How To Smoke Baby Back Ribs

Smoked Baby Back Ribs is one of our favorite things to make for a backyard barbecue.

They are so tender and delicious that the meat literally falls right off the bone.

Not to mention the smokey yet sweet flavor makes your mouth water even before you take the first bite.

In fact, as the ribs are cooking and the smoke begins to roll, you can almost always bet that at least one of our neighbors will show up to see what we have cooking!

But the funny thing is that we actually bought our smoker for another reason.

We absolutely have fallen in love with smoked chicken wings. They are so much healthier than traditional deep fried wings.

Not to mention that we aren’t huge fans of sticky wing sauces. We much rather take a bite into a wing that has been coated in a dry rub mixture.

We make smoked wings quite often. Not only in the summer, but we will even pull out the smoker in the middle of winter on occasion.

But I never thought about making smoked baby back ribs until I saw them on sale one day at the grocery store.

I typically don’t order ribs at our favorite barbecue restaurant. The cost of them scares me away.

Although I love the taste of the ribs, I just feel like I get more meat for my money by ordering pulled pork or chicken.

However, when I saw that I could buy a full rack of baby back ribs at the grocery for under 8 dollars, I jumped at the chance.

Smoked Baby Back Ribs

Our first smoker was powered by propane. I absolutely loved it, until I was gifted an electric smoker.

Our electric smoker seemed to hold the temperature at a much more consistent rate. And for me, that meant less worry and attention that was required when I was cooking.

But in order to get the absolute best smoked baby back ribs, there are a few steps that must be followed.

First, it is important to remove the membrane on the back of the ribs.

If the membrane is not removed, your ribs will have a fibrous tissue that is difficult to chew.

Simply place a butter knife under the membrane to loosen one end. Then, using a paper towel, pull back across the length of the ribs and the membrane will come off.

You may have to do this step a couple of times if it doesn’t come off in one whole piece.

It only takes seconds to remove it, and trust me, it is well worth it in the end!

Next is the secret to great smoked ribs. MUSTARD!

Nothing fancy, just plain yellow mustard. Spread it on both sides of the ribs before adding the dry rub.

Not only does it allow the dry rub to stick to the ribs, but it also adds another layer of subtle flavor.

The Dry Rub

Of course you could use any type of dry rub that you would like.

But we have our absolute favorite, go-to dry rub ingredients listed in this recipe.

We use it not only for our smoked baby back ribs, but this is the same dry rub that we use on our wings.

The smokey flavor of the chili powder and paprika blend perfectly with the sweetness of the brown sugar.

However, you can use whatever dry rub that you prefer.

How Long To Smoke Baby Back Ribs

The key to smoking baby back ribs is by following the famous 3-2-1 method. Well, kind of.

The 3-2-1 method refers to the cooking times.

• 3 hours of being smoked directly on the smoker racks.
• 2 hours of the ribs being steamed in a foil packet with liquid.
• 1 hour of being smoked directly on the smoker racks with barbecue sauce.

The 3-2-1- method works great for smoking a couple of racks of ribs. However, if you are just smoking one rack of ribs, the method needs a little adjustment.

You would actually use the same cooking methods but the timing changes to 2-2-1.

So instead of the initial 3 hours of smoking the ribs, you would decrease that time to 2 hours. The other methods would remain the same.

Barbecue Sauce Optional

During the final step of the cooking process, you can add barbecue sauce to the ribs if you wish.

Using a barbecue brush, coat each side of the ribs after you take them out of the foil and place them back in the smoker.

The final hour will allow the barbecue sauce to caramelize.

However, we prefer to enjoy the taste of the ribs without adding barbecue sauce.

The meat is so tender and juicy on it’s own and the meat literally just falls off the bone.

But the choice is totally up to you!

Enjoy!

Mary and Jim

Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.

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