Hickory Smoked Bbq Baby Back Ribs Recipes

MEMPHIS-STYLE HICKORY-SMOKED BEEF AND PORK RIBS

Steps:

• For the rub:
• Add all ingredients to a bowl and stir until combined. Keep in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
• For the ribs:
• Rinse and dry ribs. Place on a clean cutting board and pull off the membrane, the thin fatty skin that lines the underside of the ribs. Trim the ribs of excess fat and meat. Liberally season both sides of the ribs with 1/4 to 1/2 cup Neely's BBQ Rub. Wrap ribs and refrigerate for at least 8 hours so flavors can permeate.
• Preheat grill to 250 degrees F using hickory and charcoal.
• Use indirect heat and cook with the cover down.
• Place ribs, meatier side down, on the grill away from the coals. Cook beef 2 hours, adding more coals as needed. Turn and cook for 45 minutes more, or until the ribs "bend" and the meat easily separates from the bone using a fork. Cook the pork ribs 3 hours. Turn and cook another hour, or until ribs bend. Remove from grill.
• For dry ribs: Sprinkle extra Neely's BBQ seasoning over ribs, cut bones and serve.
• For wet ribs: Coat ribs with Neely's BBQ Sauce, cut and serve.
• In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to simmer. Cooked uncovered, stirring frequently, for 1 hour 15 minutes.

SMOKED RIB RUB RECIPE

Steps:

• Mix your dry spices together in a small bowl or other container.
• If it hasn't been done already, flip your ribs over and make a small cut into the white membrane cover the back closest to one of the ends.
• Using a paper towel to help grip, slowly and gently pull the membrane down until it separates from the ribs, using a knife to clean up any scraps.
• Liberally coat both sides of your ribs in spices, rubbing into the meat to ensure everything is covered.
• Wrap the rack in plastic wrap and place on a large baking tray in the refrigerator over night and up to a full 24 hours to let the flavors develop.
• Half an hour before cook time, take your ribs from the fridge and let them start to warm up at room temperature.
• This helps them to cook more evenly while they're smoking as the inside and outside will be roughly even in temperature, avoiding overcooking the outside with a raw inside.
• Additionally, soak your wood chips in hot water at this time if you're using them instead of chunks.
• Fill your smoker halfway with charcoal and light it.
• Close the lid and allow it to start heating up.
• If you're using a thermometer, it should read around 225 degrees Fahrenheit.
• When your charcoal has burnt down and your smoker is up to temperature, add more charcoal, toss on your wood, add the grate, fill the water tank, and close the lid once again.
• This gives the wood a chance to start smoking and the new material a chance to burn.
• After another ten minutes or so, you're finally ready to cook.
• Place your ribs meat side up into the center of your smoker and close the lid.
• Depending on the type of rib you use, it'll most likely take around four hours to cook fully (baby backs run shorter, St. Louis run longer).
• You can check this by sight if the meat has begun to pull away from the bones or by temperature when a rib measures 195 degrees Fahrenheit internally.
• As your ribs smoke, make sure to monitor the levels of wood, charcoal, and water in your smoker and add more of each as needed.
• Additionally, keep the temperature consistent by adjusting the air vents, especially when introducing new fuel to the fire.
• Every half hour, spray your ribs down with apple juice or apple cider from a spray bottle.
• This both flavors the meat and helps keep the outside moist during the long cooking process.
• In the last half hour of cooking, paint on a thick layer of barbecue sauce across the meat and allow it to caramelize on the outside, though be careful not to burn it.
• If it appears to be burning, remove the ribs from the heat or tent them in aluminum foil until they're fully cooked.
• After removing your ribs from the smoker, allow them to rest half an hour at minimum while wrapped loosely in aluminum foil.
• This gives the meat a chance to relax after being cooked and lets the juices redistribute throughout, making for a more tender, flavorful, and juicy rib.
• Use this time strategically to finish any side dishes or meal prep you hadn't to gotten yet.
• Once the ribs have rested, it's time to eat.

