Doing my first baby backs this weekend.

[da toad]

Had my smoker for three weeks now.  Have done a brisket that came out tender but I did not care for the flavor, two racks of St. Louis ribs that were both top notch, a boneless Boston Butt that was a taste of heaven.

This weekend I have a 9 pound rack of baby backs and I am looking for prep, rub, smoke times and temp for them.  I have found the advise on this forum to be top notch so I figured I would ask again.

Thanks for any input guy.

 

[smokingearl]

1 cup of brown sugar


1/2 cup paprika


1 tablespoon onion powder


1 tablespoon garlic pepper


2 tablespoon sea salt


1 teaspoon cumin


1 teaspoon celery salt


1 teaspoon chilli powder


adjust to your personal taste.



remove membrane from ribs, rinse well and pat dry.


rub ribs with evoo, honey mustard, or dijon mustard, then rub with your rub.


cover with plastic and set in frigde over night.


next morning fire up smoker to 230.


put in the ribs and reset smoker to 220.


smoke for 2 hours. 


remove ribs and cover with foil, option of adding a it of beer, or lemon juice , or apple juice to bottom of foiled ribs.


return ribs to smoker for 2 hours- use no smoke..


remove ribs from foil, sauce if desired, return to smoker for an hour or until rib meat pulls away from bones 1/4-1/2 inch, or until ribs slightly crack when holding from 3/4 from one end and bent. 

 

[smokerjim]

I use a Memphis rub,i pull membrane off,put rub on over night,,i smoke them at 215 degrees for about  6 hours "give or take" depends on if you want fall off the bone or a little tug to them,i don't foil and use smoke the whole time,i usually don't eat them the day i smoke them,the next day i heat them in the oven at 300 covered in pan with some apple juice for about a 1/2 hour.sometimes i will add bbq sauce at this point and sometime i don't,there is plenty of flavor with just the rub.remember there is no wrong way you just have to try a couple different ways to see how you like them best. good luck

 

[da toad]

Thanks guys

....wife likes the sound of Smoking Earl's post and I like the sounds of SmokerJim's post.....wife wins all the time....a happy wife is a happy life

.....but Next go round will be with Jim's post.

 

[joe black]

I have used my own rub and sauce for several years, but recently used Jeff's recipe for both and really like the way it smokes. I did make a couple of small changes to reduce some of the heat and add a little sweet, but that's just a personal thing. Jeff's recipes are an excellent base to work from.

BTW, no one else has mentioned this, so maybe I'm looking at something wrong. Did I read it right that you're cooking a 9# rack? I've never heard of a rack of baby backs that big. If you do have a 9# rack of ribs, what other cut is attached? This may make a difference in the cooking temp, time, etc.

Please let me know, Thanks, Joe

 

[weedeater]

I have used my own rub and sauce for several years, but recently used Jeff's recipe for both and really like the way it smokes. I did make a couple of small changes to reduce some of the heat and add a little sweet, but that's just a personal thing. Jeff's recipes are an excellent base to work from.

BTW, no one else has mentioned this, so maybe I'm looking at something wrong. Did I read it right that you're cooking a 9# rack? I've never heard of a rack of baby backs that big. If you do have a 9# rack of ribs, what other cut is attached? This may make a difference in the cooking temp, time, etc.

Please let me know, Thanks, Joe

That was also what jumped out at me when reading this thread tonight. Maybe it is a pack of Baby Backs like they pack at Sam's and some other stores that are really 3 or 4 racks.  

 

[retfr8flyr]

 
That was also what jumped out at me when reading this thread tonight. Maybe it is a pack of Baby Backs like they pack at Sam's and some other stores that are really 3 or 4 racks.  

I'm sure he meant a 9# pack of BB ribs. That would be about right for a pack of 3 from Costco. Op I have a Kamado Joe, so my method is a little different than with your smoker. I used to make my own version of Jeff's rub but I have found Pork Candy from Runnin WIld is just too good to make my own anymore. I use the same method as SmokinEarl's,  overnight with the rub on and I cook them at 225° but I don't rap them. I prefer to cook them straight through until they pass the bend test and then baste them with sauce before I pull them.

I have big ribs, cut St. Louis style, many times but much prefer the flavor and tenderness of the BB style. Good luck with your cook.

