Easy Competition Quality Babyback Ribs Recipes

Steps:

• For the rub: The day before cooking, mix the turbinado sugar, salt, paprika, chili powder, granulated garlic, onion powder, ground cumin, ground mustard, cayenne pepper and black pepper together.
• For the ribs: Take a slab of ribs and turn over so the curved side is up. Using your fingernail or a knife, pry under the membrane until you can put your finger under it and then pull it off.
• Sprinkle this side of the ribs with about 1 tablespoon rub, and then about 1 tablespoon yellow mustard. Use the mustard to help evenly distribute the seasoning. Turn the ribs over and repeat the process. Cover and store in the refrigerator overnight.
• To cook, start a smoker and bring the temp to 200 degrees F. Use apple or cherry wood chunks to provide smoke and flavor. Place the ribs in the smoker, curved side down. Smoke for 2 hours at 200 degrees F, and then raise the temperature to 250 degrees F for about 2 1/2 hours. Check for tenderness by testing if the bones will pull apart with a slight bit of pressure. If they are still tough, allow to cook for another 30 minutes.
• Remove from the smoker. For dry-style ribs, sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon rub. For wet-style ribs, glaze with the BBQ sauce.

Steps:

• Place ribs in a 5-qt. slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the onion, ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, tomato paste, paprika, Worcestershire, mustard, salt and pepper; pour over ribs. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until meat is tender., Remove ribs to a serving platter; keep warm. Skim fat from cooking juices; transfer juices to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil., Combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Gradually stir into the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with ribs.

Steps:

• Remove silver skin from bone side of ribs. Never used to do this, but now understand why the pros do. Using the tine of a dinner fork helps get things started, then it just peels off.
• Put a large sheet of foil on the counter and place the ribs meat side down. You want enough foil to VERY lightly wrap (or tent) the ribs for grilling.
• All the spice measurements above are estimates. We like things a bit on the zippy side, but not burning hot -- just a little bite. With that said, we season the bone side of the ribs heavy with garlic powder, medium heavy with cayenne, medium heavy with pepper, and light with salt. Really hard to over do it, as after 4+ hours on the grill, the spices seem to mellow.
• Flip the ribs and repeat the seasoning. Again, may look heavy, but the flavors kinda vanish during cooking. Why you need to try it once and adjust to taste the 2nd time. I never taste the garlic no matter how much I put on, but the cayenne does adjust the spiciness. Even when we go pretty heavy with the cayenne, it is not over-powering.
• Lightly wrap the ribs. You want to create a tent on top so the foil does not touch the meat. Pull up the ends lightly and seal. You do want to seal things so moisture does not escape. You can put these in the fridge all day, or put on the grill immediately.
• I have a Weber Genesis gas grill that has a front, center and rear burner. Don't have to pre-heat, but I only turn on the front burner to low-medium -- grill will heat to about 250 degrees. Place the ribs towards the rear of the grill (away from the burner). Leave them there for 2 hours. Nothing you need to do except make sure the temp stays around 250. 200 is fine, 300 is fine -- but lower seems to produce better results.
• After 2 hours, open the foil and coat with BBQ sauce. Should be a lot of juice in the foil at this point. If not, add some water, beer, or something. Re-seal the foil and let them go another 2 hours.
• Now the tricky part. Pull the ribs towards the front the grill. Get a couple wide spatulas, open the foil, and carefully lift the rack of ribs from the foil and place directly on the center of the grill. At this point, the ribs will be pretty much done. Remove the foil from the grill. Turn on all the burners and coat the ribs with sauce. Close the lid. Things should start smoking from the sauce dripping and burning. If things are not smoking, turn up the heat. Keep an eye on things at this point. You do want a nice char, but you don't want to overdo it. Maybe 10-20 minutes for this step.
• Get the 2 spatulas and remove to a cookie sheet or platter. Enjoy.
• If you like Sweet Baby Ray's Original, you will like these. Fall off the bone every single time, and they require very little effort or attention. You can adjust the base seasoning to your liking. I have made these with the same general recipe and process from anywhere between 3 hours and 6 hours with very little loss in outcome. Hence the reason I call it "no fail".

