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4 Fantastic Methods To Reheat Your Leftover Ribs At Home


Ribs are delicious, there is no denying that. They are so delicious that we normally tend to cook more than we consume. We’ll admit that also has to do with it being a bit more bone than meat. As we will not want to waste the leftover ribs, how to reheat ribs is the only question that crosses our mind.

Here are four methods that you can consider

  • Reheat the ribs in Oven
  • Reheat the ribs in Grill
  • Reheat the ribs in Microwave
  • Reheat the ribs in Toaster Oven

Regardless of whether it is pork ribs or beef ribs or other types of ribs, the rack of ribs will still taste fantastic after some reheating. However, before that, we share how you should keep your leftover ribs

How To Store Leftover Ribs

how to store leftover ribs

Make sure you have airtight containers to store your leftover ribs in the freezer. Another alternative is to use a vacuum sealer to ensure it is airtight

Normally it is recommended to wrap the ribs in a layer of foil to maintain their moisture

With that in mind, we’re going to provide you with some of the best methods to preheat your ribs and get them ready for your consumption.

How To Reheat Ribs? Methods To Reheat Ribs

Pre-cooked ribs can be easily reheated at an edible temperature. To make it easier for you, we shall present the methods to you in a step by step manner. Let’s just put this out there, you can thaw your ribs if you wish, but it’s not a necessity. For that reason, we shall omit it from our list.

Find out more amazing ways of how to reheat ribs here below:

  • Materials Required
  • Aluminum Foil

An aluminum foil is easily available in local stores. The sheet of aluminum is useful in order to evenly reheat the ribs, you’re going to need 2 layers of foil around the meat. Be careful while wrapping the meat to ensure that you don’t puncture the foil.

In addition, add a ¼ cup of water before sealing the foil. This helps the meat to keep its moisture and not shrivel whilst in the oven.

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Method 1: Reheat The Ribs In The Oven

Oven

Any conventional oven in your kitchen will be able to the job At the time of reheating, you should prepare the oven for the meat. You need to clean it and remove any odors that might be inside it.

This ensures that they don’t taint your meat. This method involves the use of an indoor oven. Having a personal oven makes you capable enough to heat ribs in less than 30 minutes. However, you need to be careful and ensure that it doesn’t go beyond that point.

Oven Mitts

Oven mitts are of great help when they are used while you are working with the oven. It protects your hands from getting burnt. As it is natural that the inside walls of the oven are extremely hot. It is suggested that you should always accompany a strong pair of mitts always.

Hold the vessel or baking container firmly with the oven mitts. It will prevent you from getting hot burns on your wrist or palm. These are easily available everywhere. Buy one as per your preference, if you don’t have one.

With that said, the reason behind this is too much heat can cause the meat to shrink. In addition, it might also make the meat sturdy that is tough and difficult to eat.

  • Wrap the ribs neatly with the foil. After wrapping cover it with another layer of foil and close it tightly.
  • We also need to preheat the oven up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. As the microwave is hot, please do not touch with bare hands.
  • Keep the neatly covered ribs in the oven for 15-20 minutes until it seems to be completely hot. Also, do not leave the ribs unattended in the oven. Overheating will ruin your dish.
  • Take the ribs out of the oven and take the foil off. Place it back on the cooking sheet and set the mode to “broilâ€. Let the meat sit in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes.

Method 2: Reheat The Ribs In The Grill

Reheat The Ribs In The Grill

Grill

Heating on a grill is often preferred over microwave heating. The smoky texture on grill heating is loved by most of food lovers. So, if you are craving that kind of smoke-flavored aroma; you may choose the grill way of heating ribs.

There are various options available for grilling such as a charcoal grill or a gas grill.The griller should be always kept clean dry so that it is free from the remnants of the food cooked in the griller.

Barbeque Sauce

Barbecue sauce is a combination of all tomatoes, light-brown sugar, white wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and paprika. The application of the sauce should be taken care of. It is common to coat both sides of the ribs with barbecue sauce when it is ready to be served.

You can normally find BBQ sauce in many grocery stores. It not only gives a tasty flavor to your ribs but also helps in keeping the ribs moist while heating them on a grill or oven. On getting heated at a certain temperature, it enhances the flavors and makes it lip-smacking.

This is an alternative method to preheat your ribs. In fact, the grill and oven are two methods that everyone recommends when preheating ribs.

  • Set up the grill on 2 zone set-up. Heat the grill to about 225 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Paint both sides of the meat with barbeque sauce.
  • Wrap the ribs in about 2 layers of foil. Be careful not to puncture the foil.
  • Place in an indirect heat zone and heat it up to an internal temperature of 165F. You can use a meat thermometer for accuracy
  • Grill the meat in the direct heat zone for 5 to 10 minutes. Do not leave it unattended. An overly heated rib might shrink.
  • Take the ribs out of the grill, let them cool down and enjoy. Voila!

Method 3: Reheat The Ribs In The Microwave

Microwave Container

A microwave resistant container is indispensable if you choose to heat in a microwave. This container is easily available in glass or plastic material. It can be used for other purposes also.

Storing food in a plastic container is considered a better idea. Also have with you a top for the container, so that you don’t have meat or other foodstuff making your oven messy. The container will be used to keep the ribs intact.

  • Prepare the microwave and all you need such as the cooking sheet, oven mitts and aluminium foil.
  • Place the ribs in the container. Spread them out properly so that they can get heated thoroughly in the microwave.
  • Paint your sauce on the meat to help add some nice flavours to it.
  • Set your microwave to medium heat. The medium heat is normally what is recommended to properly heat your ribs.
  • Reheat for 3-5 minutes. The ovens differ so you should keep an eye on your meat. It could be ready within 2 minutes, so keep your eyes on the meat
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Method 4: Reheat In The Toaster Oven

Apple Juice or Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple juice or apple cider vinegar is another alternative to barbeque sauce to provide extra moisture during the reheating process. It is normally added to the ribs in foil.

We recommend using apple juice for pork_ribs”>pork ribs while for beef ribs you can consider using beef broth or beer

Cooking Sheet

The cooking sheet is similar to the sheet of plastic. It is an ideal tool for grilling. It does not has any natural odour or flavour and is 100 percent non-stick and reusable.

The cooking sheet is used as an alternative to aluminium foil. Owing to the non-stick property, this sheet is widely used to cook healthy and non-oily food.

  • If you do not have a conventional oven, then you can consider using a toaster oven instead
  • Preheat the toaster over to around 250 degrees Fahrenheit
  • Paint both sides of the meat with barbeque sauce.
  • Wrap the ribs in aluminum 
  • Cook the ribs with sauce in the toaster oven for around 25 – 30 minutes

Conclusion- Choose Any Of The Two Ways

Reheating is a common method that is used to refresh the already cooked food. In this type of cooking, the grill and the oven are the methods most preferred by many when it comes to how to reheat ribs.

The microwave gives you the advantage of speed, but many people are sceptical of it because of the plastic and food correlation in a microwave.

So, if you are looking to re-live the flavors of the already cooked ribs in large quantities. You should use the oven only. As explained above in this article, the heating of cooked ribs are tremendously easy than said.