Baby Back Ribs

wicz · May 25, 2007, 01:16:48 PM

I will be doing 2 racks of Baby Back Ribs this weekend. This is my first time doing them. I am picking them up tonight from Sam's Club. I am going to smoke them at 225 degrees F. From reading other posts, I t hink it should take about 6hrs for them to be done. I am going to hickory and apple pucks, and apple juice in the water bowl. Maybe spritz them with apple juice every once in while. I will be posting pictures of the ribs too. Does anyone else have any pointers for me?

icerat4 · May 25, 2007, 01:46:06 PM

hey i do sams clubs all the time so your doing 14-15 pounds huh.Thats 2 cryo vac bags sams are 7-8 pounds a cryo with 3 full slabs in each.Remove the membrane.225 is way too high in my 2 cnts 195-205 for 4 hours of smoke then another 3-4 hours at the same temp with apple jucie sprayed on between hours.I take mine out of the bs and put in a nice foil pan with foil on top and cook the rest in the oven at 190

see its the steam and heat that do there magic when in the foil .That will give ya nice fall off the bone .see the rib bone above .How clean it is.Thats what ya want.Very inportant to take off the membrane of the ribs other wise there chewie.Some will say different on the temps but ive done so many sams clubs ribs i cant tell ya how many slabs hundreds .so i know my method is a ok.So let us know what happens and hope this help ya out a lil to get great ribs.Ask around here many have follow this and its a winner for sure.

See the way i see it is i have a convection oven for real nice heat and so i do it that way also so i can enclose all the ribs in foil and sprits apple juice to get the steamin going let us know and welcome here.Lots of folks with great info so enjoy your new toy and have a great weekend.

wicz · May 25, 2007, 02:06:21 PM

icerat, Thank you very much for the help. How long in the oven?

Wildcat · May 25, 2007, 02:19:11 PM

Rat's method does work very well.

iceman · May 25, 2007, 02:26:56 PM

Just under 200 and low and slow. Rat is spot on with the times. A clean pull away from the bone is just right. Another thing I see folks do if the membrane won't pull off without tearing the meat is they slit the membrane down the bone. Only had to try that once and it wasn't to bad but I still try to get the membrane off whenever I can. Sams has always been consistant with the ribs I've purchased from them. Nice and meaty and good size racks. The oven trick is great for finishing. Lots of free time when company is over and easy serve when the time comes.

I can see it now: RATS RIB SHACK AND AUTO BODY REPAIR
Bring us your wrecks and we will give you our racks! ;D :D ;)

icerat4 · May 25, 2007, 02:27:27 PM

In the oven 3-4 hours.Just check as you go along .But at the 3 hour mark your getting close so do a twist on a rib or a lil cut thru to see how its going.Ya should be real close to done .

icerat4 · May 25, 2007, 02:29:27 PM

Nice ice . ;D ;D ;D

wicz · May 25, 2007, 02:52:09 PM

Icerat. I want to make sure I understand you. You said "my 2 cnts 195-205 for 4 hours of smoke then another 3-4 hours at the same temp with apple jucie sprayed on between hours." That would be 8hrs total? I just want to make sure I am understanding you correctly.

icerat4 · May 25, 2007, 03:01:28 PM

7-8 hours total correct for 15-17 pounds of ribs.Baby back ribs from sams club.

wicz · May 25, 2007, 03:03:56 PM

Thank you so much for all the info. Now If I wanted to reheat them on sunday, what would be the best way to do it? In the oven? What temp and how long? Sorry for all the question, still a newbee at smoking.

icerat4 · May 25, 2007, 03:11:24 PM

I shrink my in whats called a foodsaver its a cryo vac machine .very handie but you could just nuke them 3 mins per 1 half slab .that will not dry them out as they will be very very tender done my way.So dont worry about dry ribs just heat them up in the nuker.fast and easy.

icerat4 · May 25, 2007, 03:15:46 PM

o dont worry about question feel free.No dumb question .Ya may get dumb answers lol.

wicz · May 25, 2007, 08:50:12 PM

Icerat, Thank you again. I also have a foodsaver. I will cryo vac when I am done smoking them. I have all the racks rubbed down and in the frig for the night. I got about 9 or 10 lbs of ribs. I am going to fire up the smoker early tomorrow. Maybe around 8am. I see a Chicago Blackhawk sign, are you from Chicago???

MWS · May 25, 2007, 09:35:51 PM

Because rib cook times vary for a number of reasons, the way I tell whether ribs are cooked to perfection is to use the "tear test". Take hold of two adjacent bones toward the middle of the slab and give them a pull. If the meat offers a bit of resistance but then tears easily, you know the ribs are done just right IMHO.

Habanero Smoker · May 26, 2007, 02:56:08 AM

If you are going to be reheating on Sunday, I would skip vacuum sealing. When storing ribs always wrap in plastic first. Don't let the ribs come in contact with the foil over a length of time. I found that when I wrap smoked food directly in foil for long time storage, either chemicals from the smoke and/or salts in the rubs react to the aluminum. Store them in the refrigerator. Just before reheat, remove plastic wrap apply a splash of apple juice, or you favorite sauce and tightly seal in aluminum foil and reheat in an oven. I used to reheat at 300°F to 350°F, but now reheat 250°F to 300°F. This can take about 30 minutes to an hour; depending on how much food is being reheated and the temperature of the food prior to reheating.

I have also used a technique called "Flash reheating" on ribs that works well on the grill or in the oven. For spare ribs I cut the ribs into their individual servings, but for baby back you can reheat without cutting first. Set food out at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours; lay single layer on a cookie sheet or grill and reheat at 425°F - 475°F for 2 - 10 minutes; depending on the cut. During this time you can hit them with another application of sauce or mop. The theory is to bring the meat up to a safe reheat temperature quickly; preventing it from recooking.