Slow Cooker Western Pork Ribs with Barbecue Rub and Sauce
My kids just started school, so this week I’m featuring weeknight dinners. Today, I’m using my slow cooker…and I’m cheating. Oh, the shame…
I’m almost embarrassed to publish this as a recipe. It’s almost too easy. Almost. This is an example of dump and cook in the slow cooker, which I was disdainful of in my previous slow cooker recipes. But, because this is an attempt to simulate low and slow barbecue, where you don’t brown the food before putting it on the grill, I let it slide. And, you know what? It works, because there is so little liquid in the crock. The ribs brown where they are exposed to the air, adding the extra flavor that browning gives to meat.*
*The Maillard reaction strikes again!
The key to this recipe is to find pork shoulder cut into 1″ to 2″ thick strips. My local grocery store calls these Western Ribs; make sure you see the words pork shoulder somewhere on the label. Country Ribs, which are cut from the pork loin, will dry out if they are cooked for this long. The loin doesn’t have the fat and connective tissue that the shoulder does, and that connective tissue is what makes the shoulder “ribs” so tender and juicy after the long cooking time.
Are these really ribs? No. Is this real barbecue? Absolutely not. Is it as good as real, low and slow, smoke kissed pork shoulder? Not a chance. But…if you need some tender, juicy pork to feed the family after a long day at work (for you) and school (for them), this will get the job done nicely.
Recipe: Slow Cooker Pork Western Shoulder Ribs with Barbecue Rub and Sauce
Equipment:
- 6 quart or larger slow cooker (Crock Pot brand is fine, but I like my fancy ones from All-Clad
and KitchenAid
)
- Fat Separator
Slow Cooker Pork Western Shoulder Ribs with Barbecue Rub and Sauce
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Total Time: 8 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Description
Slow Cooker Pork Western Shoulder Ribs – strips of pork cut from the shoulder – sprinkled with rub and cooked with barbecue sauce.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds pork shoulder western ribs (or cut a pork shoulder into 1 1/2″ thick strips, or use pork shoulder chops)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon barbecue rub (My homemade barbecue rub recipe is here; or use your favorite rub.)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup barbecue sauce plus 1/2 cup barbecue sauce (My homemade barbecue sauce recipe is here; or use your favorite store bought sauce)
Instructions
- Prepare the ribs: Sprinkle the ribs evenly with the kosher salt and the barbecue rub.
- Slow cook the ribs: Put the ribs in the slow cooker, add the 1/2 cup water, and slow cook for 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high. Add 1 cup of barbecue sauce to the cooker, and cook for another 30 minutes to to 1 hour.
- Serve: Remove the ribs to a platter. Spoon 1/2 cup of the liquid from the crock into a measuring cup. (If you have time, pour all the liquid into a fat separator and let rest for ten minutes, then pour 1/2 cup of the the defatted juices into a measuring cup). Add the remaining 1/2 cup of barbecue sauce to the measuring cup, and stir to combine. Serve, passing the juices/sauce at the table.
- Category: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Notes
- Tex-Mex ribs: substitute ground ancho powder or chili powder for the barbecue rub, and substitute tomato salsa for the barbecue sauce. (This works best if you shred the ribs with a fork, and serve with tortillas as a taco filling).
- Serve with cheap white bread (for sopping up juices and barbecue sauce), dill pickle slices, cole slaw, and potato salad. And a cold beer, of course. Or, rough chop the ribs into chunks, and serve with hamburger buns as rib sandwiches.
- Normally, I will brown meat before putting it in the slow cooker; it adds an extra depth of flavor to the recipe. In this case, the small amount of water in the cooker leaves most of the ribs exposed, and the cooker browns the ribs for me. That said, if you have the time, brown the ribs before putting them in the slow cooker. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil over medium-high heat until just showing wisps of smoke, then put the (salted, bbq rubbed) ribs in the pan and sear for 3 minutes per side or until well browned. Put the ribs in the slow cooker crock, then add the 1/2 cup water to the pan over medium heat. Once the water comes to a simmer, scrape the pork bits from the bottom of the pan and pour the water into the crock. Cook the rest of the recipe as described.
What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts:
Slow Cooker Pork Pot Roast
Slow Cooker Caribbean Black Beans and Rice
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Good luck! And, just in case, did I mention that I’m out of town until…um…February?
I live in Wadsworth, this better be good, or I’m hunting you down. HA, kidding, I can’t wait to try this today 🙂
Thank you. I look forward to my cooking adventure-Commencing…now!)
It works for pork shoulder ribs – if these really are ribs cut from the pork shoulder you’re OK.
But, “Country style” ribs are usually cut from the loin, which is leaner, and dries out easier. The recipe will work, but you have to get the ribs out at the low end of the cooking time (3 hours on high, 6 hours on low).
Good luck!
Can this recipe be used on uncut pork shoulder blade country style rib?
Yikes…
If you think this is shameful you should see how my MIL cooks country ribs. In the microwave. Start to finish.
Thanks, Kandice.
Came across a huge pack of boneless pork shoulder ribs from my local Vons that i couldn’t pass up! I’ve never cooked these before so i’m trying out your recipe to see how it goes! I don’t see how it could go wrong! Thanks for the easy recipe!!! I’ll follow up with how they turn out 🙂
You’re welcome!
WOW, Just tried this, and what a hit with my family. It will be a favorite at my house!!! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
You’re welcome. Glad you liked it, and really glad “Mr. Picky” liked it as well.
Ps. I even had it on my fiesta!
Delish. My husband loved it..mr picky. I made your rub too. I was so impressed with the flavor of the juices. Thank u for sharing.
I’m glad you liked the recipe!
I guess I’ll have to keep working on the pressure cooker sales pitch… 🙂
Just tried these tonight (actually found your blog searching for “western shoulder pork ribs”) and they were wonderful – bbq rub, homemade sauce, and all. Looking forward to cooking them again and trying some of the other recipes/tips here.
Though reading about pressure cookers didn’t make me less scared of them…
@Mike:
My understanding is “Country style” ribs are from closer to the loin, and “Western style” are pieces of boston butt cut into strips. Either works, so get what your store carries.
Good luck with your new slow cooker!
Mike:
We enjoyed this very much as well! I used “Country Style” pork ribs which aren’t ribs at all, but rather boneless strips of the pork shoulder….I am guessing this the same as “Western Shoulder Ribs”?
The flavors of the meat and sauce, along with the tenderness made this a huge hit with the kids.
Thank you for you comments on slow cookers in the Slow Cooker Chicken with Herbs posting. In this case, I used my Kitchenaid Slow Cooker on the Simmer setting for 8 hours total and it seemed to work fine. (the Kitchenaid runs hot) So far my ceramic insert has not cracked but I have read that this is a common problem. Thank you for the guidance on my impending replacement.
@BJ:
Thank you! Glad you liked them.
Excellent – tried them today and they worked great. So simple and I just used a bottle of BBQ sauce, not even homemade! The trick of adding some of the rib juice at the end to remaining bbq sauce is very good. Will do this again.