Jules Mailloux – the Pitmaster
Summer is here and what better time of the year to smoke a couple slabs of baby back ribs.
First things first, what do we need to smoke some ribs. Start with two or however many you want to do. Get you racks of ribs, fork, paper towels, yellow mustard, your favorite BBQ rub, tin foil, apple juice, brown sugar and BBQ sauce.
Oh, and obviously a smoker and some flavored wood like cherry or apple.
First thing that is a must is to remove the membrane on the back of the slab of ribs. Why do you ask? Well that
membrane will not break down when smoking it. It will be like a membrane, chewy not very yummy and after you spent that last five hours smoking your ribs you want to be the best you can make . I like to use the tine of a fork and wiggle it in under the membrane and once you get it start and use a paper towel to grab it and pull it off.
Second is to prep the slab of ribs. I like to use a bit of yellow mustard, just plain old mustard, slather the slab on both sides then coat both sides with your favorite BBQ rub. Once your done place ribs on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge. I like to leave them for an hour before I smoke them.
Third would be to get the smoker ready. Whether its electric, gas, charcoal or wood pellets 235F is where you want to be. My preference is charcoal and cherry wood. Once smoker has gotten to temp,the it’s time to take ribs out of fridge and place on grill.
Fourth is the waiting game. Now is when your patience will get the best of you. No need to keep for peeking because that just lets out all the heat. I do like to check once an hour to make sure all is good though. While waiting I like to cut a piece of aluminum foil about 24” long per slab of ribs.
Five is where we have to do a bit of work. So, after 3 hours or so, once the ends of the bones start to show through the meat it is an indication that the ribs need to be wrapped. Take your sheet of aluminum foil and place it on a table. I like to put a 1/8 cup of brown sugar on the foil then place the slab of ribs meat side down on top of brown sugar, now put another 1/8 cup of brown sugar on top of the bottom of the slab of ribs. Fold over the sides of the foil and wrap it up. But just before you close it o add a ¼ cup of apple juice inside. Now place the ribs back on the smoke meat side down and close the lid.
Wrapping ribs is often called “the Texas crutch” the purest rib cookers say that you don’t need to wrap. You can choose to mop your ribs. I feel that mopping the ribs will wash off all your rub. But that’s just my preference and what works best for me. Wrapping helps the moisture and adds some extra flavor.
Your ribs are wrapped and back on. After an hour its time to remove the ribs. Pull them off the smoker and open up the foil. Remove the ribs and place them bone side down on the smoker and close the lid. Now you will have noticed that there is liquid left in the foil, I like to reserve ½ cup of that liquid and mix it with my favorite BBQ sauce.
The wait is almost over. After an hour check on ribs again, by now you will have noticed the meat is pulling away from the tips of the bones, I look for about ¼ to 3/8”. This is a good thing. That means that they are ready for sauce. Take the mixture of the foil juices and BBQ sauce and paint those ribs top and bottom and close the lid for 10 more minutes to let the sauce set.
This is the part you have been waiting for. Remove ribs from smoker, place on cutting board and slice between each bone. Now it’s time to eat and enjoy.
Remember, every slab of ribs will cook different. Weight and type of cut of ribs could affect this timeline. You will need to adjust accordingly. Practice makes perfect.
Be the first to comment