Baby Back Ribs are the perfect thing to serve at a cookout watching football or anytime during the summer.
Even if you don’t watch football, these ribs are KILLER! Honestly, is there anything better than smoked pork? I’ll wait…. ok then! Now that we have that settled, let’s talk about this rib recipe I have perfected. Ever since I got a smoker a couple years ago, I have been working on making the perfect rack of baby back ribs. Everyone has their own method and preferences, but I like for ribs to be super tender and come off the bone easily. I like a lot of flavor and a sweet with a little spice kick in my sauce.
I use the 3-2-1 method for my ribs which I’ll go into detail more about later. For now, let’s discuss the first step – removing the membrane. Not all ribs will come with a membrane, but if it does you need to remove it. All you have to do is grab the corner and pull, and the membrane should come off easily.
Once the membrane is off, they should look like this:
The first thing you want to put on your ribs is the seasoning rub. You can use whatever you want! There are so many rubs out there. If you don’t know where to start, I recommend going to a local grilling store or farmer’s market and asking someone who sells bbq sauces and rubs to give you advice.
I like to rub a thin layer of mustard on my ribs before applying the seasoning rub. This tacks up the rub and helps it stick to the meat better. You will not be able to taste mustard at all in the final product. For this particular time, I used French’s spicy brown mustard but literally any mustard will do. apply mustard and rub to both sides of the ribs, even the underside.
I let them rest like this in the fridge for 30 minutes, then I put them in the smoker for 3 hours, putting new chips in every 30 minutes for the first 1.5 hours. After that, there’s no need to add additional chips because the meat can only absorb so much smoke flavor. This 3 hour period is the first part of the 3-2-1 method. During this 3 hours they are unwrapped directly on the rack, with the bone side down.
Once the first 3 hours of smoking is done, then I wrap them for the next 2 hours. I wrap the racks in foil with the meat side facing down. Before I wrap them, I drizzle honey, sprinkle brown sugar, squirt margarine, and sprinkle additional rub on both sides. This is the ONLY TIME I will ever tell you to use margarine in cooking ever. The squirt kind just works well here even though I cringe when I think about using margarine!
For the last hour of smoking, I sauce them up and lay them back on the smoking rack UNWRAPPED with the bone side down. For these ribs, I used the Sweet with a Little Heat sauce from Carolina Cooker. Carolina Cooker is a brand of cookware and bbq accessories from the Agri Supply in Garner, NC and they gave me a bottle of this sauce to cook with. It was perfect for ribs and I loved the flavor! I’ll definitely be using it more often. Here’s the link if you’d like to check it out: https://www.agrisupply.com/carolina-cooker-sauces-spices/c/6200046/
Once they’re done smoking that last hour, they are ready to sauce one more time then serve! I like to be generous when brushing on my sauce but nothing excessive. You want the meat flavor to shine through, especially after it took 6 hours to build that smoke flavor! Good things come to those who wait.
I made this particular recipe for Labor Day and they were devoured so quick! Everyone loved them and I have some pretty tough critics in my family, especially when it comes to meat. If you’re considering purchasing a smoker, I would HIGHLY recommend it. Smokers do all the work for you and deliver a flavor that’s simply unbeatable. Also if you’re reading this and you’re a girl… girls can smoke meat and grill too! I highly encourage women to jump out of their comfort zone in and out of the kitchen. Don’t be afraid to try something that society says if for men. *steps off soapbox*
Here’s the full recipe! I hope you love them as much as I do! These ribs are a PRIZE dish I love serving to people. They are damn good!
Smoked Baby Back Ribs
Equipment
- Meat Smoker
Ingredients
- 2 racks baby back ribs
- 3 tbsp spicy brown mustard
- 4 tbsp rib seasoning rub
- 1 1/2 cups pecan wood chips
- 4 tbsp squirtable margarine (such as Parkay)
- 4 tbsp squirtable honey
- 4 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce of your choice
Instructions
- Remove the membranes from the ribs if necessary. Rub a thin layer of mustard on both sides of the ribs then sprinkle them all over with rib seasoning rub. Use about 3 tbsp of seasoning rub here, reserving 1 tbsp for later.
- Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees Farenheit. Let the ribs rest in the fridge for 30 minutes before starting to smoke them. Let the ribs smoke for 3 hours, uncovered directly on the smoking rack, bone side down. Put 1/2 cup of the wood chips in every half hour for the first hour and a half.
- Remove the ribs from the smoker and lay them down on a sheet of foil. On each side of each rack of rib, squirt 1 tbsp margarine, 1 tbsp honey, and 1 tbsp brown sugar. Wrap them up meat side down and smoke for another 2 hours at 225.
- Remove the ribs and take off foil covering. Brush each side with a layer of BBQ sauce and put them back in the smoker, bone side down, uncovered. Smoke for 45 mins – 1 hr at 275 degrees. Remove from the smoker, brush with another general layer of BBQ sauce and serve hot!
