Crockpot Tuesday

we love bbq. it's so yummy. what we don't love is standing outside and drowning in sweat over the grill when it's...let me check...104 at 5 o'clock at night. i hate you summer.

we got some ribs several weeks ago and froze them. jeffrey wanted plain ribs with bbq sauce but i told him that 'my public'...all 4 of you...deserve more than ribs with bbq sauce. you're welcome. here's a rub that I found and amended just a bit to only include the ingredients i had on hand. I make up a pretty large batch of the rub and then just store it until next time. I've used it on chicken too and I think it'd be good on just about anything. enjoy:)

Spicy Rub Ribs

2 lbs pork shoulder ribs-though anything is fine

bbq sauce-enough to fully cover ribs

rub ingredients:

4 tsp brown sugar

3 tsp salt

3 tsp chili powder

3 tsp paprika

3 tsp garlic salt

3 tsp black pepper

1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp cumin

I prep the night before when I can so i sprinkled the mixture on the ribs and put them in a sealed tupperware in the fridge. This helps them marinate and makes the morning really simple for us. When you're ready to start cooking, spray crockpot with nonstick stuff and dump ribs in. Pour enough bbq sauce in to fully cover the ribs. If your crock tends to burn with just bbq sauced as the liquid you can mix in a can of tomato paste if you want. Cook for 4-6 hours. The meat should just fall right off the bone. awesome.

fyi - original rub recipe also calls for taragon, mustard powder, rosemary, cayenne and lemon pepper but i didn't have those and wasn't going to go get them. You can add more cumin or chili powder if you like it really spicy or more brown sugar if you like them sweeter. And use as much or as little of the rub as you like on your ribs. Totally personal preference here folks.