Low and Slow Sugar Pit Bacon Ribs

Low and Slow Sugar Pit Bacon Ribs

These ribs are no ordinary BBQ ribs. First of all, this isn’t a recipe. On the side there is one ingredient – 1.1kg of Moyallen Sugar Pit Bacon Ribs from Hannan Meats. This is a prime example of using great, quality ingredients in a simple way for a truly delicious meal.

To really understand the story of these ribs, I recommend you check out Hannan Meats’ website. I will try to sum it up here. First of all, Peter Hannan starts off with pork from trusted farms in Northern Ireland. These meaty ribs are dry cured for seven to eight days, that’s where the “bacon” part comes from. After that, they are buried in a pit of sugar for up to ten days. Because they have been cured, once they go into the sugar, the ribs suck up that sweetness creating a beautiful sweet cure which is perfectly balanced.

I didn’t do a thing to these ribs. Not a pinch of salt or anything. That felt so strange to me! I have been cooking a lot of ribs recently on the BBQ and I have been playing with rubs, sauces different mops and all sorts. So to leave these ribs alone felt wrong but I wanted to taste the meat here without any other flavourings covering the flavours up. I watched this Taste of Ulster video , which gave me the confidence to stick it out and let the natural flavours of these Sugar Pit Bacon Ribs shine through.

BBQing The Ribs

I cooked these meaty ribs on my Weber Kettle. The BBQ was set up for indirect cooking with heat on two outer sides and a drip tray in the middle. I let heat build up, preheating the kettle for about 15 minutes. Then the ribs went on right in the middle, above the drip tray with heat on either side. I left all the vents about half open to keep the temperature low. These ribs cooked away then for around 3.5 hours. I checked the ribs every hour to ensure there was enough charcoal (I had to top it up once) and to make sure it wasn’t taking on too much colour (I still don’t have a BBQ thermometer). After about 2.5 hours, I closed the vents a little more to really reduce the temperature. When I took them out, I wrapped in foil and left them to rest for 30 minutes. I used this time to make everyone a hotdog!

The Sugar Pit Bacon Ribs were incredible. The bone slid right out. The sugar had caramelised and created its own glaze. The fat in the belly layer had meted away to create juicy bites of meat. Charred edges were the best bits – it was a pity there were 5 of us there or I’d have eaten another serving.

Big Thanks

I really must say a massive “Thank You” to Hannah who bought these ribs for me as a birthday gift. Best lockdown parcel ever to find on the doorstep!