Baby back ribs

[Wing426]

Anyone have any good recipes for baby back ribs? Also do you bake them in an oven or anything before you put them in the smoker? Thats what I am going to attempt to cook this weekend. I hot smoked some oysters last weekend that tasted pretty good.

[LilSmoker]

Hi there and welcome, when i first joined here, a member called icerat4 kindly gave me some info and tips regarding ribs, i now churn out great ribs on a regular basis done the Rat way or a slight variation which is as follows:

Prepare your ribs, remove membrane trim as required, apply your desired rub etc, if i'm using a rub i apply the rub about 2 hours before smoking, you can rub and place the ribs in the fridge overnight, but i find this can dry the meat sometimes, so i apply the rub a couple of hours before smoking.

Smoke the ribs at 200-205 F for 4 hours with pucks of your choice, i like oak, maple or hickory, or a mixture, it's all down to preference, every hour give the ribs a spray down of apple juice.

At the last (4th hour) you can add a little sauce if required, at the end of the 4 hour of smoke take the ribs out of the BS, give them a good dowsing of apple juice, cover with foil and put them in a regular oven at 190 F for 3-4 hours, and that's it done.
They should be fall of the bone when done in this fashion, if you like the meat a little firmer, reduce the time in the regular oven.

I love my ribs done this way, they're awesome!

Hail the Rat!

[iceman]

Welcome Wing;
I copied this for you from an earlier post. Hope it helps.
How Most Competition Cooks Prepare Ribs

This is some input from forgotten sources and various experts (not me, that's for sure) that visit my house from time to time and many grease stained notes of mine. Hope this kind of explains things enough to get folks started. Have a good time smoking.   
Feel free to add on. Enjoy!!!

First of all understand, we use "smokers" when we cook ribs.

The secret to GREAT   ribs is to cook them at low temps for long periods of time. In competition, we cook all our meats at around 225 degrees F and it takes 6 hours for ribs, 10 – 12 hours for pork butts and up to 18 hours for brisket.

First let's explode a few myths about ribs:

MYTH # 1

The secret to great ribs is to boil them first!

WRONG!!!... NEVER, EVER boil your ribs!!! I don't care what your mother taught you or what famous chef on the Food Network did. NEVER EVER BOIL ribs!!! 

OK, let me explain what water does to meat. There is a certain degree of osmosis that takes place when you boil meat in water. This is accelerated if you use even a small amount of salt in the water or on the meat. In essence, what happens is... the water goes in and the flavor of the meat goes out. If you doubt this, taste the water after you have boiled something in it. This is the whole concept behind making soup. So, when you boil your ribs, all that wonderful pork flavor comes out (notice how greasy the water is?). 

Now, I do agree you will get a tender cut of meat. But, what does it taste like WITHOUT any rub or sauce. Does it look good? Would you even eat it? If you were blind folded, could you identify what type of meat it is? (Most people fail this test!). Next a simple question... would you boil your steaks or chops or burgers? I will gladly share the secret to making tender AND flavorful ribs. BTW, a truly GREAT rib can be tested by using simply salt and pepper... what is called a "dry" rib (a "wet" rib has sauce on it). I suggest everyone try their ribs this way first... then start experimenting with various rubs and sauces.

MYTH # 2

Boiling/ steaming gets the fat out.

WRONG!!!

Yes, it will get rid of SOME of the fat. But very rarely will it get rid of ALL the fat. This is the single biggest problem that folks have with ribs... even after boiling; there are still pockets of fat. 

A quick technical lesson (for sharing over a few cold beers). 



Fat can only be rendered in a dry cooking environment over a long period of time and at low temperatures. Here is what happens... the meat must attain a temperature of 160 to 170 degrees F to start the fat rendering process. At these temps, the meat temperature will "plateau"... that is, it will stay at these temps for up to 2 hours on ribs and 4 to 5 hours on butts and briskets. What is happening is, the collagen (connective tissue) starts to break down... this process releases water, which in turn causes a cooling of the meat. So the temps stay steady. This collagen breakdown is what makes the meat so tender. Once this collagen breaks down, the temps will start to rise. It is this process that allows ALL of the fat to be rendered from a rib.

OK... on with it. The night before you should choose your favorite rub... a combination of spices... and apply it to the ribs. Then wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. You want to keep the air out and the moisture in... besides, who wants the ribs to taste like what's in the refrigerator or vise versa. Here is a good starting rub you can try

1 TBS Garlic powder
1 TBS Onion Powder
1 TBS Salt
1 TBS Cayenne Pepper
1 TBS Black Pepper
1 TBS White Pepper
1 Cup Brown Sugar 
½ Cup Paprika

Simply mix all the ingredients together. This may be a little hot for some folks, so just cut back on the cayenne.

The day you are to cook, take the ribs out about 1 hour prior to cooking.

Pre heat your smoker to 225 degrees F.

Place your ribs bone side DOWN... you will NOT turn these over (this allows the fat to travel through the meat and leave all that flavor behind). Place them on a wire rack directly over the drip pan... you want to catch the drippings in this pan.