Steps:

• Remove membrane from ribs. Wipe ribs with papertowels to remove excess moisture (helps butter to stick). rub butter onto both sides of ribs. Rub until butter doesnt slide off easily. Sprinkle (dont rub) the sweet & smoky spice onto both sides of ribs until completely and generously covered.
• Take 2 pieces of foil approximately 6in longer than the ribs and fold/crease the long edges together. Place the foil in a roasting pan or baking sheet that is large enough for the ribs to lay flat and not be pushed up on the sides. Place ribs meat side up in foil and pull up edges leaving a small opening at the top. Pour water into foil around the ribs but not on the ribs and then seal top of foil so as to leave room between the ribs and the top of the foil.(This will allow the water steam to circulate throughout the ribs making them moist and juicy.).
• Bake at 300 degrees for 3 hours Open top of foil and brush BBQ sauce onto ribs and cook 20 more minutes with foil open. Remove from oven and top with extra BBQ sauce to taste.

Steps:

• For the basic BBQ rub: Using a coffee grinder, grind the turbinado sugar with a few "pulses" until it is lightly powdered. Combine with the granulated sugar, salt, onion powder, granulated garlic, cayenne, black pepper, mustard, chili powder, cumin and paprika in a bowl and hand stir until well incorporated. Store in an airtight container.
• For the BBQ mother sauce: In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low if the onion is cooking too fast--you don't want it caramelized or browned. As the onion is getting close, add the garlic and cook until lightly golden, about 2 minutes longer. Add the ketchup, honey, tomato paste, vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire, dry mustard, cayenne and black pepper and stir well. Slowly add up to 1/2 cup water until the sauce reaches the consistency you like. A slightly thick consistency is best. Add about 3 tablespoons of the basic BBQ rub, stir well and taste. The sauce should have a good, well-rounded flavor. Add more of the basic BBQ rub in 1-tablespoon increments until your desired flavor is achieved, up to about 1/2 cup total. Cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
• For the ribs: Rinse the ribs and remove the membrane from the back. Trim any excess fat from the tops of the slabs. Trim 1 bone from the large end of the ribs and 2 bones from the small end. This will give you a much more consistent slab for cooking.
• Starting on the backs, sprinkle the slabs of ribs with approximately 1/2 tablespoon of the basic BBQ rub each, then add 1/2 tablespoon yellow mustard each and massage into the meat. Flip the ribs over and repeat. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. For a contest, I marinate ribs like this for 12 to 16 hours.
• Prepare a smoker to run at 225 degrees F with around 4 chunks of apple wood and 4 chunks of cherry wood so that the wood will smolder throughout the cooking. Remove the ribs from the refrigerator, unwrap and repeat the basic BBQ rub and mustard procedure, massaging them in. Don't get it too thick or paste-like, as this will give you a dark appearance when cooked. Place the ribs in the smoker meat-side up and cook for 2 hours. Remove the ribs from the smoker and increase the temperature to 250 degrees F. Apply the basic BBQ rub and mustard to both sides of the ribs as before. On the top sides, slather approximately 1 tablespoon of honey over the surface of each slab, then sprinkle heavily with the turbinado sugar. Lay each slab of ribs meat-side up on a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil and fold up the edges. Pour approximately 1 to 2 ounces of the grape juice into the bottom of each foil package, then finish wrapping the ribs but don't crimp the edges--you want steam to be able to escape.
• Return the ribs to the cooker for 2 hours, then test for tenderness. (I cook ribs in this stage until they look overdone and too tender. Don't worry, they'll tighten up. If they still have too much texture, leave them in for 20 to 30 more minutes.) Remove the ribs from the cooker, open the foil and drain off the liquid. Using the foil as a tool, "roll" the ribs over so the bone side is up, glaze with the BBQ mother sauce, then roll them back over and glaze the tops. Using long tongs, carefully remove the ribs from the foil and place them back in the smoker for 15 minutes. This will let the glaze cook onto the ribs and let the ribs tighten back up. Remove from the cooker and allow to rest for 5 minutes, apply a very thin coat of sauce to "glisten" the ribs, then lightly sprinkle with chipotle powder before serving.