Baby back ribs on the Big Green Egg or your own brand of smoker
INGREDIENTS
2 Slabs nice meaty baby back ribs, thawed, rinsed and patted dry
olive oil or Pam; spray can works best
Rib Rub
Turkey bake-in bag
chunk charcoal
CURED wood chunks for smoking; I prefer about 1/3 Mesquite, 1/3 blackjack oak and 1/3 pecan. Blackjack isn't available everywhere, so regular oak is OK. Hickory is good also. I never use green wood nor do I soak mine.
Lay the ribs in a cookie sheet, bony side up. Spray a fine coat of olive oil on the ribs and add a generous coating of your rubb. I use the #2 almost exclusively.
Turn the ribs over, spray the other side with the olive oil and generously coat the meaty side with the rub. Place into the bake-in bag overnight in the frige. I like to prepare them the day before if I can, but I don't always have that luxury.
I usually add a few chunks of wood to the smoker before I add the burning charcoal on top. I use the chunk charcoal in the Egg, and I start it using the chimney device so I don't have to use charcoal lighter. Add the hot charcoal to the smoker and place the rest of the smoking wood on top. I usually use about 2 or 3 medium size chunks of each on top of the coals. Mesquite is a great smoking wood, but it doesn't take a lot to make the meat bitter, so go easy with it until you learn how much to use.
When the coals are ready, I place the ribs on the grill bony side down. If I cook more than 2 slabs, I use a rib rack but prefer they lie flat. I also cook directly over the coals instead of indirect because I like them to brown a bit. If you insist on a brush on sauce, I recommend Woody's Cooking Sauce.
I set the smoker to cook at about 250 degrees Farenheit or a bit below. It takes about 2 and 1/2 to 3 hours usually for baby backs; much more and they will just fall apart. I start checking them after about 2 hours. The hardest part is deciding when they are done; when a toothpick penetrates the meat easily they are done; look for the ribs to starting pulling away from the ends of the bones.
I like to let them sit for a few minutes until they cool before slicing them up. If you are transporting them say to Grandma's house, wrap them in aluminum foil, and then in a beach towel or two and put them in your small beer cooler. They will stay warm for a couple hours.
Enjoy.
A few comments on rubs...There are a couple commercial rubs I like very much. The first is Bad Byron's Butt Rubb. It is an excellent rub, but it is too spicy for most folks, especially the kids. I also like Cain's BBQ Rub; it is milder and has a great flavor, but it does contain MSG. I have formulated my own rubs; the recipes are below. The # 1 is as close to Bad Byron's Butt Rubb as I could get, but here again, it's fairly spicy hot. The #2 is what I use almost exclusively any more; not too hot for the kids and everyone seems to like it really well.
Sorry, these recipes make a pretty good size batch, but I use a lot of the #2. If you want less, you'll have to go to the conversion charts and cut it down some. When I'm cooking just for myself and Sharn Jean, I usually add a little extra garlic directly to the ribs during the prep phase. There are a lot of prep variations I have used; I often will spread a couple tablespoons of yellow mustard on the ribs, gives them just a hint of vinegar, but here again, you can get too much if you aren't careful.
D.G.'s #1 Rib Rub
1 Cup Paprika
2/3 Cup Black pepper ( mix of regular and coarse ground)
1/2 Cup Granulated Garlic
3 TBSP Salt (fine sea salt; no Iodine added)
3 TBSP Granulated Onion
3 TBSP Chipotle Powder
D.G.'s #2 Rib Rub
1 Cup Paprika
2/3 Cup Black Pepper (mix of regular and coarse ground)
1/2 Cup Granulated Garlic
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar (light)
1/3 Cup white Sugar
1/3 Cup Ginger
3 TBSP Salt (fine sea salt; no Iodine added)
3 TBSP Granulated Onion
3 TBSP Chipotle Powder
3 TBSP Lemon Pepper
3 TBSP Celery Seed