After 1 ½ hours of smoking / cooking with your favorite wood (NOT BEFORE)!!! spritz or mop the ribs with a mixture of apple juice and 1 part oil or any mopping sauce you prefer. Do this every ½ - ¾ hour until the ribs are done.

To test for doneness, you can look at the bones and watch for the meat to be pulling back from the ends or use the tooth pick test... insert a tooth pick between the bones and if it goes through easily they are done.
At this time you can spritz them once more and FTC (see note).


Finally you can apply sauces 20 minutes prior to serving or serve it on the side for dipping.

That's it your done. You can toss them on the grill for a minute or two if you prefer or save them for the next day and reheat in the oven or grill wrapped in foil


Note:
F = foil
T = towel
C = cooler
Lets say after smoking a pork butt for 4 hours or so then keep it cooking until it reaches the desired temperature 195f / 210f ? or there and about. It could take 10 or 12 hours. Just depends on the amount of meat you're cooking.

You then take it out of the smoker and wrap it in aluminum Foil (maybe add some apple juice or whatever).

Then wrap it in a few layers of old Towels (like beach towels or old bath towels).

Next stick it in an old Cooler you have laying around (NO ICE! You're trying to keep it warm).

Let it sit for a couple of hours so the passive heat can do its magic and you will end up with some VERY, VERY tender, juicy meat.

I like to use a combo of hickory / apple, or oak / apple for ribs.


ICEMAN / Patrick Gbur

[MallardWacker]

Welcome Wing...

The Man of ICE has it right, the one thing I would add is something I have had good results lately with and that is finish them on the grill...smoke to a 170 stage or so place them on the grill than you use your favorite sauce to if you wanted to to make the of the stick/saucy sort but finishing them on the grill by themselves has worked out great for me...I am not a "completely fall off the bone" type, I do like a little cling to the bone so I can cut and serve them with out them going to pieces on me....just a thought and have fun.

[monkey-jason]

I've done a few racks so far, and everyone's advice has been outstanding on the forum - you guys/gals all freakin' rawk.

Here's something I've been doing -

As the ribs are getting very close to done, get out your crock-pot.  Squirt a few tablespoons of bbq sauce in the bottom of the crock and set it on high.

After getting the ribs to the appropriate internal temp (but before they get too tender), I take them out of the Bradley and transfer them to a crock pot and add a squirt of sauce on each segment as I stack 'em in.

I only keep them in the crock for 30-60 minutes, since they were basically done in the first place - but the heat continues to cook and the moisture from the sauce really works to soften them up.  Just remember, once you put the lid on the crock, leave it until you're ready to take them out.

You can leave them in a bit longer, but 45 minutes is usually long enough for me to clean up my dishes, put my Bradley back in the garage and get the table set.

 

[fastmike926]

 I have been using a Bradley smoker to make ribs for about a year now. The day before I smoke the ribs I brush them with EV olive oil and rub them with spices ( I use a mixture of Montreal seasoning, paprika, chili powder, sea salt, garlic salt, and pepper). I then wrap them in saran wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours. The next day I take the ribs out and let them reach room temperature and preheat the smoker to 200 degrees and load it with Hickory pucks. I smoke the ribs at 200 degrees for 4 hours, remove them and throw them on a grill at about 500 degrees for about 2 minutes per side after I turn the ribs over I mop the side that has just been cooked with sauce, and repeat on the other side. I then turn half of the grill off, and cook the ribs using indirect heat at about 200 degrees for another 20 minutes. I let them sit for about 5 minutes before serving. The ribs turn out real tender with good flavor.     

[Infalable]

For all the Rib experts. My new BS will arrive this week. My first smoke will be ribs. I plan on smoking for 4 hours, but want to cook longer. Is there any probems with leaving the ribs in the BS and cooking for another 2 to 4 hours for fall off the rib meat? I have read that some of you'all put in the oven or grill after about 4 hours of smoke. I was hoping to leave in the BS for addl cooking time. Is this a concern?

[West Coast Kansan]

how you finish is your call and something to play with. Lots of posts to search and for the first time i would follow one that is close to whay you are thinking. This will give you a baseline to tinker from.  Ribs can be over cooked however! The grill with good HOT blast and then indirect for are few minutes is the way to add sauce IMHO.

[Gizmo]

I plan on smoking for 4 hours, but want to cook longer. Is there any probems with leaving the ribs in the BS and cooking for another 2 to 4 hours for fall off the rib meat?

If you want them falling off the bone, after your 4 hours of smoke, hit them with a spary of apple juice and wrap them in foil, then back in a low heat (under 200 F) for the next 2 hours.  You can keep them in foil without heat (wrap in towl and cooler) for another hour or so.  I would suspect if you left them in the BS for longer than 4 hours without wrapping in foil, you will end up with tasty leather but you could call it Jerky.
There are no mistakes, just new recipes.

[Infalable]

Ok both ideas seem like good advice. I wont overcook. Thanks.

[RonR]

I can vouch for the Iceman's technique.  Done them several times now and always delicious.  ;D