 

[da toad]

I got the rib pack from Costco.  It is labeled Pork Loin Back Ribs (I assume baby backs?) with a weight of 8.54 lbs.  I looks to be two lengths of ribs about 1.5' long.  Hope I don't screw them up.

P1000293_zpssob2wjig.jpg

• da toad
• Sep 19, 2015

 

[floridasteve]

Those look like untrimmed spare ribs to me.

 

[paul6]

I love marinating  my ribs in Dr. Pepper Cherry over night . I am doing baby backs tomorrow and just got some Mary's Cherry Rub , it seems pretty strong so I am just going to do a light layer then top with Jeff's Rub .

 

[da toad]

 
I love marinating  my ribs in Dr. Pepper Cherry over night . I am doing baby backs tomorrow and just got some Mary's Cherry Rub , it seems pretty strong so I am just going to do a light layer then top with Jeff's Rub .

Dang that sounds good....that idea is going into my smoking bucket list....the Dr. Pepper one anyway.  "Mary's Cherry Rub"....LOL....not sure I could put that on meat with a straight face. 

Thanks for the input....is Mary's Cherry available on the net?

 

[da toad]

OK...so at 4:00 I broke out the mustard and my homemade rub.  I tried for 20 minutes to remove the membrane on the back side of the ribs.  Lord help me that is difficult and I finally gave up.  The St. Louis ribs I smoked still had the membrane on them and they were excellent.  If there is a nifty little trick/way to get that sucker off please let me know. I did use paper towels for the pull but the membrane kept ripping on the next rib. There were actually three layers of ribs in that package.  I had to cut them to get them into the smoker tomorrow.  Here they are all ready for the rub:



I used Guldens brown mustard and here they are already for their night time nappy....all rubbed and ready:





That rub certainly gave a nice smell to the kitchen while I was applying it.  Ten tomorrow morning and the smoker gets put to work....can't wait!

 

[paul6]

Yea I actually read about using Cherry rub somewhere on this Forum ..don't remember Where but I found it on Amazon . Looking at the Picks below looks like you have a good start. Good Luck !

 

[retfr8flyr]

I think you were having problems with the membrane because it wasn't there. Every time I get BB ribs from Costco they already have the membrane removed. I think what you were trying to remove is a different membrane and that's why you were having so much trouble. You should be fine with what you have and the rub looks great, just make sure they are done before you pull them. I have found the BB's from Costco are meatier than most and take a little longer to cook. My last cook with them took almost 5 hrs before the were done. 

 

[da toad]

Smoke On!   

 About five hours till the chow hall opens.

 

[da toad]

Wife awaiting on the ribs and relaxing in the back yard.

The final outcome....delicious.....I foiled half of the ribs after the first two hours smoke and did not foil the other half....the foiled ribs were more tender than the unfoiled ribs....which surprised me....both were very tasty though.  The foiled ribs more or less wanted to just fall of the bones.  Maybe a little too done for some but that is fine with me.  The unfoiled ribs needed just a light bite/pull to come away from the bones.  I applied a good coat of honey to all the ribs foiled and unfoiled.  I also hit the unfoiled ones with honey every hour.   That membrane didn't seem to affect the taste or cook at all.  I also read on another smoker forum that the individual purchasing  the rib racks from Costco said that Costco always had already removed the membrane and that is why I was having a problem with the removal....there is another thinner membrane under the first one that is very thin and does not need removal...what do I know?   Total cook time turned out to be a little longer than I anticipated...took around 6.5 hours till I felt comfortable with the draw away from the bone ends. Just happy with the results.

 

[smokingearl]

looks great, congrats!

 

[joe black]

For a couple of years, the only ribs that I have bought are the loin back ribs from Costco. They are Swifts Premium and are packed 3 to a Cryovac. They are basically baby backs with a good portion of the loin meat left on, very meaty and very tasty. These ribs don't have any membrane left on.

I run mine at 260-275* for about 3 hours with no foil. If they pass the bend test and the toothpick test, I will sauce them and let them go 20-30 minutes. The result is a rib with a little tug, but still done.

Yours looked great and had excellent color. Keep on smokin', Joe

 

[floridasteve]

Those are good looking ribs! :points:

 

[retfr8flyr]

Those came out great, congrats.