Baked baby back ribs is a popular dish which many enjoy. This is not a hard dish to make but it can take a bit of time and skills to perfect. We can cook this dish in the oven at a low temperatures for slow cooking or at higher temperatures for crusty ribs. The favorite temperature to use is often 350 degrees Fahrenheit for a delicious “fall off the bone” ribs and with some barbecued crust. And many people starting out on this dish always ask this question. How long to cook baby back ribs in oven at 350 degrees? In this post, we shall answer this question and share other tips for making this dish better.
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It takes 2 hours to cook the baby back ribs in oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Baby back ribs are found in the upper loin and are smaller than spare ribs which helps them cook up faster. Baking back ribs at 350 degrees in the oven will make sure they get crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.
If you want to get the best fall off the bone result, we recommend you to cook the back ribs in the oven at 250 degrees. While this makes us wait for 4 hours to see the ribs ready, we adore this slow cooking of the baby ribs as it allows for an incredibly tender meat that slides off the bone like they never belonged to each other. It’s fair to say, though, that cooking the ribs at 250 degrees leads to little to no crust. So the rib’s surface will be rather plain and soft than rough and crispy.
If you are a crust lover, you should heat the oven to 400 degree Fahrenheit and get a crispy bbq meat in just one hour. We would advise you, though, to play more cautiously if you choose this temperature option. The created crust is not always a sign of cooked meat. That’s why it is good to check the doneness before removing the dish from the oven. Sometimes the meat may need 5 more minutes to achieve the desired tenderness.
It’s hard to say which temperature for cooking baby back ribs is best as people’s tastes differ. If you want your ribs to get juicy and tender, our advice is to bake it at a slow pace at 250 degrees. For a slightly rougher meat with barbecued crust, choose the 400 degrees option. For a perfect balance between crust and tenderness, bake the back ribs at 350 degrees.
Here’s the recipe for cooking baby back ribs in the oven.
Start by removing the membrane from the rib rack. While it’s not a crime leaving it intact, you will benefit from a more tender meat if you take it off. Just stick the knife under the membrane and slide it gently to reach the opposite end of the rib rack.
Get the ribs generously seasoned with salt and pepper, paying more attention to the meat areas. We love rubbing our ribs with barbecue sauce for added flavor.
Wrap the ribs in aluminum foil and put them meat side down in the oven preheated to 350 degrees. Let them bake for 2 hours. Keep in mind that wrapping the ribs in foil minimizes crust. But this will help the meat cook faster and more evenly. So it’s your choice whether or not to use it.
When almost ready, apply another coat of barbecue sauce onto the ribs and grill them for 10 minutes until the sauce gets caramelized. Remove the ribs from the oven, discard the foil. Slice and serve.
We recommend you to remove the ribs from the refrigerator an hour before your grill them to help them cook up faster. Also, if guests are already knocking at the door, activate the convection feature of your oven which will speed up the cooking by 30%. Aside from accelerating the process, the convection feature responds for even heat distribution which guarantees the ribs will get equally tender and tasty.
The best way to liven up the baby back ribs is to brush them with BBQ sauce. You can use both store-bought and homemade sauce. Veggies like corn and asparagus and spices like chilli powder, cumin and garlic powder will also do the trick in making the taste of ribs better. What you serve with ribs has a crucial role as well. We recommend you to combine them with mashed potatoes, green salad or baked beans.