Stop Dried-Out Pork Ribs In Their Tracks With A Splash Of This Pantry Liquid

There is definitely some technique required for cooking the best pork ribs. Cook them too quickly and they start to dry out before they're tender. At too high of a temperature, you'll end up with dry, tough meat. While the best way to avoid dry ribs is to cook them low and slow, sometimes we overshoot the mark and dry them out. If this happens, salvage them by coating them with a splash of apple cider vinegar and a little barbecue sauce. Apple cider vinegar adds acidity to the rich, fatty ribs, and it's a pantry staple that you likely already have on hand. (If you don't, check out our ranking of apple cider vinegars and pick up one of the top hits.) Plus, that hint of apple flavor pairs nicely with a sweet or savory barbecue sauce. 

Adding barbecue sauce to the ribs is best done later in the cooking process, when you only have around 30 minutes remaining. That's because barbecue sauce often has plenty of sugar, and if it sits too long on the heat, it will caramelize and could burn, ultimately creating too much char on the top of the ribs (I know this from personal experience — as a sauce lover, it took a long time to master the perfect time to add the sauce). Save this trick when those ribs are just about close to finished to prevent them from getting overdone, unless you're confident your grill is set low enough. Sugar burns at around 350 degrees Fahrenheit, while the best oven temperature for pork ribs is 250 to 270 degrees Fahrenheit. Once you add the vinegar and sauce, wrap the ribs in foil to lock in moisture before continuing the cooking process.

Apple cider vinegar is a great way to build moisture, but if you prefer a sweeter liquid rather than the tangy, acidic flavor it provides, you can also use apple juice. It's much sweeter, so it could be a better pairing if you're glazing the ribs with a spicy barbecue sauce or one that has a stronger vinegar base. Place the ribs on foil, then add a small amount of apple juice alongside the rib rack — not on top of it, and no need to combine it with the barbecue sauce — then fold the foil up, so none of the apple juice leaks out. It's an easy trick for ensuring the ribs stay moist with a hint of sweet.

If you prefer ribs without the sauce, you can skip the barbecue sauce altogether and instead combine the apple cider vinegar with water. Create a 50/50 mixture to make sure the vinegar isn't too strong. As another alternative, you can combine a little apple cider vinegar with your favorite sweet soda, or even mix the apple juice and apple cider vinegar for a stronger apple flavor.