Smoked Barbecued Baby Back Ribs - slow process creates layers of intense flavor

Posted on Thu, Jul 18, 2013 : 4:11 a.m.

Smoked Barbecued Baby Back Ribs - slow process creates layers of intense flavor

By Peggy Lampman

Smoked Baby Back Ribs

Peggy Lampman | Contributor

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With a sniffle and sigh, I put my old Weber charcoal kettle — mottled with rust and wear — out to pasture last month. I’ve had the grill well over 15 years, and have many fond memories of the get-togethers we’ve co-hosted: smoked pork butts for barbecue sandwiches at my son’s graduation party, cedar-planked Copper River salmon with a maple glaze I served my daughter’s boyfriend, and his astounded "I never thought I liked fish until now" reaction.

But new memories are ready to be made, and I’m moving onward and upward; I’ve had my eye on a Big Green Egg, a kamado-styled ceramic charcoal cooker, for some time now.

Two years back, Mike Monahan, the owner of Monahan’s Seafood in Kerrytown, was grilling delicacies from the sea on an Egg at Downtown Home & Garden, and my small brain began a-ticking. It’s not, however, every day you shell out eight-hundred-plus bucks for a grill. But the more I researched the Egg, the more I concluded it was the tool for me — reasons I won’t elaborate since they could be construed as commercial, and I’m not a product endorsement kind of a gal.

Bottom line is that if I can make things simpler in my life, I’m game. And for me, barbecuing and grilling is easier with an Egg; I use less charcoal, I can control temperature with finesse, the clean-up is easier, and the construction is bullet-proof.

So last month I found myself at Downtown Home & Garden purchasing a large Big Green Egg, plus accoutrements, then Richard and I carved a tiny outdoor kitchen for my new baby. We placed the grill on pavers that we surrounded in medium-sized pebbles, and I inaugurated the grill with a favorite recipe for ribs; ribs need long slow cooking over indirect heat, giving me plenty of time to admire my Egg from all angles.

We inaugurated the Egg with slow-cooked ribs.

The following recipe, however, assumes you don’t have an Egg; it’s the recipe I made using my Webber kettle, which I adapted with ease to the Big Green Egg. The main difference is I purchased a Plate Setter that’s inserted into the Egg for indirect heating, so I don’t have to fuss with drip pans, and added pieces of hickory to get the smoke.

I’m barely scratching the surface with tips for smoking ribs with coals and wood, and there’s another article to be written about smoking over the more popular gas grills. Barbecue is a culture — borderline cultish — of which Barbecue Bibles have been written, and Food Network fortunes made deciphering through the smoke.

And yes, there is an art to smoke, so if it’s your first time using wood chunks or chips, I’d advise to proceed with caution; begin with less and add more, if desired, the next time you barbecue. As with over-brining, over-smoking can ruin an otherwise delicious meal. But if you kiss your protein with smoke, and use the right type of wood for what you’re cooking, you’re in for a treat — the wood adds an incomparable layer of flavor. In the recipe below, I’d advise using applewood or hickory, oh so marvelous with pork.

Rub rest time: 6-24 hours
Barbecue Time: 3-4 hours
Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients for Rib Rub:

2-4 teaspoons chili powder, chipotle preferred
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon Mexican seasoning blend
2 tablespoons lemon pepper
3 tablespoon garlic powder
1/4 cup paprika
3/4 cup coconut palm sugar or brown sugar

Directions for Rib Rub:

Combine 2 teaspoons chili powder, cumin, seasoning blend, lemon pepper, and garlic powder in a bowl and mix well. Add kosher salt and additional chili powder, if desired, to taste. Store in an airtight container.

Ingredients for Ribs (using a kettle charcoal grill):

3-4 tablespoons of your favorite rib rub (see mine above)
2 slabs (4-5 pounds) baby back ribs, shiny membrane removed, each cut into half or thirds
Aluminum or metal drip pan for placing under ribs
1 kettle (charcoal) grill
Charcoal, as needed
1-2 cups wood chips or 1-2 chunks (hickory or applewood preferred)
Your favorite barbecue sauce

Directions:

1.Season both sides of ribs with rub. Place in a container, cover, and refrigerate 6-24 hours. Remove from fridge and let sit at room temperature 30-60 minutes prior to grilling.
2. Place drip pan or in the bottom grill grate. Fill pan 1/3 up with water and 2 cups wood chips or 2 wood chunks.
3.Surround the pan with charcoal, and heat coals until red hot and lightly covered with white ash (225 degrees), and smoky. Place the top grill grate on the grill.
4. Place ribs, bone side down, over the drip pan as far away from the coals as possible.
5. Cover the grill, positioning the vents to maintain apx. 225 degrees. (If your kettle grill does not have a thermometer built-in, put a thermometer into the cover vent and check it occasionally.) Add additional coals and wood if needed to maintain smoke and temperature.
6. Ribs are cooked in 3-4 hours, or when you can pull two of the ribs away from each other. Paint sauce over ribs and continue cooking an additional 10 minutes. Let ribs stand, loosely covered in foil, 15 minutes and serve.

Peggy Lampman is a real-time food writer and photographer posting daily feeds on her website and in the Food & Grocery section of Annarbor.com. You may also e-mail her at peggy@dinnerfeed.com.

Comments

Jeff Renner

Fri, Jul 19, 2013 : 12:25 a.m.

I'm just starting smoking with a Green Mountain pellet smoker. A wonderful resource that all of the BBQ masters that I know is http://www.amazingribs.com.

Peggy Lampman

Fri, Jul 19, 2013 : 2:06 a.m.

I've never heard of this! Thanks for the info; I'm using wood from a hickory from the back yard that died and had to go. A little bitty bit goes a long way; I wear my goggles (seriously)! Thanks for the comment and resource, Jeff.