MEMPHIS-STYLE HICKORY-SMOKED BEEF RIBS

Steps:

• Rinse and dry ribs. Place on a clean cutting board and pull off the membrane, the thin fatty skin that lines the underside of the ribs. Trim the ribs of excess fat and meat. Liberally season both sides of each slab with 1/4 to 1/2 cup Neely's BBQ Dry Rub. Wrap ribs with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours so flavors can permeate.
• Preheat grill to 250 degrees F. using hickory and charcoal. Use indirect heat and cook with the cover down.
• Place ribs, meatier side down, on the grill away from the coals. Cook beef 2 hours, adding more coals as needed. Turn and cook for 45 minutes more, or until the ribs "bend" and the meat easily separates from the bone using a fork. Remove from grill.
• For dry ribs: Sprinkle extra Neely's BBQ Dry Rub over ribs, cut between the bones and serve.
• In a bowl stir together the paprika, sugar and onion powder until combined. Keep in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

MEATHEAD'S LAST MEAL RIBS RECIPE

Steps:

• Prep. Rinse the ribs in cool water to remove any bone bits from the butchering.
• If the butcher has not removed the membrane from the under side, do it yourself. It gets leathery and hard to chew, it keeps fat in, and it keeps sauce out. To remove it, insert a butter knife under the membrane, then your fingers, work a section loose, grip it with a paper towel, and peel it off. If you can't get the skin off, with a sharp knife, cut slashes through it every inch so some of the fat will render out during the cooking. Click here to see more photos of how to skin 'n' trim ribs and here's a quickie 1 minute video of the technique.
• Trim the excess fat from both sides of the rack of ribs.
• Next it is time to add the salt. The rule of thumb is 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt per pound of meat, but ribs are about 50% bone, so use about 1/4 teaspoon per pound. You can simply eyeball it by sprinkling on the same amount of salt you would sprinkle on the ribs if they were served to you unsalted. If you can, give the salt 1 to 2 hours to be absorbed. The process of salting in advance is called dry brining.
• Before adding a BBQ rub, be aware of double salt jeopardy! Rubs and spice blends are a great way to add flavor to meat, but almost all commercial rubs contain salt so be careful not to pre-salt the ribs if you plan on using one of these rubs otherwise they will be unbearably salty. Also note that some ribs sold in grocery stores are labeled as "enhanced" or "flavor enhanced" or "self-basting" or "basted," meaning that they have been injected with a brine at the packing plant so if you are using these you probably want to use a rub that doesn't include salt like our Meathead's Memphis Dust recipe.Some folks insist on putting the barbecue rub on the night before, but it isn't necessary. The molecules in spices are too large to penetrate more than a tiny fraction of an inch. Read this for the science.
• Before applying the rub, just coat the meat with a thin layer of water. The water helps dissolve the spices. A lot of cooks like to use mustard under the rub as a form of glue. Mustard is water, vinegar, and maybe white wine (all mostly water) with mustard powder mixed in. The amount of mustard powder is so small that by the time the water steams off and drips away, the mustard powder remaining is miniscule. My experience is that using a mustard slather makes little or no difference in the final outcome. If you want a mustard flavor, you will do much better by simply sprinkling it on the meat. Once wet, sprinkle enough Meathead's Memphis Dust to coat all surfaces but not so much that the meat doesn't show through. That is about 2 tablespoons per side depending on the size of the slab. Spread the Memphis Dust on the meat and rub it in.
• Fire up. Pre-heat your barbecue smoker or set up your grill for 2-zone (indirect) cooking. Adjust the dampers on your cooker to bring the temperature to about 225°F and try to keep it there throughout the cook. Cooking at 225°F will allow the meat to roast low and slow, liquefying the collagen in connective tissues and melting fats without getting the proteins knotted in a bunch. It's a magic temp that creates silky texture, adds moisture, and keeps the meat tender. If you can't hit 225°F, get as close as you can. Don't go under 200°F and try not to go over 250°F.When monitoring the cooker temperature you can absolutely positively noway nohow rely on bi-metal dial thermometers. If you are not monitoring your cooker with a good digital oven thermometer, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Using a dial thermometer is like trying to send email with a typewriter. Click here to read my buyer's guide to thermometers.Once you have reached the desired temperature, add about 4 ounces of dry wood, placing it as close to the flame as possible.
