BabybackRibs!! Help Me!!

markt · January 13, 2006, 02:21:21 AM

Does anyone have a great recipe for baby back ribs and advice for smoking them on the BS smoker. I just got it and did cheese and salmon (which were great)and am now ready to try some ribs! What's best?? Steaming 1st? dry rub, brine, etc???

IKnowWood · January 13, 2006, 02:44:30 AM

Markt

If you have not yet had a chance, folow the link to Olds Recipe site. There are a lot of good ideas and such in general. In the rubs area there are a few that will work for Ribs.

What I personally have started with baby backs is find a simple rub with paprika. I got a BBQ and Grilling book that has a nice simple pork rub that is great on ribs. Rubs it and let is set at least overnight. Then put them inthe smoker. For baby backs run them at 200 degrees to 210 for 4 fours. Then FTC for at least 1 hour.

If you have a chance look for the Smoke and Spice book. there are a few good Baby back recipes in there. I tried a Burbon Glaze one that was great. However I think I smoked for 5 hours and FTC for 1 hour. They were great.

The basic idea is to Rub them at least overnight if not 24 hours. Cut off the rib membrane in the back for a better eat feel. Smoke & cook for I think 5 hours. FTC. You can mop for some of the time but it affects getting the right temp. In the last 30 minutes, make sure to glaze the ribs with the sauce. Serve with or without sauce.

To put it simple, the key is a good rub. Then keep it in for i think 5 hours at temp. The rest is for what you like. Dry, Wet, different Flavor than the rub (which will be tangy and wild). Be careful on a rub with to much sugar or Honey or Molasses, it will make the ribs very sweek and might take to much away from the rib flavor.

JJC · January 13, 2006, 04:19:55 AM

Welcome, Mark IKW's advice is excellent. You might also want to do a search for rib recipes on this Forum if you want to do a lot of reading [;)]

John
Newton MA

bsolomon · January 13, 2006, 07:25:42 PM

A couple of other thoughts:

1) Don't get too fixated on the amount of time it takes to smoke/cook something in the Bradley. IKW's temperature is right on, and I go with 4 hours of smoke time, but 4-5 hours of total cooking time will probably only work for a small portion of ribs, perhaps 1-2 racks. If you are doing 8-10 racks, for example, you might be looking at 10-14 hours. The key is to slow cook until done, which can be determined either by the tempterature of the meat(187-189 seems to work well for ribs) or if you don't have a thermometer, you can do it by looking (which will require opening the door more often then you would like) and making sure that the meat has contracted away exposing the ends of the bones and/or you can twist a bone out of the meat easily.

2) I agree that it seems worthwhile to remove the membrane, FTC is a "mandatory" option, and a good rub is key. Up until recently, I would have agreed with IKW about letting the ribs "marinate" in their rub overnight or up to 24 hours. However, having done that in the past, I noticed that what goes into the fridge as ribs with a dry rub on them comes out later looking like they have had BBQ sauce applied. Since the ribs are wrapped in saran, the question is, "Where does the moisture come from that creates the 'sauce'?" The answer is that the spices, and especially any salt or sugar in the rub draw moisture from the meat. For some large items (brisket, pork butt)this is not a big problem, but many people have difficulty not drying out their ribs while cooking. My opinion is that leaving the rub on for too long helps contribute to dry ribs. So lately, I have been applying the rub as I pull them from the fridge to warm up, and letting them sit in the rub for about 1 hour as the smoker warms up. I haven't noticed any loss of flavor, but they do seem to be consistenly juicy and tender.

3) Regardless of whether you choose to subscribe to the opinion above, another way to ensure a juicy product is the use of a bacon baste, whereby you load 1/2 to 1 lb of cheap, fatty bacon into the uppermost rack and just let the fat render out and drip down on the ribs while cooking.

Oldman · January 13, 2006, 09:05:13 PM

Barry has come up with a new "phrase" "mandatory" option LOL~~! You got to love a person with an imagination!

Olds

BigSmoker · January 13, 2006, 09:23:36 PM

Still haven't used my reveo for ribs but was thinking of doing some this weekend as well[:D]. Good advice all round but I don't FTC my ribs I normally smoke them for 3 hrs then wrap them in foil and back in the smoker heat only for another hour then unwrap and on the grill for 30 minutes to an hour if I plan on saucing them(250f for this). If no sauce is going to be used just unwrap and back in the bradley for another hour or so. I check them after I take them out of the foil cause sometimes they willl be done after this step. Enjoy and Happy Smokin'.

Jeff

Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

markt · January 13, 2006, 10:10:13 PM

Thank's everyone! Great advice! I'm going to get a few racks now and smoke tommorrow (weather permitting). Will let ya'll (Southern Term) know how "coachable" I am later... Thanks again.

iceman · January 14, 2006, 12:00:39 AM

Kind of like the "DEFINATE MABY" thing I guess.[:o)]<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Oldman
 Barry has come up with a new "phrase" "mandatory" option LOL~~! You got to love a person with an imagination!

Olds

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Big or small you can smoke'm all!!!

car54 · January 16, 2006, 12:01:34 AM

I like the "mandatory option". That is a good phrase.

Brad

BigSmoker · January 18, 2006, 08:22:04 PM

Here are some ribs I did last weekend. They have been rubbed on the left Dizzy Pig Dizzy Dust and on the right Dizzy Pig Swamp Venom. All I had done was cut them in 1/2 racks peel the membrane and applyed the rub.

Smoked them for 3 hrs with hickory at 225f. Removed from Smoker and into this pan covered with foil and in the oven preheated to 225f. 2 hrs later they were done. Not quite falll off the bone cause I like just a little tug on mine but they were very good.

No sauce needed[:D][:D][:p][:p][8D][8D]

Jeff

Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

Bassman · January 19, 2006, 04:07:08 PM

Jeff,
They look great! Good job! [:p][:p]

Jack

Gordon · January 19, 2006, 04:25:33 PM

ok now I hate you....I am sooooooo hungry

Gordo
Unskyled layber

mrglrbear · January 22, 2006, 06:43:35 PM

OK, this is from a rookie at smoking.....what is "FTC"?

Thanks, Gary

Arcs_n_Sparks · January 22, 2006, 07:42:27 PM

Foil, Towel, Cooler. Wrap in foil, then wrap in a towel, then put it in a cooler. A trademark post-smoking treatment on the forum here.

Arc_n_Sparks

mrglrbear · January 23, 2006, 12:31:56 AM

Can it be your refrigerator, or does it have to be a cooler? (with or without ice?) <blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by arcs_n_sparks
 Foil, Towel, Cooler. Wrap in foil, then wrap in a towel, then put it in a cooler. A trademark post-smoking treatment on the forum here.

Arc_n_Sparks
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">