Baby Back Ribs
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Ribs. The great backyard equalizer. Properly done, they are tough to beat no matter what delicious backyard bbq recipes are on your resume. On a BBQ scale of difficulty, I would rank these somewhere between pork shoulder (aka pulled pork) and brisket. While not quite as difficult as brisket, ribs still present their own challenges. Like shoulder and brisky, ribs are not too be rushed. This means, at least for me, these are definitely a weekend endeavor. You can expect anywhere from up to seven hours for spares or up to five or six hours for baby backs.
Your first tough choice is deciding on a cut: spares or baby backs. I love both. But usually on rib day, while I’m standing in the grocery store, baby backs win out. If you were to ask me for a good reason why, I probably couldn’t give you one. I guess it just depends which way the wind is blowing. Baby backs are usually done a little quicker, so there’s that. But anyways, whichever you decide, the method is pretty much the same. Your time will vary slightly, but we’ll talk about that later.
The most popular way you’ll see to do ribs online is the 2-2-1 method. That means two hours on the smoker with nothing but heat and a dry rub. Two hours on the smoker wrapped in foil (known as the Texas crutch) and one hour back on the smoker. For spare ribs, this formula changes to 3-2-1. It’s important to note that these times are just guidelines. For instance, I do a little more time on the smoker (about 2.5 hours) and a little less time wrapped (1.5 hours or so). I cook these at about 225 degrees Fahrenheit.
I use an offset firebox smoker, which means the heat source has its own little spot off to the side so the meat isn’t directly over the fire. If you haven’t a smoker then fear not. Simply try to keep your ribs as far away from the heat source as you can. For example, if you have a four-burner gas grill, only light the one or two burners on the left side while keeping your ribs on the right side. All while maintaining a temp as close as possible to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep in mind, all cookers are different. And when it comes to BBQ, don’t forget the saying “It’s done when it’s done”.
For fuel, I always use either a hardwood or a combo of natural lump charcoal and hardwood. Try your best to steer away from briquettes. They are full of chemical fillers that one, don’t burn properly and two, impart a nasty taste on your food. That’s just my two cents though. If all you have in the ole shed is a bag of briquettes, then have a field day. For ribs, and most things pork, I love a good fruitwood as fuel. Apple, cherry, peach, or even pecan are nice mild woods that don’t overpower the meat. If you aren’t using wood as your primary or secondary fuel source, grab a bag of wood chips and throw a handful around your charcoal. Be careful, because they can flare up and spike your temperature.
There are four times I put something on my ribs during cooking: A rub to begin with, a spritz after an hour, a little butter and honey before wrapping, and a light glaze near the end. I do not recommend at all using a store-bought sauce on your ribs. There are two main reasons: One, they have a very overpowering flavor. Why spend a lot of money on a nice cut of pork and then spend all day cooking it only to taste a BBQ sauce? Seems silly. And two, because store-bought sauces have a bunch of sugar and sugar burns really easily. So, if you must use a store-bought sauce, for the love of everything holy, put it on last because it will burn. It will ruin your Saturday and your guests will mock you. It’s true. Instead, I use a finishing sauce I make with rib drippings. More on that later.
There is a lot of debate on when to season ribs. The day of or the night before and let them sit overnight wrapped in the fridge. I have tried both ways and I honestly think they are better the day of. What I do is rub my ribs really good and let them sit at room temperature for a half hour while I get my smoker up to temp. Another trick to ribs is to put a thin coat of yellow mustard on before the rub. I know what you’re thinking, gross right? Take it easy, the mustard holds the rub on and helps form a good bark. By the time they are done cooking, you won’t even be able to taste the mustard.
Now we come to the worst part of cooking ribs. The removal of the membrane. This is the thin, white…well, membraney thing on the backside of the ribs. Not gonna lie, it can be a pain in the ass at first. But with practice, it gets way easier. Almost as much of a pain is describing how to do it. There are a bunch of videos online. This is honestly your best bet to get started. Some people don’t bother removing the membrane but if you don’t remove it, you will have this burnt skin looking thing hanging off your ribs. So trust me, learn how to do it.
The perfect level of doneness on a rack of ribs can be tough to judge. Some people like when the meat falls off the bone. To me, that’s overcooked and kinda nasty. Take them too soon and they can be super tough…and raw. Even nastier. The perfect bite of rib should be, when you bite into it, you get a little resistance (not too much) and your teeth marks should be on the ribs. How to achieve this you ask? It takes some practice. A thermometer can be tricky to use with ribs because there aren’t a great deal of places to insert the probe. So instead, I rely on two things. One, the pullback. When ribs are nearing the proper temp, the meat starts to pull back from the bone. Depending on the size of your ribs, you want to look for about an inch pullback. Which means about an inch of exposed bone. Two, the bendy test. Pick up your rack of ribs by one end with a pair of tongs. If the skin of the ribs gently cracks in the center, you should be good to go.
Ok, we’ve covered time, fuel, sauce, and doneness. I think that’s about it. Let’s get to smoking. Oh and if you have a question about this or any recipe always feel free to ask via the comments or even better, on Instagram.
This recipe is for one rack of baby back ribs. I like this rub recipe on all things pork and some other stuff too. So if you need more rub, for other stuff or if you’re doing multiple racks, just double your amounts.
Ingredients and Instructions
(This recipe is for one rack of baby back ribs.)
Rub
- 1/4 cup of brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons of paprika
- 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon of onion powder
- 1 teaspoon of chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon of cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- Dash of ginger powder
- Dash of sage
- Dash of thyme
Combine all ingredients in a plastic container and mix well.
Spritz
- 1 cup of apple juice
- 1 cup of apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
Add everything to a brand new (and super clean) spray bottle. Shake well and stick in the fridge until you need it.
Ribs
- 1 rack of baby back ribs
- 1/2 teaspoon of yellow mustard
- Rub (recipe above
- Spritz (recipe above)
- 4 tablespoons of butter cut into pats
- 1 tablespoon of honey
After removing the membrane (see above), coat ribs lightly with a little bit of yellow mustard. Then, season generously all over with rub.
Allow ribs to sit at room temperature while you fire up your smoker.
When your smoker is at 225 degrees Fahrenheit add ribs. Add wood chips now if using. Close the lid and cook. The goal here is to keep a thin blue stream of smoke coming out of your smoker chimney.
After an hour, open up the lid quickly and spritz the ribs. Close the lid as quickly as possible.
After 2.5 hours or so, remove ribs from the smoker. Lay ribs in a layer of aluminum foil. Place butter and honey all over the top of the ribs. Wrap tightly with more foil then return to the smoker.
After about 1.5 hours, carefully remove ribs from foil. (Be sure to reserve the liquid from the foil in a saucepan. This will be used for your sauce.)
Return ribs to the smoker and make your sauce (recipe below).
Cook ribs for about another 45 minutes. When ribs are ten to fifteen minutes away from being done, lightly brush ribs with sauce. Brush twice, letting sauce cook slightly between each brushing.
When ribs are done, let them sit wrapped in foil for at least ten minutes prior to carving.
Sauce
- Reserved drippings from ribs (about 1 cup)
- 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 1 tablespoon of ketchup
- 1 teaspoon of honey
- Salt and pepper to taste (Some of the rub may be on the drippings so be sure to taste before adding salt and pepper.)
Add everything to the saucepan and reduce by half or so until slightly thickened. Set aside and keep warm.
