| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr 55 min |
| Prep: | 20 min |
| Inactive: | 35 min |
| Cook: | 2 hr |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 4 racks baby back ribs
- Soaked wood chips, if desired
- 2 lemons, cut in 1/2
- 1/4 cup Classic BBQ Rub, recipe follows
- Favorite barbecue sauce
- 2 tablespoons smoky paprika
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon celery salt
- 1 teaspoon oregano, crushed
Instructions
- Build charcoal fire or preheat gas grill. Remove silver skin from back of ribs, if desired. Set up the grill for indirect heat and if using wood chips, place soaked chips directly on charcoal, or in smoking box of gas grill. Rub the cut lemons over front and back of ribs squeezing to release as much juice as possible. Set aside for 5 minutes. Rub ribs liberally with spice rub and let sit, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Place ribs (bone side down) in the center of the cooking grate or in a rib holder/rack over direct medium Low heat, making sure they are not over a direct flame. Grill covered (at about 325 degrees F, if your grill has a thermometer) for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until meat is tender and has pulled back from the ends of the rib bones.
- Do not open the grill for the first 30 minutes–this means no peeking; especially important if using wood chips. If the ribs start to burn on the edges, stack them on top of one another in the very center of the grill and lower your fire slightly. Twenty minutes before serving, unstack ribs, if necessary and brush with barbecue sauce. Remove ribs from grill and let rest 10 minutes before cutting into individual or 2 to 3 rib portions. Warm remaining sauce in a saucepan and serve on the side, if desired.
- Combine paprika, salt, sugar, brown sugar, cumin, chili powder, pepper, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder, celery salt and oregano in bowl; mix well. For a smoother rub, puree ingredients in a spice grinder until well combined and all pieces are uniform (the rub will be very fine and tan in color). This step is important if adding to any homemade barbecue sauce.
- Extra rub can be stored in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
Reviews
As soon as made these ribs I became the Family Pip Master. I love them
Great recipe, but shouldn’t that be indirect, not direct?
Awesome ribs! I started with baby backs that were 2.5lbs per rack. My wife likes the burnt thin ones and I like the thick meaty ones at the other end. Kids get the middles. Rub was perfectly spicy and I finished them with a sweet sauce. Total cooking time was 2:45. They seemed under done based on the bend test so I cranked up the heat for the last 20 minutes and slathered on the sauce for the last 5. The ribs turned out amazing! Better than the slow smoked ones that take 10 hours On the smoker. The only change I made to the recipe was to put a metal pan of water in the grill next the smoke box to keep the humidity up during the cook. I think it made them moister.
Best Rub I ever tried. when I put them on my thinly sliced potatoes it reminded me of BBQ flavored potato chips! My Husband loves the Baby Back Ribs!! I will use this rub always!
Just a tad too hot for our family. Other than that excellent bbqd on the Traeger
Excellent!! I use it on my rib-eye steaks, too… I don’t use a wet sauce (don’t want to cover up the rub flavor.
This recipe has never let me down ever since I first tried it I make triple the batch in summertime.
The BEST RIBS EVER!!! This is the only way we cook ribs now. We use no wet sauce and all our friends rave about them. Mmmmmmm, wish I had some now.
My friends were extremely impress with these ribs. They are calling me Chef Tony now
These ribs were absolutely fabulous! I’ve never made ribs of any kind before and these were just awesome! I stuck to the recipe and everyone raved about them! I’ll definitely make these again.