Baby Back Ribs Recipe

I'm an idiot.

It's that simple. I fully intended to post this baby back ribs recipe and take some nice pictures to go along with it but in the rush of my father's day gathering, I simply forgot. And by the time I remembered those two lonely stalks you see above were all that remained of four gorgeous racks of ribs. I'll update the photo next time I make them... Of course, now I have an excuse.

Ribs

Ingredients

Barbecue Sauce (your favorite brand, but I recommend you make your own. Click here for my favorite Barbecue Sauce Recipe.)
3-4 Racks of Baby Back Ribs
1 Cup Apple Juice
2 Tbs Kosher Salt
1 Tbs Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Grill Prep
Start the coals on your grill. You'll be cooking these for a long time over indirect-low heat and I find that using charcoal baskets helps quite a bit for this type of cooking. You'll want two baskets filled with hot coals, place on opposite sides of your kettle. Between the two baskets, on the bottom of the grill, place an aluminum pan to catch the drippings. Pour the apple juice into this pan just before you place the ribs on the grill. This will generate some steam and help keep the ribs moist.

I've never done these on a gas grill so I can't be much help if that's what you're working with. My best advice would be to go out and get one of these.

Rib Prep
While the coals are getting hot, peel the silver membrane (sometimes called the silver skin) off the back of each rack of ribs. This can be tricky. Here's the technique that works best for me -

Lay rib rack fleshy side down, length-wise (horizontally) on your work surface.
Starting from the narrow end and on the first rib bone, slide a paring knife under the membrane from the top of the bone.
When you get enough of the membrane separated, slide your forefinger under (remove the knife first, please) and gently pull up keeping your finger close to the point where the membrane meets the bone.
The idea here is to keep the membrane from tearing and pull it off in one sheet along the whole rack. Lift enough off with your finger so that you can grab hold of it with your whole hand, then pull slowly along the length of the rack. It takes a bit of practice but you'll get the hang of it.

Cooking
With the membrane removed, salt and pepper (generously) both sides of each rib rack. Place racks between your coal baskets on your grill. If you're grilling 3-4 racks, you may want to use a rib-rack (an inverted roasting pan rack works here, too). Cover and grill and cook for 3 1/2 hours, keeping heat between 250-300 degrees, rotating ribs every 30 minutes or so.

After 3 1/2 hours, baste ribs with barbecue sauce on both sides every 10 minutes, cooking for another 30-40 minutes.Ribs should be tender and falling off the bone by the point. Serve them up and enjoy.

Related Recipes