Babybacks are evil

[ajthepoolman]

At least in my house they are.

5 times I have tried to smoke these things and 5 times they end up rubbery (or too tough) and lacking of flavor. And no matter how much I think I have removed the membrane, there are still sections with a tough clearish thing on the bone side that is waiting to ruin my ribs.

The last time I tried the 321 method. After an hour and a half in a 230 degree smoker, my ribs were already over 170 degrees. I wrapped them anyway and within 20 minutes the temp probe was beeping at me.

I can't figure those things out. Besides, I really don't care much for ribs anyway. Not when there is the gift from God we call pulled pork.

I suppose 6th time is a charm. Any advice for a guy who keeps getting whipped by ribs?

 

[shellbellc]

3-2-1 is too much for babybacks, they don't need as much time as full spares. Everyone here says about the foiling, but I have been more successfull without it. I mustard slather, dry rub, let sit in fridge, put them in the smoker over oak and cherry or maple and apple or cherry. I let them go other than a spritz of jack and apple. When they're close to being done I use a nice glaze (TBones sticky apple ribs are freakin awesome). Walla. I think the most I've had them on would be around 5 hours.

 

[flattop]

I've had pretty good luck doing baby back's at 190-200 degrees for about 4 hrs. After that I'll wrap them in foil and put them in a brown paper bag for a couple of hours. The residual heat continues to cook them and the virtually fall off the bone.

I'm not sure if it helps but I also soak them in a mixture of apple cider vinager, white wine and basalmic vinager. It gives them a nice flavor.

 

[geek with fire]

I agree with the comment above on spare ribs. I think they have a better flavor anyhow, you get more meat, and they are less expensive than BB's. With the less expensive comment out there, try beef ribs. They are even more inexpensive....and hey, it's beef....can't go wrong there.

 

[deejaydebi]

I usually do full spares - more meaty and way cheaper. I like a kind of 3-2-1 except it has nothing to do with time just steps.

3 - wait until the bone start sticking out a bit 1.5 to 2 hours.
2 - add a bit more rub, speay and wrap - wait about 2 hours
1 - unwrap, spray and or add sauce smoke till the ends touch maybe an hour

 

[linescum]

the last spares i did took over 8 hours, but i think i over modded the ECB so i have demodded it

 

[smokin for life]

AJ I just did 6 racks on Sun. I agree with Shelly, I don't foil them either. I use to, but it to easy to mess them up that way.They cook really fast. I did them once using the 2-2-1 method, 2 hours in the foil was to long and they fell off the bone when I tried to get them out of the foil. Same them happened at 1 1/2 hours in the foil. So now I just rub them with Jeff's famous rub the night before. I take them out of the fridge around a hour before they go on to bring the temp up a little. Just before they go on I hit them again with some rub. I smokem at around 230 for around 5 hrs or untill they pull back bout 1/4-1/2". As soon as I see them pulling back I mop them a little with (once again) some of Jeff's famous sauce. I leave them on for another maybe 15-20 minutes. DONE. This is just the way I do baby backs. Good luck next time.

 

[ron50]

When I'm doing ribs it's almost always baby backs for me. I think it has a sweeter meat then the spares. I use a modified 2-2-1 method. I rub them down real good with Jeff's rub then wrap them in plastic wrap and fridge them overnight.

I take the smoker to 225 and usually over a mix of hickory and pecan wood I smoke them for about 1 1/2 hours or until I see some pull back, spritizing them occasionally then I foil them without adding any liquid for another hour to and 1 1.2 hours. Unfoil them stick them back in and up the temp to 250 till they are done. It's hard to get an accurate temp on ribs, I just go by how they bend when i take them out of the foil. About 10 minutes before they are done I glaze them and they come out great.

 

[badss]

Well...I am hoping they are not evil as now that my smoker is seasoned, Michael just answered a question that I was going to throw out there. I am going to my garage fridge in about 10 minutes and am going to apply Jeffs rub and rewarp them in plastic and throw them in the fridge overnight. Tommorow I'll pull'em out and let them get to room temp and throw some more rub on. Then I am going to preheat the smoker, fill the smoker box and get at it. I am still unsure if I should wrap in the foil but I guess I'll see what happens. I was going to use foil and splash some apple juice on and let them go for 2 hours and them finish them with Jefffs sauce. Think it'll work? Hope so as I can taste the ribs already! Thanks
Ray

 

[ajthepoolman]

I suppose that what you all said about 321 is better suited for spares than babybacks. Wife prefers the BBs so I will try to not get worked up when they are coming off the smoker after just a couple of hours.

 

[richtee]

When you have ALL the membrane removed, you will notice small bits of fat on the backs of some of the bones that have been pulled loose, and the bone surface will look more matte than shiny If you have a small section of this that's too stubborn to bother with, I take a sharp knife and score it along the back bone surface. It'll curl up and about go away on cooking.

 

[flash]

A modified 3-2-1 will work. More like 2 to 2 1/2-1-1/2. Depends on how meaty the ribs are.

 

[ajthepoolman]

Regardless of the method, it would be bone side down right? Or you put the meat side down?

 

[fatback joe]

Like with everything, opinions will vary, but I believe bone side down is most common. That is how I do it unless I put them in racks.