Grilled BBQ Bison Ribs - Frontière Natural Meats

Cooking barbecue ribs just feels like an accomplishment. The finished product looks impressive, smells amazing and is just plain fun to eat (if a bit messy). But if you've never done it before, cooking ribs can feel a bit intimidating.

We're here to tell you that cooking ribs is a whole lot easier than you might think. Our recipe is fairly hands-off, with most of your active cooking time going toward making the sauce, plus a few minutes of vigilantly avoiding scorching the ribs on the grill! The biggest thing to prepare for is starting the process a couple of hours before you want to eat, because they do take about two hours start-to-finish.

Bison ribs are a lot like baby back ribs, but of course they are bison meat instead of pork meat. Bison meat comes from the American buffalo, which belongs to the bovine family along with domestic cattle. Bison meat is leaner than beef or pork, and some say it has a sweeter flavor. We think it's extra delicious when served with a tomato-based barbecue sauce!

Our recipe is simple and beginner-friendly. We took a few tips from Barefoot Contessa and NY Times, but in the end we made our barbecue sauce recipe our own with a little help from our friends at Savory Spice Shop.

Ready to get those ribs on the grill? Get started with our recipe below.

Grilled BBQ Bison Ribs

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

1 rack of bison ribs
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

For the barbecue sauce:
(yields 1-1/2 cups)

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 Savory Spice Shop Red Rocks Hickory Seasoning (or smoked paprika) 
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

Method:

If frozen, thaw the ribs for a day or two in the refrigerator.

When ready to cook, remove ribs from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. 

Meanwhile, make the barbecue sauce. Add all barbecue sauce ingredients into a small sauce pan over medium heat, and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes. Use immediately, or store in the fridge.

Sprinkle on kosher salt and cracked black pepper on the meaty part of the ribs. If desired, brush the ribs with prepared barbecue sauce (place a bit of sauce in a ramekin first so as not to contaminate your primary container of sauce with raw meat).

Place the ribs on a sheet pan and place in the oven for 90 minutes.

Remove ribs from the oven once cooked, and begin heating your gas grill to medium-high. To oil the grates, use metal tongs to grip a cloth or paper towel, or even an onion cut in half. Dip the towel or the cut part of the onion in avocado oil (or other high-heat oil such as safflower or canola oil), and rub down the grill grates.

Once the grill is hot, place the rib on the grates, meaty side down. Close the lid and cook for 5 minutes. Then, open the lid, carefully flip the ribs with tongs, and brush the meaty side with barbecue sauce, being careful not to drip too much sauce into the grill. Close the lid and cook for about 3 minutes more.

Remove the ribs from the grill, cover with foil, and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes. Use a sharp knife to cut into portions and enjoy with extra barbecue sauce.