That summer feeling

Oven Baked Jerk Spareribs are tender and succulent

Why wait for summer to enjoy pork ribs cooked slow and low on the grill? If you cook them in the oven, you can enjoy them right now. They won’t boast the trademark smokiness produced by grilling, but otherwise they’ll be as tender, succulent and finger-licking good as ever.

The key to making great baked ribs is to follow the same prep as for grilled ribs. Season them with a rub, paste or marinade containing salt, then bake them at a low temperature for many hours or until they become tender. The salted mixture acts as a brine, which helps keep the pork juicy and infuses it with flavor. Cooking slow and low makes the meat tender.

The marinade used here is a jerk paste, a spicy Jamaican flavoring that Jamaicans typically apply to pork and chicken, but which can be found glorifying everything from beef and lamb to fish and seafood to vegetables and tofu. Jerk is based on three key ingredients: Scotch Bonnet chiles, allspice (a dried berry native to Jamaica) and thyme.

Scotch Bonnets are some of the hottest chiles in the world. They’re in the same family as habaneros, so feel free to swap in the latter if you can’t find the former. The rub will be hotter or less hot depending on the number of chiles in it, your choice. And no matter the number of chiles, you’ll want to tame their heat with at least a little bit of sugar. I happen to love Scotch bonnets not only for their heat, but also for their fruitiness. They’ve always struck me as a kind of cross between a mango and

very hot chile.

The labor-intensive part of this recipe is gathering

all the ingredients and making the marinade, but then it’s easygoing.

Here I’ve finished them with a sweet/sour/spicy glaze. It’s not traditional, but I think it adds the perfect last touch.

SARA MOULTON VIA AP Oven baked jerk spareribs