• Cook. Put the slabs in the cooker in indirect heat, meaty side up, close the lid, go drink a beer, read a book, or make love.
• When the smoke dwindles after 20 to 30 minutes, add another 4 ounces of wood. After that, DO NOT add any more wood. On your first attempt, resist the temptation. Nothing will ruin a meal faster and waste money better than over-smoked meat. You can always add more the next time you cook, but you cannot take it away if you over-smoke.
• If you have more than one slab on, halfway through the cook you will need to move the ribs closest to the fire away from the heat, and the slabs farthest from the flame in closer. Leave the meat side up. There is no need to flip the slabs. You can peek if you must, but don't leave the lid open for long.
• This next step is known as the Texas Crutch. This optional trick involves wrapping the slab in foil with about an ounce of water for up to an hour to speed cooking and tenderize a bit. Almost all barbecue ribs competition cooks use the Texas Crutch to get an edge. But the improvement is really slight and I never bother for backyard cooking. If you crutch too long you can turn the meat to mush and time in foil can soften the bark and remove a lot of rub. I recommend it only for barbecue competitions when the tiniest improvement can mean thousands of dollars. Skip it and you'll still have killer ribs. But if you've seen it on TV and must try it, click here to learn more about The Texas Crutch. The Texas Crutch is it is baked into a popular technique called the 3-2-1 method which I do not recommend. Two hours in foil or butcher paper is far too long and can make the meat mushy. Try the Texas Crutch after you master the basics.
• For cooking time, allow 5 to 7 hours for St. Louis Cut (SLC) Ribs or Spare Ribs, and 3 to 5 hours for Baby Back Ribs. Thicker, meatier slabs take longer. If you use rib holders so they are crammed close to each other, add another hour.
• When it is time to find out whether or not the ribs are ready, we us the bend test (a.k.a. the bounce test). Although we insist that you buy a good digital meat thermometer for most smoking and grilling, this is one of the few meats on which you cannot use a meat thermometer because the bones have an impact on the meat temp and because the meat is so thin. To conduct the bend test, pick up the slab with tongs and bounce it gently. If the surface cracks as in the picture above, it is ready. Here are some other tricks to tell when ribs are ready.
• Once the ribs are done cooking it is time to add the sauce unless you intend to serve them "dry" like they do in Memphis. The key to saucing ribs is to go easy on it so that the meat can shine through. Simply paint both sides of the rack with your favorite home made barbecue sauce or store-bought barbecue sauce and cook for another 15 minutes or so. Don't put the sauce on earlier than that. It has sugar and there is a risk it can burn. Now here's a trick I like: Sizzle on the sauce. Put the ribs with sauce directly over the hottest part of a grill in order to caramelize and crisp the sauce. On a charcoal grill, just move the slab over the coals. On a gas grill, crank up all the burners. On a water smoker, remove the water pan and move the meat close to the coals. On an offset smoker, put a grate over the coals in the firebox and put the meat there. With the lid open so you don't roast the meat from above, sizzle the sauce on one side and then the other. The sauce will actually sizzle and bubble. Stand by your grill and watch because sweet sauce can go from caramelized to carbonized in less than a minute! One coat of a thick sauce should be enough, but if you need two, go ahead, but don't hide all the fabulous flavors under too much sauce. If you think you'll want more sauce, put some in a bowl on the table.
• Serve. Once sauced, slice the rack between the bones. If you've done all this right, you will notice that there is a thin pink layer beneath the surface of the meat. This does not mean it is undercooked! It is the highly prized smoke ring caused by the combustion gases and the smoke. It is a sign of Amazing Ribs. Now plate, serve to your guests, and take a bow when the applause swells from the audience.

