Once 2 to 3 hours go by — depending on the size of your ribs — the meat should be tender and will have taken on the flavor of the rub, as well as a rich meaty flavor resulting from the bone marrow and connective tissue melting into the protein. The process is simple, but there are some additional steps to keep in mind if you want to grill the most flavorful ribs you've ever tasted.

Precooking ribs in the oven isn't complicated, but like many other techniques, the devil's in the details. One crucial step you shouldn't skip is taking the ribs out of the refrigerator for an hour before putting them in the oven so they reach room temperature, which helps ensure your cooking time will be correct as long as your oven temperature is accurate. As you wait for the meat to lose its chill, you can prepare the rub you'll be applying.

If you're cooking multiple portions, you could be forced to use two oven racks. Because food on these racks will cook at slightly different temperatures, you need to switch the ribs to the opposite rack halfway through the cook. This way, each portion will cook evenly, and they will be ready to come out of the oven simultaneously. 

Another step that will help you get the most flavor out of your ribs is to unwrap them from the foil once they have been in the oven, then rewrap them and place them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes – though you can refrigerate them for up to three days. Removing the precooked ribs from the oven once they're tender and refrigerating them for a day or two before grilling will allow the flavor to evolve further. If you don't feel like using the oven, there are alternatives for precooking your ribs to get the ultimate BBQ experience.

Another technique you could leverage for precooking ribs is sous vide, or "under vacuum." First cut the ribs into manageable portions – half a rack or about six bones each — and apply a rub before vacuum sealing them. Then submerge the sealed meat into water and hold the temperature at 145 degrees for 2 hours. This locks in the juiciness of the meat and primes it for the grill, where you can render down the fat. The technique requires the use of a vacuum sealer and an immersion circulator, but if you don't own these niche culinary tools, there's another easy way to precook ribs that uses a more common appliance many have on hand. 

A slow cooker is capable of getting your ribs in top form before they hit the grill. Take the same steps as with the sous vide method of cutting the ribs into conveniently sized pieces and applying a rub to those. Set them in the slow cooker on low — not overnight to be extra cautious about potential malfunctions — and after 7 to 8 hours, they should be the right consistency to finish on the grill. Any longer and the meat may be too tender for grilling. Grill them for 15 minutes, turning them intermittently so all sides benefit from the direct heat and basting them with your favorite sauce — which can be conveniently prepared while your ribs are precooking.