Sparerib Dinner

In many ways this has been the year of pork.  I can't remember a time that we have ever eaten so much pork but in all honesty there have been such great deals on pork throughout 2010 that we would be foolish to not take advantage of them.  A few days ago I found a great deal on pork spare ribs.  We have had houseguests since the 18^th so followed by more houseguests arriving on the 24^th .

There were 3 large racks of ribs in the package for $29.07.  This was enough ribs for 4 adults with leftovers with one rack of ribs into the freezer for 2 adults later.  As far as meal costs go it averages out to $4.85 per person for the meat but that's a lot of meat.

Most folks have a method for pre-cooking spare ribs before grilling them.  This time I used a bit of a different method.  I placed the ribs on a sheet of tin foil then formed a pocket sealing on three sides.  I poured in one cup of water and sealed the fourth side.  The ribs were cooked on low, indirect heat until tender then my husband opened up the packet, discarded liquid and foil then grilled the ribs on direct heat until browned.  He finished off with a mopping sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's) that was grilled on the ribs until caramelized.

During the hot weather it is desirable to keep any extra heat from cooking out of the house if at all possible.  This foil pocket method is quite nice in that everything was done on the grill without the use of any additional pots or pans.  This method for pre-cooking the spareribs works nicely without drying them out.  The end result was tender, melt in your mouth ribs packed full of flavour.  I served the ribs with  home canned green beans, accordion potatoes with onions, pickled beets and a baby greens side salad.  It was a lovely summer meal with many compliments from our guests.