HICKORY-SMOKED BABY BACK RIBS

Steps:

• The Rainford Method
• For the ribs, stir together the sugar, salt, smoked paprika, chili powder, regular paprika, onion powder, black pepper and thyme. Set aside.
• With a small, sharp knife, release the edge of the membrane on the back of each rack of ribs. Grasp the edge with needle-nose pliers or a piece of paper towel and peel the membrane off the rack. (If you leave the membrane on, the ribs will be chewy.)
• Spread the dry rub all over each rack of ribs until completely coated. Make sure you press the dry rub into the meat. This is where your flavor is going to come from. Arrange the ribs in a rib rack, with all the racks facing the same direction. A rib rack has 8 slab compartments, looks like a rack of coat hangers and can be purchased at most barbecue stores.
• Fire up your charcoal grill and prep the grill for cooking over indirect heat. You need a low temperature of around 250 to 300°F (120 to 150°C) to grill the ribs. For gas grills, preheat the grill to low then turn off one side of the grill to achieve indirect heat. Place a drip tray on the cooler side of the grate and half fill the pan with warm water or the beer of your choice.
• Drain 2 chunks of hickory, place them on top of the charcoal and set the grate in place. For gas barbecues, place half of the hickory chips in a foil pouch and place the pouch directly on the heated side of the grill. Wait for the hickory to start to smoke.
• Place the rib racks over indirect heat as far from the heat as possible, with the bone sides facing toward the heat. Close the lid and close the top vent on a charcoal grill about halfway. This will maintain a temperature between 250 and 300°F (120 and 150°C). Cook the ribs for 2 hours.
• Once the ribs are on, it's time to start working on the barbecue sauce. If you have a side burner this can be done outside. If you don't, go inside and use your stove top to simmer your sauce. Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until the sauce reaches a glaze consistency. Remove the saucepan from the heat and set aside to cool.
• The first batch of charcoal should be cooling down after 2 hours. Now is the time to use your chimney starter and get another batch of charcoal lit. Add the remaining wood chunks to the coals to get a little more smoke. If using a gas grill, wrap the remaining chips in foil and place directly on the hotter side of the grate. Close the lid and grill for another 2 hours. Make sure to come back every hour on the hour to check the temperature and to add more charcoal, if necessary. In the last hour of grilling, your ribs will start to show signs of cooking all the way through. When the meat pulls back from the bone, the ribs are almost ready. Baste the ribs with the barbecue sauce during the last 5 to 10 minutes of cooking. I like to tent my ribs before serving, so take them off the grill and let them rest, loosely covered with foil, for 10 minutes.

HICKORY SMOKED/BBQ BABY BACK RIBS

Steps:

• Combine the salt, sugar and water in a large plastic container or non-reactive stock pot.
• Place ribs in brine and refrigerate for one hour.
• Meanwhile, combine all rub ingredients except sugar and grind into a green thick liquid with a food processor, blender or immersion blender.
• Remove ribs from the brine (after the hour) and pat dry with paper towels.
• Brush or rub green liquid over both sides of the ribs, sprinkle with sugar and wrap tightly with plastic wrap.
• Place in refrigerator for a minimum of one hour, but preferably 4 hours, you can go overnight for a really flavorful treat.
• Wood/Charcoal method: Soak 2 large chunks of hickory in water. Light about 40-50 coals or you may also use an equal amount of dry hickory chunks for an intense smoke flavor.
• Do not use lighter fluid, a fire starter chimney is the best method.
• Once coals are covered with a gray ash push them over to one side put the soaked hickory chunks on the coals and replace the grate, form a pan with some heavy aluminum foil large enough for the rib, put it on the cool side of the grill, place the ribs in the"pan" add about 1 cup of water and put the cover on the grill with the holes over the meat.
• Turn the meat 180 degrees and over every 30 minutes.
• Add some more coals/wood in about 2 hours.
• Smoke ribs for a total of 4 hours.
• Gas Grill: I don't recommend this as it can leave a very slight chemical gas taste to the meat, but it does work.
• It's the same basic technique as the charcoal method, light the grill and turn off half (or 2/3rds) of the burners, use soaked hickory chips in a throw away aluminum pan on top of the hot side of the grill.
• For either method the temp inside the grill should be around 275°F with a total cooking time of 4 hours.
• Serve with your favorite bbq sauce. Se like recipe#26794, Lee Lee's Famous Barbecue Sauce for Ribs w/ Preserves.
• Brush some on the meat for the last 5-10 minutes of the cooking process if desired.