10 tailgate foods (and recipes) 49ers fans should try and will love

49ers tailgate food you’ll love: Smoked baby back ribs

OK, 49ers fans. If you truly want to impress your tailgate friends and show off your culinary skills, roll with this recipe. It’ll take some pregame work, and you might have to get up pretty early on Sunday for some prep time and to do most of the cooking at home. But it’ll be worth it.

Keep in mind that this recipe for delicious, falling-off-the-bone baby back ribs requires cooking in the oven at home for three hours, so plan accordingly.

Once you’ve finished the ribs in the oven, though, you can take the foil-wrapped ribs and place them in a spare cooler to keep them warm for your trip to Levi’s Stadium.

Then, it’s about bringing the smoke!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 slabs of baby back ribs, unseasoned and unmarinated
• 1 large yellow onion
• A 12 oz bottle of lager-style beer
• 3 cups of barbecue sauce
• Salt and pepper
• Charcoal and chunks of wood for smoking

Here’s what you’ll do:

• At home, bright and early before the game, spread onion slices evenly on a ribbed baking sheet lined with foil
• Strip the membrane off the bone side of the ribs (here’s an easy way how) and lay ribs bone side down on top of the onions
• Pour beer all over the ribs
• Season with salt and pepper, cover ribs and baking sheet with foil, then bake for three hours at 350 degrees
• Carefully remove ribs from oven (they’re cooked already and will fall apart easily) and wrap tightly in foil, discard the onions and then place ribs in a cooler you’re not using for beer or anything else cold
• Drive over to Levi’s Stadium (don’t forget the cooler with the ribs)
• Set up your charcoal grill with charcoal mixed in with a few dry chunks of wood for smoking (I prefer applewood for smoking ribs)
  • If using a gas grill, you can purchase aluminum boxes that hold wet wood chips for smoking, placing them below the grill and above the flame (the less-fun method)
• While the coals heat up and before the wood begins to smoke, brush both sides of ribs with barbecue sauce
• Place ribs meat side down on an oiled grill over medium heat, close the lid and wait 20 minutes, only opening periodically to baste with more barbecue sauce
• Flip the ribs to bone side down, baste the meat side with more barbecue sauce but keep the lid closed when not basting, doing this for another 20 minutes
• Remove ribs from grill and let rest 10 minutes before cutting and serving