The Quick Extra Step That Finishes Ribs With A Crispy Charred Bite

The perfect ribs are fall-off-the-bone tender, with a crispy exterior crust and delectable barbecue sauce. While you can make tasty baked and grilled baby back pork ribs by baking and then searing the meat, you don't necessarily need to fire up both the oven and the grill for a crispy finish. According to Scott Thomas, co-creator of The Grillin' Fools, there's another way — and it's pretty quick and easy. "Broiling ribs will make a more pronounced flavor crust," the grilling expert says.

Oven baking employs heat to cook food evenly at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, for instance — though cooking temperatures will vary. Broiling, on the other hand, functions more like a grill by exposing food to very high temperatures (around 500 to 550 degrees Fahrenheit) via a direct heat source usually at the top of the oven. Like searing the outside of a steak in a skillet, broiling uses high heat to brown and char foods' exterior quickly. "Browning of the meat caramelizes the proteins, making the meat tastier," Thomas explains.

Plus, if you have a sugary glaze or sweet barbecue sauce, those high heats caramelize the saucy toppings too. To broil ribs for a crispy finish, just crank the heat and place the ribs on the top rack near the broiler (if your oven has an upper broiling component) for the last 10 minutes or so of cooking. According to Thomas, you can achieve the same crispy char when making ribs on the grill by searing the meat quickly, too.

Baking ribs in the oven is all about a balance of gentle heat with a high-heat broiled finish. Some recipes for homemade baked St. Louis-style ribs, for instance, will tell you to cover the rack of ribs in foil and bake it for a couple hours (or more) until almost cooked through before removing the foil for the last hour of cooking for caramelization. With the broiling method, though, you'll want to do it at the end of its cooking time, since broiling isn't really meant to cook the interior of meat as much as it's used for exterior char and browning.

"Whether doing this in a broiler or over a hot grill, make sure to pay close attention," Thomas notes. "It doesn't take long for [a] crispy exterior to transform into a burnt, crispy exterior." Along with keeping a keen eye on the ribs as they broil, it also helps to take note of other broiler tips like using your oven's broiler pan and getting acquainted with the location of your broiler's heating element. While broilers are often at the top of the oven, they can sometimes be located on the bottom. Top broilers allow for a good char on the top meaty portion of a rack of ribs. Just make sure the meat is three to five inches from the heating source, since closer can equal more caramelization.