I frequently use my slow cooker to make soups, sauces and a variety of meats and casseroles. Today I am going to share my method for making spare ribs using my slow cooker. It's more of a "method" vs. a specific recipe. You can add and subtract ingredients as you wish. Ribs can be made in a variety of ways. People can be very intense about their methods, and I think they are all good ways to create a delicious product. But I've been looking for an easy way to make "fall off the bone" ribs that is reliable without much fuss. I've been using my slow cooker to make my ribs, and then finishing them off in the oven or on the grill. They've always been flavorful, moist and most of all easy!
I use baby back ribs or St. Louis spareribs with equally satisfying results. I have a large, oval slow cooker. I cut my rib racks into pieces (3-4 bones each), and place them in the slow cooker. I then take any nearly empty bbq sauce bottles that I've saved in the refrigerator for this purpose. I add some water to the bottles, shake, and then pour the contents into the crock. I also pour more bottled prepared sauce on top of the ribs. At this point, you can add more flavoring ingredients, if you like. Use whatever you like. Onions, additional seasonings such as garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, liquid smoke, soy sauce etc. You could even use a dry rub on the meat or marinade it before putting them in the slow cooker. It's up to you!
Once I've added the sauce and desired seasonings, I then cover and cook the meat on low about 6 hours or on HI for about 3-4 hours. Timing is approximate and you need to watch your meat for doneness. Different slow cookers can vary in cooking temperatures. I know my large slow cooker runs rather "hot" and cooks faster than my smaller one. What I look for near the end of cooking is the meat shrinking away from the ends of the bone (cut bone end is more exposed) and the meat on the rack has become tender and nearly separates from the bone. Once I find that, I carefully remove the ribs with tongs and prepare them for finishing on the grill or in the oven. Place the ribs on a hot grill and brush liberally with more bbq sauce. Grill ribs until sauce has cooked/caramelized and serve. If finishing in the oven, place ribs on a foil lined jelly roll pan. Brush liberally with bbq sauce (we like Sweet Baby Ray's) and place in preheated oven (I set at 400 degrees) and bake ribs to finish off the sauce. With either method, watch that the sauce does not burn. For me, it takes about 10-15 minutes of high heat to finish off the ribs and sauce.
My family loves when I make ribs this way. I like that it's easy, and has the "set it and forget it" convenience of the slow cooker. Below is the recipe that got me started using the slow cooker for rib preparation. Be sure to read the reviews to find ideas about how to change up the ingredients to your liking.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Baby-Back-Ribs/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=slow%20cooker%20baby%20back%20ribs&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe%20Search%20Results&soid=sr_results_p1i1