Ribs are an all-American classic, but rib sauces and styles vary widely depending upon where you live. Adding your favorite barbecue sauce to baked ribs -- whether you are a fan of Kansas City-style tomato-based sauce, spicy Texas-style sauce or mustard sauces from South Carolina -- can give you the flavor you love when outdoor cooking isn't an option. Taste as you go, adding more or less of the classic ingredients to make a sauce that suits your palate.
Baking and Basting Ribs
Bake ribs slowly at a low temperature. Brush them with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, then bake in a preheated 250-degree oven for two hours. Make your sauce as the ribs cook, separating out a portion to use for basting. Baste the ribs with your preferred sauce every 10 minutes during the last half hour of cooking time. Preheat the broiler just before you're ready to serve the ribs, then broil and baste frequently for five minutes on each side to brown the ribs and caramelize the sauce.
Kansas City-Style Sauce
Kansas City-style sauces have a sweet flavor with a tart tang from vinegar. Most bottled sauces are K.C. style; make your own at home for a fresh, delicious flavor. Brown onion and garlic in oil, then add a good-quality tomato ketchup, molasses or brown sugar, and red or white wine vinegar. Season with salt, pepper, paprika and cumin. Experiment with adding whiskey or fruit purees, like peach puree, to the sauce.
Texas-Style Sauce
Heat up your ribs, especially beef ribs, with a spicy Texas-style sauce. Saute onion, garlic and green pepper in oil or bacon fat. Add a mixture of black pepper, paprika, chili powder and cumin, along with beef stock. Stir in ketchup, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar and beer. Finish with hot sauce to taste. Texas-style sauce should be quite thin, with a broth-like consistency, rather than the thick paste typical of bottled sauces.
Sauce in South Carolina
While Kansas City sauces rely on ketchup, South Carolina favors a mustard-based sauce that works well with pork. Originally developed by German settlers, this tart alternative to sweet sauces is native to the South Carolina midlands. Mix generous amounts of yellow mustard with beer, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.
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