Pork rib

Put them in a roasting tin with a splash of water or stock, cover tightly with foil and bake at 150 °C for about 2½–3 hours. Uncover, brush with sauce and grill for a few minutes until browned.

For food safety, the thickest part should reach 70 °C for 2 minutes, without the thermometer touching bone. For ribs that pull easily from the bone, cook them longer until very tender.

Yes, if there is a tough, silvery membrane on the bone side: loosen a corner with a knife, grip it with kitchen paper and pull it off. It can stay chewy after cooking and stops seasoning reaching that side.

Keep raw pork ribs covered on the bottom shelf and cook them within 3–5 days of purchase. Once cooked, refrigerate within 2 hours and eat within 3–4 days, or freeze them.

Yes. Freeze them in an airtight, freezer-safe wrap; separate portions before freezing so you can thaw only what you need. Defrost in the fridge and cook promptly once thawed.

Serve them with coleslaw, corn on the cob, baked potatoes or beans. Barbecue sauce is a familiar finish; for a dry rub, try smoked paprika, black pepper, garlic and a little brown sugar.

Pork shoulder is a good substitute for slow-cooked, saucy dishes, though it has no bones and needs cutting into chunks. Lamb ribs work well with similar cooking methods but have a more distinctive flavour.

Yes: pork ribs have 24 g of fat per 100 g, compared with 6.6 g in a pork rib chop. A chop is leaner and cooks much faster, so it is not a like-for-like substitute for slow-cooked ribs.