Smoked Pork Baby Back Ribs

Start off with a nice looking, thawed rack of ribs. I prefer Baby Back ribs over the St. Louis style ribs.  Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs (some brands come with the membrane already removed).

Apply and rub Honey Mustard all over the rack. This helps the dry rub to stick to the slab.

Liberally season both sides of the slab with the dry rub and pat it gently into the mustard coating.

At this point I normally seal the rack in a plastic 2-gal ziplock bag and let it sit in the fridge for 2-10 hours. You can skip this and go directly to the smoker if you are too impatient to wait.

Prepare the smoker … make sure it is amply loaded with wood pellets of your choice. Set the thermostat control to Hi-Smoke 220°F. and turn it on.

When the smoker reaches around 220°F. it is time to put the slab of ribs in the grill. There is nothing wrong with cooking your ribs on the smoker’s grate either side up but I prefer to use a rack.  You simple lay the rack on the grate and then insert the slab into the rack so the slab is resting on its side instead of the top or bottom.

Now close the lid and DO NOT open it for the next three hours except to quickly spritz all exposed sides of the ribs about every hour. Spritz with any fruit juice (I prefer apple juice), soft drink or beer.

After three hours (and, more importantly, an internal temperature of around 170°F. the rack of ribs should be carefully removed, using tongs, and wrapped in heavy-duty aluminum foil … you should liberally spritz it before wrapping.

Now return the wrapped slab to the smoker and insert temp probe(s) (if you have them) into a meaty area of the slab. At this point the smoker temp control should be turned up a bit to 220°F. The smoke setting is unimportant because the smoking effect has already occurred.

After 1 1/2 hours, start monitoring the meat temp pretty close. If you desire “fall-off-the-bone” tenderness then you will need to wait until the meat internal temp is 112-115°F. and that will typically happen sometime between 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours smoke time while wrapped. If you like your ribs where you have to bite the firm meat off the bone, then you can remove the rack anytime between reaching  97-105°F.

I DO NOT open or unwrap the meat and let it smoke for a final hour like many pit masters suggest because I believe it causes a darker, crustier bark and a less-moist rib. The decision is yours, you can use the traditional 3-2-1 method or my 3-2 method.

Last, when the meat reaches the desired temp, carefully remove it with tongs, place it on a large baking pan and let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before unwrapping and serving.