Thoughtless Thursday: Crockpot Baby Back Ribs

I haven’t done a Thoughtless Thursday post in a while.  Frankly, I just don’t use my crock pot as much in the summer except for routine things like batch cooking beans or making chicken stock.  But our grocery store overbought on baby back ribs for the 4th and had a huge sale at $2 a pound, so I brought home 3 racks of ribs.  This is round 1.  My husband was totally skeptical about doing ribs in the crock pot, but since it was highly doubtful we had enough gas for the grill to cook on low for 3 or 4 hours, I employed both it and my crock pot to produce succulent, fall-off-the-bone, finger licking ribs that hubby declared a total win.  Go me.

Ingredients:

1 rack of baby back ribs, cut in half
garlic powder
kosher salt
coarse ground peppers
paprika
onion powder
1 bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce
1 tablespoon liquid smoke

Directions:

Fire up your grill.  This would probably be a total waste if you are a charcoal person, but we use gas.  So flip it on and preheat to about 350 degrees.
Season up the ribs with all the dry seasonings…just a light sprinkle of each on both sides, to taste.
Sear the ribs on the grill, about 5 minutes a side.  Just enough to get a bit of caramelization and grill marks.
Pop the ribs in the crock pot.
Add the liquid smoke and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
After 4-5 hours, baste both sides of the ribs with your favorite barbecue sauce and crank the crock pot up to high for 1 more hour.
Enjoy!  You probably will want a bib.

Printable version.