Barbeque pork ribs are one of the most amazing things to ever come out of a pig, aside from bacon, of course. But unlike restaurants and home BBQ aficionados, regular people like you and me just don’t have the time or inclination to smoke the meat from scratch.
Thankfully, you don’t need to smoke anything to make BBQ ribs that are so deliciously tender they fall right off the bone!
If you have a slow cooker in your kitchen and a 2-liter bottle of Coke in the pantry, then you can make this yummy recipe right now!
Rusty Pierce, the man behind the Burning Cereal show on YouTube, likes to keep things simple. There’s no fluffy frills or hard-to-find ingredients here!
“Simple and easy cooking tips and recipes for the working class person. No fancy ingredients, no frills, just good food, thats easy to make. Every week we will utilize ingredients you may already have in your kitchen. Nothing too difficult. It’s easier than Burning Cereal. Have fun and enjoy.”
Who doesn’t like the idea of plopping some ribs into a slow cooker and forgetting about it all day?
It only takes a few minutes of prep before you head off to work, and when you get home all you need is an extra 10 minutes of broiling time before they’re ready to eat!
Step 1:
Any good BBQ always starts off with the perfect dry rub, but you don’t need to buy anything fancy from the store. This recipe uses standard pantry spices like salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic and onion powder, paprika, and brown sugar.
Combine all the spices into a bowl and stir it together with a fork or whisk. Since brown sugar has a tendency to clump, make sure there are no lumps left when you mix everything together.
Step 2:
Put on a pair of gloves to protect your hands while you coat the ribs with the dry rub. Oh, and it’s called a dry rub for a reason, so keep massaging the spices into the ribs until its thoroughly coated on both sides.
If you have any spice mix leftover (and you probably will), you can store it in a cool, dark place for about a month before it’ll go bad.
Step 3:
Next up is the fun part – dump an entire 2-liter bottle of Coca-Cola into the crockpot, but avoid pouring it directly onto the ribs. You don’t want to undo all that dry rubbing you just did.
This also works with other dark sodas like Dr. Pepper and root beer. Or, like Rusty mentions, “you can use Pepsi if you’re crazy.”
Why the soda? It’s high school bro science! The phosphoric acid that it contains is what helps tenderize the meat.
Step 4: (Optional)
This next step is totally optional. If you want the ribs to have an extra sweet kick, sprinkle some brown sugar on top.
Step 5:
Cover and cook for 6 hours on low heat. Don’t lift the lid and take a peak for at least 1.5 hours.
When it’s done, transfer the ribs to a baking sheet, cover with BBQ sauce, and broil for 5 to 10 minutes. You can use whatever amount of BBQ sauce makes you happy!
Rusty is using Hunt’s brand BBQ sauce, so yes, you can be totally cheap about it.
Step 6:
Okay, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for.
Open up your maw and EAT IT!
Yum, bet this tastes finger-lickin’ good. Next time you’ll probably want to make a double batch.
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs pork ribs
- 2 liters of Coke
- BBQ sauce
For the dry rub:
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon salt
Directions:
- Mix the spices together in a bowl until no clumps remain
- Coat the ribs with the dry rub mix
- Place the ribs in the crockpot
- Pour 2 liters of Coke into the crock pot until the ribs are covered
- Sprinkle the batch of ribs with a little bit of extra brown sugar (optional)
- Cook on low for 6 hours
- Transfer to baking sheet, cover with BBQ sauce and broil for 5-10 minutes
- Eat and enjoy
Be sure to watch the video below to follow along as Rusty makes his famous crockpot BBQ ribs.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
