Baby Back Rib Pre-treatment

[brewmeisterc]

Good Morning Everyone!

I'm a long time reader of this site and now first time poster. Thank you all for the great tips/threads on here, they have helped me so much through by butts and flats and birds! But now I'm digging into some baby back ribs (can't believe its taken me this long!)

I have two racks and wanted to get your opinions on how best to treat the ribs prior to smoking them. I've read through several of the ribs threads and know to remove the membrane, but what else? Do you brine/marinade or only season them the night before, or just rub/season/sauce them before throwing them on?

Was going to use the 2-2-1 method at 225 and sauce one and keep the other one dry to see which I like better, but if you all have any other tips, I would certainly appreciate it! And what internal temp do you shoot for or do you check by another method like flexing the rack, etc...?

Thank you all in advance for the help!

 

[SmokinAl]

Everybody has their own way of doing ribs.

My way is in my signature "PERFECT RIBS".

Al

 

[brewmeisterc]

Awesome write up! Thanks Al!!!

 

[brewmeisterc]

Another question, what temp do you recommend smoking if I'm going to be doing chickens and ribs at the same time, somewhere around 250 or will the chickens be OK at lower?

 

[SmokinAl]

250 will be fine or you can do them at 225. You just won't get crispy skin on the chickens.

But you can pull the chickens off at 150 & finish them on a hot grill to get crispy skin.

Al

 

[jesse624]

I use my Weber to smoke ribs with all the time.  Years ago I always would grill them and brush on BBQ sauce about 15 minutes before finishing the cook.  However, over the many years of watching this smoking forum site, I have pretty much morphed into a rub seasoning kind a guy for my pork ribs, both baby-back & Saint Louis Style cuts of ribs.  What works best for me is to take the ribs from the package about a day and a half before your intended smoke, remove the membrane from the rib side of the rack, cut away any excessive fat from the rack, then apply a layer of yellow mustard all over the rack.  I haven't found that the brand or type of mustard makes mush difference.  It is primarily used to hold the rub onto the slab.  There are hundreds of rubs for you to choose from, and even more recipes for the rub too.  You pretty much have to start trying them, or go with ones that trusted friends recommend, to start with.  But I recommend applying the rub, wrapping the rack(s) in plastic wrap and placing them in the refrigerator for about a day and a half.  On the day of the cook, remove them from the refrigerator, and set out to come to ambient temperature, while you get your fire ready for the smoke.  I smoke my ribs on indirectly on my Weber 22" grill or my Weber Smokey Mtn Smoker.  Either way of cooking, I use a temperature probe to monitor the smoke temperature on the grill.  I try to hold a temp. of about 240°​F., but any where between 225° and 260°​ works fine for the three hour smoke.  A couple of pecan wood chunks, dry not wet, on the bottom of the charcoal stack is all it takes.  After the 3 hour smoke, remove the ribs and wrap in foil wrap and set in a 225°​F oven for a hour and a half.  Open the foil warp to see if there is any grease pooling in the bottom; if so pour it off, and allow the ribs to rest for about 15 minutes.  Hope this helps you get started with that first rib smoke.