Honey-glazed pork ribs: two hours under foil, twenty minutes without
A recipe in which you barely do anything and the ribs come off the bone. The whole mechanism is two stages: first two hours sealed under foil at 160 °C, where the meat cooks in its own steam and the collagen turns to gelatine, then 20 minutes uncovered at 200 °C, so the honey caramelises into a sticky, dark glaze. Do it the other way round and you get burnt sugar on tough meat.
Your own work in that: 45 min.
- Marinade 15 min
- Under foil 120 min
- Glazing 30 min
Step by step
0 / 6 done
Pull off the membrane
Turn the rack bone side up. Slide the handle of a teaspoon under the silvery membrane, grip it with a piece of kitchen paper and pull it off in one movement. That membrane does not dissolve: left on, it shrinks like cling film, leaves a rubbery layer underneath, and the glaze has no way into the meat.
Ingredients: 1500 g pork ribs · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp freshly ground pepper
TipIf it tears, lift it again every few centimetres. The kitchen paper matters more than the knife here: bare fingers just slip.
Kitchen paper grips the slippery membrane
Mix the glaze
In a bowl combine the honey, soy sauce, mustard, ketchup, crushed garlic, paprika and oil. Pour one third into a small jar and set it aside: that is the portion for the end, the one that never touched raw meat.
Ingredients: 4 tbsp runny honey · 4 tbsp soy sauce · 2 tbsp hot brown mustard · 3 tbsp ketchup · 4 cloves garlic · 1 tsp sweet paprika · 2 tbsp oil
TipThe soy sauce brings plenty of salt, which is why the meat gets so little. Honey, soy sauce and ketchup give much the same effect as a bought barbecue sauce, and you control what goes in.
Honey, soy, mustard, ketchup, garlic
Rub and rest
Season the ribs with salt and pepper and rub the larger part of the glaze into both sides. Lay them in a single layer on a foil-lined tray. Got time? Fridge, 2 hours or overnight. No time? Bake straight away; the difference is small.
A thin coat on both sides, one layer on the tray
Bake two hours under foil
Heat the oven to 160 °C (conventional). Cover the tray tightly with a second sheet of foil, crimping it around the rim, and bake 2 hours. Under the foil you have built a small steamer: the meat cooks in moisture instead of drying out, and the collagen turns to gelatine, which is what lets the ribs come off the bone.
TipDon't raise the temperature to save time. Collagen needs time, and at higher heat the meat loses its juices faster — low heat and two hours give the juiciest ribs.
Sealed tight, 160 °C, two hours
Uncover and glaze
Turn the oven up to 200 °C. Peel the foil away from you (the steam scalds), pour the juices and fat that have collected into a small bowl (they make the sauce), and brush the ribs with the reserved glaze. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes, brushing twice more, every 7 minutes. Each coat dries and darkens on its own; that is how the sticky crust is built, and one thick coat will never do it.
Ingredients: 4 tbsp runny honey · 4 tbsp soy sauce · 2 tbsp hot brown mustard · 3 tbsp ketchup · 4 cloves garlic · 1 tsp sweet paprika · 2 tbsp oil
TipWatch the last 5 minutes: honey goes from golden to burnt within a few minutes.
Three thin coats, not one thick one
Rest and serve
Take them out and rest 10 minutes: the glaze sets and the meat rests. Cut between the bones with a sharp knife, scatter with sesame and chives. Serve with roast potatoes or nothing but a white cabbage slaw, and plenty of napkins.
Ingredients: 1 tbsp sesame seeds · ½ bunch chives
Ten minutes' rest, then the knife
Before you start
Hotter
A teaspoon of chilli flakes or a spoon of sriracha in the glaze. Honey carries heat well: the sweetness softens the first impression and the burn arrives a moment later.
On the grill
Do the foil stage in the oven a day ahead and the glazing over coals: 8 minutes a side over medium heat, away from direct flame. Over fire honey burns faster still.
How much to buy
A kilo of raw ribs yields about 350 g of meat. Count on 350–400 g raw per person for dinner, half a kilo if people go back for seconds.
Sauce from the tray
Don't throw away the juices from under the foil. Skim the fat, boil them with a spoon of honey and reduce by half: a dark, salty sauce for the potatoes.
Nutrition
per 100 gStep photos are computer-generated from the recipe.
