Smoking Baby Backs

Baby Back Ribs might be the easiest meat you can smoke.  It’s certainly one of the most popular. There isn’t a lot of meat, so it will simply cook faster. They also require some unique cooking techniques because of that. For most people, “fall off the bone” has become the buzz-word and goal when the cook baby back ribs.  Many of the techniques involve boiling the ribs.  I’ve done this myself multiple times with varying degrees of success.  I’ve even boiled them in Coco-Cola (which, although I won’t do again, I do recommend).

The problem with boiling, in my opinion, is you are artificially adding moisture to the meat.  I recognize that doesn’t matter when in the end all you’re after is tasty ribs.  That said, the older I get the more and more I subscribe to my father’s way of thinking:  Meat should taste like meat. Seasonings, sauces, and dressings should COMPLEMENT the meats natural flavor… not replace them. If you marinate chicken long enough, it won’t taste like chicken, it will taste like marinade.

So, in that strategy, I present two flavor complements I used this time on our smoked ribs.

As always, the first steps are the same.  I’m using Mesquite charcoal in the 55 gallon drum smoker. I’ll be adding Hickory wood chips in the beginning and the end as well. These need to soak for about an hour. Other than that, there’s not much prep work.

I’m aiming to keep a consistent temp of 220 degrees in the smoker.  It’ll take me 30 minutes to get the coals consistent… and it took me a little longer this time.  The outside temperature can affect the thermometer, especially with rain, so its useful to do an internal check as well as rely on the mounted thermometer.

When my temp finally gets up to 220 or so, I’ll fill the basin with water

Now that my fire is getting set, Its time to prep the ribs. I’m not marinating over night of anything like that.  I want these flavors to complement the pork, not cover it up.

Before you dress the ribs, I recommend removing the membrane on the back. You can eat the membrane, I did for years without knowing any better.  It will however prevent the smoke from penetrating the meat. So, it’s worth the 30 seconds of effort to take it off.

Use the back of a spoon and wedge it in between the ribs and the membrane.  Once you get a good handle, use a paper towel to pull it back slowly.  If you’re careful (and a little lucky) you’ll get the whole thing in one pass.

Once you’ve got that off, rinse the rack off in cold water and pat dry with another paper towel.

My first rack is going to be dusted with a lemon pepper seasoning followed by a liberal wet rub of yellow mustard.  Yes, yellow mustard.  Nothing fancy, no brown, coarsely ground, spicy mustard.  Just yellow mustard.  A friend of mine suggested it and it is fantastic on white meats.

Prepared…

My second rack is going to be a bit of an experiment.  I’ve been using Chile de Arbol on a few different items over the last year.  It’s spicy, but cooks off a bit and has a very unique and delicious flavor.  Translate: “Chile of the Tree”. It’s about as spicy as a jalapeno, but with a very distinct nutty flavor.  Fantastic stuff, but I’m still working out what complements it the best.   Sea Salt is a must, but something with some sweetness (apple juice, honey, etc) really helps.  This time, I’m going to baste halfway thought with a semi-sweet and spicy barbecue sauce made by “Stubb’s”.  Personally, I don’t think you can find a better bbq sauce (and their bar in Austin, TX is awesome).

Now that the racks are ready, I’m going to confirm the smoker is moving and lay them down;

At this point, I’m looking at around 4 hours of cook time.  Baked Potatoes seemed like a good fit for heavy flavors.  The beautiful thing about potatoes is how “hands-off” they are.  You can bake a potato for hours and hours… so 4 should do. 450 degrees on a sheet.  Thats it… so simple, I didn’t even get a photo.

After two hours they’ll need to be checked on.  I’m going to rotate them, baste the Chile de Arbol rack and ensure my heat is consistent. Since the heat isn’t direct, I shouldn’t need to flip them frequently.  The water basin disperses much of the heat, and the lid should create an even flow.  But, I want to baste both sides, so I’m going to anyway.

Then the flip…

Then, let them smoke for another hour….

It’s been around 3 and half hours and everyone here looks like they’re starving, so I’m going to pull them.

I’ll check the temp of the meat to confirm they’re cooked.  Then, to be sure I cut into both racks and take a look.

Perfect.  I’ll take them inside and let them rest for 20 minutes.  In the meantime I’ve pulled the potatoes.

You may notice these aren’t covered in fatty sour cream and butter.  These are fantastic just the way they are…

It would be a shame to put the ribs on a paper plate… so I always strive for a nice presentation.

And….  done

Plated….

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Naturally, the dog wants to know where his plate is.  Sorry dude, no cooked bones for you.