The Best Baby Back Ribs Recipes

THE BEST BABY BACK RIBS

Steps:

• If necessary, remove thin membrane from ribs and discard. Combine broth, soy sauce, 1/2 cup sugar, vinegar, olive oil and garlic. Place ribs in a shallow baking dish; pour two-thirds of the marinade over ribs. Turn to coat; refrigerate overnight, turning occasionally. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade., Drain ribs, discarding marinade. Combine remaining sugar, salt and seasonings; rub over both sides of ribs., Grill ribs, covered, on an oiled rack over indirect medium heat for 30 minutes on each side., Baste with reserved marinade, or, if desired, barbecue sauce. Move ribs to direct medium heat and cook until pork is tender, turning and basting occasionally, 20-40 minutes longer.

BAKED BABY BACK RIBS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, chipotle chile powder, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, seafood seasoning and black pepper.
• Place each slab of ribs on a piece of aluminum foil large enough to fold over and seal, then place on a baking sheet. Do not seal the ribs in the foil yet (see Cook's Note). Generously sprinkle the dry rub on both sides of the ribs. Place in the refrigerator, meat-side down and uncovered, for at least 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• In a small bowl, combine the apple cider, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, Worcestershire and minced garlic. Pour half the liquid over each slab and tightly seal each in the aluminum foil, crimping the edges to make a packet.
• Transfer the foil packets and baking sheet to the oven and bake until the meat is tender and starts to pull away from the bones, about 2 hours.
• Remove the sheet pan from the oven. Carefully open the aluminum packets and pour the braising liquid into a small saucepan. Bring the liquid to a simmer over medium heat until it becomes a thick and syrupy glaze, about 4 minutes.
• While the braising liquid reduces, line a baking sheet with foil and gently transfer the ribs to it. Position a rack on the top level of the oven and preheat the broiler.
• Using a pastry brush, generously brush the ribs with about half the glaze. Place the ribs under the broiler for about 1 minute. Brush with the remaining glaze and return to the broiled until charred in spots, about 1 minute more. Slice each rack between the bones into 2-rib portions and serve.

THE BEST BABY BACK RIBS

Steps:

• Place ribs bone side down in a large roasting pan on a rack (if you have one, you don't have to use rack)
• Combine garlic powder, seasoning salt, and pepper. Sprinkle over the ribs. Top with sliced onions. Cover tightly and bake at 350 for 2 1/2 hours.
• In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and this is your sauce.
• Remove ribs from pan, remove onions and discard, and drain fat. Put ribs back in pan and brush ribs liberally with sauce. Cover and bake 25 minutes longer. Uncover and cook 5 more minutes. Serve with remaining sauce.
• You can reduce the amount of ribs if you are cooking for a smaller group. I usually use 2 racks to serve 4.

PRIZE WINNING BABY BACK RIBS

Steps:

• Preheat a gas grill for high heat, or arrange charcoal briquettes on one side of the barbeque. Lightly oil the grate.
• In a small jar, combine cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. Close the lid, and shake to mix.
• Trim the membrane sheath from the back of each rack. Run a small, sharp knife between the membrane and each rib, and snip off the membrane as much as possible. Sprinkle as much of the rub onto both sides of the ribs as desired. To prevent the ribs from becoming too dark and spicy, do not thoroughly rub the spices into the ribs. Store the unused portion of the spice mix for future use.
• Place aluminum foil on lower rack to capture drippings and prevent flare-ups. Lay the ribs on the top rack of the grill (away from the coals, if you're using briquettes). Reduce gas heat to low, close lid, and leave undisturbed for 1 hour. Do not lift the lid at all.
• Brush ribs with barbecue sauce, and grill an additional 5 minutes. Serve ribs as whole rack, or cut between each rib bone and pile individually on a platter.

