Ribs Become Impossibly Juicy And Tender With This Clever Spare Pan Trick

The act of cooking ribs in your oven is relatively easy and simple. It takes little effort to season the ribs, wrap them in foil, and then slide them into the oven at a low temperature for a few hours. This set-it-and-forget-it method of cooking ribs is almost foolproof, but we wondered if there were any ways to improve our rib game at home. In our interview with Ed Reavis, co-owner and pitmaster of Money Muscle BBQ, he provided us with nine tips you need for cooking ribs in an oven. Out of all his insights, our favorite trick was one of the most low-effort, which is to place a pan of water in the oven at the beginning of cooking the ribs. 

Similar to the process of baking a baguette in an oven, placing a pan of water in the oven along with the ribs helps to create steam. Reavis advises that this step is most crucial for the first few hours of cooking, so add the pan of water to your oven at the same time you put the ribs in. The best way to do this is to position your two oven racks with one in the center, where the tray of ribs will go, and the other rack at the lowest level possible to ensure that the pan fits underneath the ribs but also has room for the water to create enough steam to circulate. 

It's important to wrap the ribs tightly in a few layers of foil to not let any moisture or juices escape during cooking, and adding the extra element of steam to the oven aids in this process. The steam created by the evaporating water in the hot oven allows the ribs to retain as much moisture and stay as juicy and tender as possible, as they are cooking slowly in a more moist, humid environment compared to a dry oven without a pan of water. One alternative, however, is to take Reavis' advice and only wrap the ribs after they have slightly caramelized and the glaze has stuck. Either way, unlike baking or roasting where constant air circulation is desired, skip using the convection fan feature when making ribs in the oven, as that extra circulation can evaporate and dispel the moisture inside, leading to a drier end product.

The beauty of this trick is that it requires no other adjustments, and can be used with any favorite recipe you already have, it's simply an added step that requires hardly any effort. If you don't have a recipe you love at home, try a few of our favorites, like these juicy baby back ribs with honey bourbon glaze or something unique like these sweet, spicy, smoky raspberry chipotle ribs. Simply add a pan of water to the other empty rack in your oven once you slide the foil-wrapped ribs in for their long, slow cook.