First Time Baby Back Ribs - looking to Wow the wife!

duncanc96

It was a two year convincing process to make the switch from the $299 grills to the big leagues.  Now that I am here, I have been egging everything we can think of.  Baby Back Ribs is up this weekend.  I want my wife's tastebuds to validate the investment she made in my new toy.  I am looking for the best recipe out there.  Please help a newbe out.

Ragtop99

Depends upon what you like.  You can use foil and drown them in apple juice, sauce etc. and have some good fall-off-the-bone ribs.  But those recipes can be accomplished on a $69 grill.  What wows me is making them simple and being impressed by how good the meat and smoke flavor taste. Try 5 hours at 250* with a light coating of a rub and serve that slab dry.  Make a second slab and add a couple coats of your favorite BBQ sauce in the last hour.  Then you can see the difference the egg makes.

sumoconnell

Many ways to get good results on the egg - look at turbo ribs also. 

Have fun - eat good, looks like you have the right priorities.

TonyA

As long as you turn out serviceable ribs, it really comes down to what you're telling your wife.  

If you've been jazzing her with how fall apart tender they are going to be and how tart the sauce is, well my man, you can do that in a crock pot.

I told my wife that good barbecue ribs are moist and tender with a good crust - like beef tenderloin.  So, when i brought that to the table - she was impressed.  

To this day she takes great pride on telling people what a well cooked rib should be.  I chuckle, because really, she'd eat about 2 ribs a year. The rest she eats because she loves me.

We prefer fruit woods like apple and cherry for pork and reserve oak, hickory or pecan for beef and alder for chicken and turkey.  Fruit wood smoke is mild and sweet.  I typically use 3 chunks for ribs, 5-6 for briskets and butts, 1 for chicken or turkey.

Rubs and Sauces are a dance.  Some work together; some don't.  I'd tell you to take what you have available and try it on a grilled chicken breast or pork chop together. If you don't like it .. change it up.  I'd stay away from Blues Hog first time out. I like Stubbs Sauce. Sweet Baby Rays Brown Sugar and hickory (i think it is) is the most universally appealing sauce I have used - it goes well with my rub and i apply it sparingly.

Look for uniform racks without shiners.  Medium size is best. I've cooked monster baby backs that just didn't come out as good. Peel the Membrane.  Cut the ribs down even.  That big hunk on the end that looks so awesome? will come out like wood. Cut it down.  Very little noticeable difference between mustard or oil before adding rub. I happen to use oil.

Cook to bend test and let them rest 30 mins or so before cutting.  If doing half racks .. look up the toothpick test.

Whatever you do enjoy yourself.  If your wife sees you happy vs cursing and getting all fired up that investment looks muuuch better .. 

fishlessman

i would play it safe and jump the game up to pulled pork
ribs took me a few cooks to get right

duncanc96

So far, we are finding that simple is better on most foods. I have been using apple wood on most things. The smoke taste is the difference maker for us. I also saw Dizzy Pig spices on many posts, so I ordered Dizzy Dust, Raging River, and Shakin' The Tree. I am looking for a nice and slow method. Most of the fun is enjoying the "smoke dragon" doing the work (that is what my two year old calls it). I have to be honest and say that I have totally been confused by all the methods, ie foil or no foil" sauce or no sauce. I like Ragtop99's idea of one with sauce and one without.

henapple

I told my wife that good barbecue ribs are moist and tender with a good crust - like beef tenderloin.

I've told my wife lots of things...

jtippers

TonyA said:

Whatever you do enjoy yourself.  If your wife sees you happy vs cursing and getting all fired up that investment looks muuuch better .. 

+1... This is what it is all about!

TonyA

@henapple - See, you get exactly what I'm talking about!  If I couldn't cook I'd have told they are supposed to be chewy so you have to drink more beer.  Wait .. I might be approaching this all wrong....

williamadamsesq

2-2-1 baby backs. Research removing the membrane, then coat with yellow mustard, sprinkle with rub and refrigerate overnight. Sit out for a couple of hours, start the egg, cook indirect 250 with a drip pan with water in it, put some little flattened balls of aluminum foil between the plate setter and the water pan. Smoke 2 hours, put some squeeze margarine, a sweetener (most use brown sugar, I favor agave nectar) on the ribs and foil. Give them 2 more hours in foil, then take the foil off and sauce them, cooking one more hour.

brzelt

I have to say I just got the biggest compliment from my wife and daughter when we were out for dinner a short while ago.....

The restaurant was having a rib and bbq addition to their menu (in the past two weeks I have done ribs and a butt for the first time).  They said why would we ever get ribs and bbq away from home...  my jaw about dropped!

For ribs I went EVOO and Dizzy Dust w/apple and cherry wood for smoke.  Went with Aaron Franklins method and they were unbelievable.  Next time I will wrap a little less time as I had left home to pick up a kid so they ended up being wrapped for 1 hour and 40 mins....  Still were fantastic though..

hondabbq

My first few racks were good but the ends that hung over the edge of the PS were burnt and dried out.

There are dozens upon dozens of ways to achieve perfect ribs for your tastes. Experimentation is key to find what style of ribs you like and prefer.

My only piece of advice is to get them out of the direct line of heat. I bought a 16" drip pan from a restaurant supply store and I have not had overdone ribs since.