The nicest part is that my friends and family adore it and it’s simple to cook and very moist.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 2 hrs 40 mins |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs 10 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
Ingredients
- 2 (2 pound) slabs baby back pork ribs
- salt and coarsely ground black pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ground red chile pepper, divided
- 2 ¼ tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½ cup minced onion
- 1 ½ cups water
- ½ cup tomato paste
- ½ cup white vinegar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 ½ tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark molasses
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons whisky
- 1 ¼ teaspoons liquid smoke flavoring
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
- Cut each full rack of ribs in half to make 4 half racks. Season with salt and black pepper (more black pepper than salt); sprinkle 1 tablespoon ground chile pepper over meat. Wrap each half rack in aluminum foil.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 2 hours and 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir onion in hot oil for 5 minutes. Stir in water, tomato paste, vinegar, brown sugar, honey, and Worcestershire sauce. Add molasses, 2 teaspoons salt, garlic powder, whisky, remaining 1/2 tablespoon ground chile pepper, liquid smoke, onion powder, paprika, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer uncovered until sauce thickens, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set sauce aside.
- Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat and lightly oil the grates.
- Remove wrapped ribs from the oven. Let stand for 10 minutes, then remove ribs from the foil.
- Cook ribs on the preheated grill for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Brush sauce on ribs while grilling, just before you serve them (adding sauce too early will burn ribs).
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 1029 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 53 g |
| Cholesterol | 234 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 50 g |
| Saturated Fat | 23 g |
| Sodium | 1720 mg |
| Sugars | 46 g |
| Fat | 68 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Really love the sauce! It did cook for a while but that’s okay, just do it. The ribs turned out fantastic too! The only thing I did differently was to use a homemade Montreal Seasoning vs S&P and chili. Will do again!
For those avoiding the liquid smoke, check the data. Liquid smoke is carcinogen-free, while grilling meat at high temperatures produces plenty of carcinogens. It’s healthier than using a smoker, too.
Amazing! Best ribs, especially without a smoker, I have made. Big hit with the family! If you want extra sauce I recommend you double the sauce recipe. Love the flavor the Liquid Smoke gives. I used Chipotle ground pepper gave a little extra flavor kick. Would give a 10 star rating if I could! Well worth the time and effort!
yummy for sure! I used Jim Beam Peach whiskey, and was a little more generous with the amounts of honey, molasses, and whiskey. And fresh garlic, of course!
Delicious, fall off the bone ribs. Definitely cut them in half, otherwise they fall apart on the grill. Made recipe as written. Best recipe for ribs that I’ve tried in a long time. Highly recommend.
The best rib recipe I ever made. Everyone loved it.
I have never had, or made, better ribs!!! These were soooo tender and the bbq sauce was delish! I don’t think hubby really wanted ribs for dinner but he couldn’t stop raving about them. I made the recipe exactly as written – perfect – no changes needed!
I have tried several recipes for baby back ribs, but none of them come close to Scott Hibb’s Amazing Whisky Grilled Baby Back Ribs. This recipe is simply amazing, the taste exactly what I was looking for. I thought a local restaurant had the best ribs I had tasted, but this beats them, handily. This was my first attempt at making my own sauce. I have always used the bottled stuff. But, although it is more work, and time consuming, I may never go back. The sauce is amazing. The only changes I made were skipping the whiskey because I didn’t have any, and adding half again more red chili pepper because I like it spicy. The result was a perfect blend of heat and sweetness. I stirred it frequently and it was reduced within an hour. Not wanting to heat up the kitchen on a hot summer day I prepared the ribs as directed but placed them the on the grill, wrapped in foil on indirect heat of 300 degrees. Then I simply removed the foil to finish them off. The result was a juicy fall off the bone perfection. This is a definite keeper that I will make often. The sauce I plan to use on other meats needing BBQ sauce. YUM!
Absolutely mouthwatering. I wouldn’t change a thing. This will be a go-to for both us and for company. Thanks!
I followed the recipe exactly, except I only used 1/4 tsp liquid smoke. When you reduce the sauce all the flavors become much stronger, so adjust spices accordingly. Use NM or CA chili powder only. Also don’t over-do the onion. I blended the sauce in a blender after it cooled. The key is to use a large sauce pan with more surface area to reduce, and it will thicken after an hour and a half at very low heat. This makes a rich Kansas City style sauce. If you want to finish ribs in the oven, you can use the broiler. But set the ribs lower, not too close to the broiler on a baking sheet and heat each side for about 3 mins, watching so you don’t burn it. This recipe is a real gem! Delicious!
The sauce was simply amazing! It has this depth and kick to it that is incredible. There is way more sauce than meat, so either increase the meat or scale back the sauce, but the ribs were the best i’ve ever made!
Great recipe. Made it several times. I ALWAYS remove the membrane from the back (inside) of the slab. Use a sharp tip of a good small knife and at one end of the rack touch the knife tip to the white surface and lift slowly. You will think that you are removing all of the white surface but the thin membrane is on top of the white surface. Once you hook the membrane everything will make sense
A lot of ingredients for only so so flavors. Wasn’t tangy or spicy, just kind of boring. I would lower the time in oven and increase time on grill.
This was the best ever! This BBQ sauce is to die for. My husband took some to his friend and his friend said we need to sell this sauce. Best ever! You cannot go wrong with this recipe.
Followed recipe as written, excellent ribs!
Absolutely delicious recipe. The liquid smoke does so much to add a richness of flavor and helps to meld all the other flavors into a truly great tasting sauce. I’ll be making this again and again.
Best ribs and BBQ sauce!
Absolutely delicious
I’ve made these ribs for years. They are AMAZING! I get request for them at all cookouts. Thank you Scott.
Wow, that’s a great bbq sauce!
Not a fan of ribs, and neither is my family. I saw this recipe, read the reviews and figured I’d give ribs another try. These are outstanding! Made them with zero deviations to the recipe. If you make these, don’t change anything!! I’ll be eating ribs a little more often after finding this recipe! Thanks for sharing it