Brian AIP Recipes, BBQ, Food, Home Made Food

Crock Pot BBQ Ribs (AIP)

BBQ Cooking Tips

Smoker vs Grill vs Oven vs Crock Pot

When making BBQ, most people think a smoker is required.  While the smoke flavor is amazing, it certainly is not the only way.  Baking in the oven or even cooking in a crock pot can produce great results.  Regardless, as you’ve heard many times before, the key to BBQ is to cook it low and slow.  There tends to be a lot of fat and connective tissue in popular BBQ meats.  The long slow cook times ensure that the fat and tissues break down turning the meat into a juicy tender meal, while not drying it out.  The key here is to heat with indirect heat – in other words don’t put a flame directly under or over the racks of ribs.

Any method of heating the meat works, so really there are many ways to prepare ribs.  Though a smoker or grill will generally give more of a “crispier” crust on the outside of the meat.  The oven (if in a covered pan) and crock pot will produce moister meat and crust as they trap in more moisture while cooking.

A crock pot works wonderfully for the low and slow and keeps the meat moist.  A full rack (cut in half) placed in a crock pot results in perfectly tender fall off the bone ribs in 6 hours.  And all the juices and flavors of the meat are trapped in the crock pot, which forces the flavor to be infused into the meat.

Keep Your Meat Moist

It is critical though to ensure that the meat doesn’t get to dry.  If you are cooking your BBQ on a grill or smoker, I like to add a container with liquid in it to allow it to steam and keep some moisture in the cooking vessel.  This can be a cup made of tinfoil or a metal cup if you have one.  Fill it with water, lemon juice, apple juice, beer…  whatever flavor you like.  As the meat cooks, this will produce some steam which will help to ensure the meat stays juicy and tender.

What is AIP?

AIP (as you may have noticed in the title of this post) stands for Auto Immune Protocol.  If you’ve never heard of this term, don’t worry – it’s not something that will hurt you, the flavors of your food, or your preparation time.  Simply put, AIP is a specific way of eating that is followed by some with auto immune diseases in an effort to reverse symptoms.  In essence it’s a more limited diet.

That said, for those not following AIP I guarantee you that you’ll still find this to be a simple and great recipe for your cooking.

Crock Pot Ribs (AIP)
Print Recipe
Tender, juicy, fall off the bone ribs made in the crock pot. An amazing meal that you can't mess up. AIP recipe.
Servings Prep Time
3 15 minutes
Cook Time
6 hours
Servings Prep Time
3 15 minutes
Cook Time
6 hours
Crock Pot Ribs (AIP)
Print Recipe
Tender, juicy, fall off the bone ribs made in the crock pot. An amazing meal that you can't mess up. AIP recipe.
Servings Prep Time
3 15 minutes
Cook Time
6 hours
Servings Prep Time
3 15 minutes
Cook Time
6 hours
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Cut the rack of ribs in half or thirds - simply for ensuring that they fit into the crock pot.
  2. (Optional) Apply a spice rub to the ribs.
    BBQ spice rub coating a rack of ribs
  3. Pour Coconut Aminos into the crock pot to line the bottom and add moisture during the cooking process.
    Use coconut aminos while cooking ribs for flavor and moisture.
  4. Place the ribs in the crock pot. Layer them as best you can so they are not directly laying on top of each other. This will ensure they cook thoroughly as the warm air can get around as much of the meat as possible.
  5. Evenly spread the sliced onions and garlic over the ribs.
  6. Cover crock pot.
  7. Cook on low for 6 hours.
    Low heat is the best way to cook ribs.
  8. Enjoy!
    Tender and flavorful crock pot ribs
Recipe Notes
  • Prepare your ribs with a spice rub before cooking for added flavor.
  • Some people like BBQ sauce on their ribs.  Others prefer their ribs "naked" (no sauce).  Serving ribs either way is perfectly acceptable.