Quick Keto Lunch

Keto Apple-Maple Brined Ribs

Keto Apple-Maple Brined Ribs

Ingredients

• 1/2 slab pork spare ribs, about 4 pounds (1.8 kg) 1/2 cup (145 g) salt
• 7 cups (1.7 L) hot water
• 2 cups (480 ml) cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup (12 g) Splenda
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) sugar-free pancake syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) oil, plus more for ribs

Method

1. Wood chips or chunks, soaked for at least 30 minutes
2. Dissolve the salt in the hot water and then stir in everything else but the ribs
3. Put the ribs in something shallow, flat, and made of a material- you may want to cut the slab into a few pieces to fit it in
4. Reserve 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the brine for basting and pour the rest over the ribs, making sure they’re submerged at least a little bit
5. Stash them in the fridge and let them sit for 3 to 4 hours
6. Six hours before you want to eat, start the grill for indirect cooking-build a charcoal fire to one side or light only one burner of your gas grill
7. Pull the ribs out of the brine and pat them dry
8. Rub the surface of the ribs with a little oil
9. When the fire is ready, put the ribs over the side of the grill not over the fire and add soaked wood chips to the fire
10. Smoke the ribs for a good 6 hours, adding wood chips whenever the smoke dies down
11. What do you do with that 1/2 cup (120 ml) of reserved brine? Mix it with 1/2 cup (120 ml) oil and use it to baste the ribs while they’re smoking, every time you add more chips or chunks
12. Use a clean utensil each time you baste

Makes 5 to 6 servings

1. Discard most of the brine, of course
2. Count 1 to 2 grams per serving, at most; 32 grams of protein
3. Analysis does not include polyol sweetened in sugar-free syrup