Paprika Ribs

Ingredients:

- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons smoked Spanish paprika (pimenton)
- 2 tablespoons dried ground chipotle or ancho chile powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoons onion powder
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin

- ribs (this rub is enough for 3-4 racks of baby back ribs so either make a 1/3 recipe or set aside extra rub for later)
- barbecue sauce of choice for garnish, as desired

Directions:

The night before, combine the first 7 ingredients. Mix thoroughly until well-blended. Remove the spare ribs from their packaging. Rinse and pat dry. Cut off any excess fat. Use your hands to pat the rub onto both sides of the ribs, going heavier on the meaty side.

Place the ribs in a heavy food-storage bag. Refrigerate overnight.

Half an hour before you want to begin cooking the ribs, preheat the oven to 225F and remove the ribs from the refrigerator to warm up.

Wrap the ribs in aluminum foil. Place ribs on a sheet pan, bone side down, and place in the preheated oven. Cook for 3 hours.

Remove the pan and ribs from the oven. Check with a meat thermometer in the fleshy part between a pair of bones, to ensure they are at least 170F. If not, cook a little longer.

Reduce the oven temperature to 180F. Cook for an additional 2-3 hours to melt away more cartilage and increase the tenderness.

Take the ribs out of the oven and turn the setting to broil. Remove the aluminum foil from the ribs. Apply a thin coating of barbecue sauce. Place the ribs under the broiler until the barbecue sauce just begins to char (about 10 minutes).