How To Make the Perfect Fall Off the Bone Ribs

Nothing goes better with camping than grilling and, as Texans, we’re partial to a good rack of ribs slathered in BBQ sauce. On your next visit to Splashway Campground, use your campsite’s fire pit to make dinner for your family, or do a little prep work for a quick, delicious meal. If you’ve never cooked ribs before, or aren’t accustomed to campfire cooking, we’ve got you covered with 3 ways to prepare fall off the bone ribs that are sure to be a showstopper.

A quick note – we have chosen methods that work well with all rib types, but work best with pork ribs.

Oven Method

To cook your ribs to perfection using an oven, simply follow the instructions below.

1. Cover all sides of your ribs with a dry rub of your choosing. (Get some inspiration here!)
2. Wrap your ribs tightly with aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet.
3. Cook in the oven at 300 degrees for 3 hours.
4. Remove them from the oven, unwrap the foil and baste them with a BBQ sauce of your choosing. If you like a crispy edge, turn up the heat in the oven to 400 degrees and broil for 3-5 minutes. Baste them one more time with BBQ sauce before serving.

Slow Cooker Method

Looking for a method that won’t keep you chained to your campsite all day? Make sure to pack your slow cooker because this method couldn’t be easier!

1. Place ribs in your slow cooker and season with salt and pepper.
2. Brush a generous amount of BBQ sauce over them until they’re mostly covered. (About 1 cup of sauce should do!)
3. Cover and cook on LOW for 7-9 hours, or until they’re falling apart.

When you remove them, keep some of the juice from the crockpot and add into your basting BBQ sauce for added flavor. Brush more of that delicious sauce all over the ribs and enjoy! If you like a crispy finish, you can throw them into the oven and broil for 10 minutes, or until the edges start to char.

Campfire Method

This method will take more time and attention, so if you want to set up camp next to a smoky fire pit and watch the day pass, this is the method for you! Before starting, you will need charcoal, a disposable aluminum pie tin, mesquite or wood chips of your choosing, and a good amount of wide aluminum foil. *Take a look at your wood chips, as some of them require you soak them overnight.

1. Fill your pie tin with water and place in the center of your fire pit.
2. Surround your pie tin with charcoal, light, and allow to come up to heat. While it’s heating up, get your dry rub on all sides of your ribs.
3. Once your charcoal is hot, add your wood chips to them. This will produce a good amount of smoke, but that’s what you want!
4. Place your grill rack over your fire pit and place your ribs, topside down, on the center of the grill rack directly above the pie tin.
5. Cover your entire pit with foil to lock the smoke in. Doesn’t have to be airtight, just has to cover the pit.
6. Cook for 1 hour WITHOUT PEEKING! Uncover after one hour, flip the ribs, recover, and cook for 30 more minutes.

Voila! There you have it! Now that we’ve shown you how to cook them, it’s up to you to figure out the perfect sauce, seasoning, and dry rub to make these ribs SING!