THE BEST BABY BACK RIBS

Steps:

• Prep the ribs: ( I often do this the day before) On the back of the ribs will be a very thin but very tough membrane that you must remove. You can't really see it well, but trust me that it's there. I usually use a knife to pry up a corner of the membrane, then I just pull it down the entire length of the ribs. Sometimes it tears and you have to try a few times, but you definitely don't want to skip this step unless you want to deal with the membrane while you're EATING. Once the membrane is removed, put the dry rub all over the ribs (both sides) and rub it in. The meat will take on some of the colors in the dry rub and look a little reddish. Wrap the ribs in some heavy duty tin foil and let them hang out in the fridge til you're ready to cook them. Cook the ribs: At 250 degrees, place the ribs wrapped securely in tin foil onto a cookie sheet (sometimes juice/fat can escape the tin foil) and place them in the oven. cook for 2 hours. After 2 hours, pull them out and open the tin foil to take a look. At this point you can add a little apple juice on top of them, but that's not really necessary. Re-wrap them, and put them back in for another 1/2 hour. Pull them out again and open the tin foil completely. At this point you can brush some BBQ sauce on them, or leave them the way they are. Crank up the heat to 350 and put the ribs back in the oven with the tin foil open. After half an hour, they're done! You can always do this last part on a BBQ, but watch the ribs and make sure they don't burn from the sugar.

BABY BACK RIBS

Steps:

• For the rub: The day before cooking, mix the turbinado sugar, salt, paprika, chili powder, granulated garlic, onion powder, ground cumin, ground mustard, cayenne pepper and black pepper together.
• For the ribs: Take a slab of ribs and turn over so the curved side is up. Using your fingernail or a knife, pry under the membrane until you can put your finger under it and then pull it off.
• Sprinkle this side of the ribs with about 1 tablespoon rub, and then about 1 tablespoon yellow mustard. Use the mustard to help evenly distribute the seasoning. Turn the ribs over and repeat the process. Cover and store in the refrigerator overnight.
• To cook, start a smoker and bring the temp to 200 degrees F. Use apple or cherry wood chunks to provide smoke and flavor. Place the ribs in the smoker, curved side down. Smoke for 2 hours at 200 degrees F, and then raise the temperature to 250 degrees F for about 2 1/2 hours. Check for tenderness by testing if the bones will pull apart with a slight bit of pressure. If they are still tough, allow to cook for another 30 minutes.
• Remove from the smoker. For dry-style ribs, sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon rub. For wet-style ribs, glaze with the BBQ sauce.

THE ABSOLUTE BEST BABY BACK RIBS

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients except ribs and BBQ Sauce.
• Cut rib racks into 3 or 4 rib segments.
• Store ribs in marinade in refridgerator for 3 days.
• Drain and discard marinade.
• Place ribs in a steamer basket in a large covered pot with approx 1 in of water.
• Bring pot to a boil then lower to simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
• Remove ribs from pot and coat with BBQ Sauce.
• (The water left over in the pot makes a great stock for soups.) Place coated ribs on a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam.
• Bake at 300 for 15 mins.

BAKED BBQ BABY BACK RIBS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
• Mix ancho chile powder, white sugar, brown sugar, salt, black pepper, cumin, dry mustard, cayenne pepper, and chipotle pepper in a small bowl until combined.
• Place ribs meat-side down on aluminum foil. Prick back of rib rack several times with a knife.
• Generously apply coating of dry rub to all sides of rib rack.
• With rib rack meat-side down, fold foil around it to create a tight seal. Transfer to sheet pan.
• Bake in preheated oven until tender and cooked through, about 2 hours. Remove and cool 15 minutes.
• Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Open foil, drain and discard any accumulated juices and fat. Brush barbeque sauce on all sides of rack.
• Place rack meat-side up and return to oven, leaving foil open. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven, and brush another layer of barbeque sauce on meat-side only. Repeat baking and brushing with sauce 4 more times, for a total of 50 minutes baking time.
• Cut rack into individual rib segments and serve with more barbeque sauce.