With spring in the air, thoughts of grilling and summer foods can't be too far away. One of my favorite things to do during the summer is to smoke baby back ribs. Using my electric smoker, I usually make a ton of crowd pleasing slabs of ribs seasoned with my special pork dry rub mix and then covered with tangy barbeque sauce. As long as you can regulate the temperature of your grill or smoker, making these ribs is almost fail-proof. But, if the weather isn't cooperating for outdoor smoking, or you don't have a grill, don't worry. I've taken the best elements of my outdoor smoked ribs and created a version that you can do in your oven all year long.
Indoors: Oven Smoked Ribs
Ingredients
2 slabs Baby Back Ribs
2 tbl Olive Oil
1/3 cu Dry Rub (below)
1 med Onion, thinly sliced
1 med Orange, thinly sliced
1/2 cu Orange Juice
2 tbl Liquid Smoke
1 cu Barbecue Sauce (your favorite brand)
Method
Rinse ribs and pat them dry with a paper towel. Using a paring or other sharp knife, away the white membrane on the backside of the ribs (or have your butcher do it for you). Rub ribs with olive oil and liberally coat them with the dry rub mix. Place them on a baking sheet and cover with plastic or place them inside of a large 2 gallon sealable plastic bag. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Remove ribs from refrigerator and let them sit for 30 minutes to bring them up to room temperature. Line a large baking sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil or two sheets of regular foil. Leave enough to hang over the edges. Place onions and orange slices on top of aluminum. Pour orange juice and liquid smoke on top. Place ribs, meaty side up, on the foil. Cover with an additional sheet of aluminum. Crimp the edges tightly to fully seal the ribs inside.
Place ribs on the middle rack of your oven for 2-1/2 hours. Remove the ribs from the oven and carefully open the aluminum package (be very careful, extremely hot steam will escape from the package). Let ribs rest for 10 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees. Carefully remove ribs from the aluminum package and place them on another baking sheet, meaty side down. Brush with barbeque sauce. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove ribs from the oven and turn them over. Liberally cover the meaty side with the remaining sauce. Bake for an additional 20 minutes.
Remove ribs from the oven and let them rest for an additional 10 minutes before serving. Serve with additional barbeque sauce, potato salad, coleslaw and something sweet, like a peach cobbler, for dessert.
Outdoors: Grill or Smoker Smoked Ribs
Ingredients
2 slabs Baby Back Ribs
2 tbl Olive Oil
1/3 cu Dry Rub (below)
1 cu Barbecue Sauce (your favorite brand)
Method
Rinse ribs and pat them dry with a paper towel. Using a paring or other sharp knife, peel away the white membrane on the backside of the ribs (or have your butcher do it for you). Rub ribs with olive oil and liberally coat them with the dry rub mix. Place them on a baking sheet and cover with plastic or place them inside of a large 2 gallon sealable plastic bag. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
Prepare your grill or smoker. If you are using a grill, set it up for indirect cooking with the coals on the side. The ideal smoking temperature is 225 degrees F. Whether you are using a grill, charcoal smoker, gas smoker or electric smoker, be sure to monitor and regulate the temperature. Cut each slab in half and use a rib rack for standing the ribs on their sides, if possible.
Place ribs in the smoker for 3 1/2 hours. Avoid the temptation to check on the ribs, they'll be fine. After 3 1/2 hours, open your smoker and quickly (and liberally) brush barbecue sauce on both sides of the ribs. Retune the ribs to the smoker for an additional 30 minutes to an hour. Extra time will make the ribs a bit more tender.
Remove ribs from the oven and let them rest for an additional 10 minutes before serving. Serve with additional barbeque sauce, potato salad, coleslaw and something sweet, like a peach cobbler, for dessert.
Wayne's 'Squealer' Grilling Spice Mix
ideal for roasting and grilling pork
Ingredients
5 1/2 tsp Paprika
3 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 1/2 tsp Cumin
1 1/2 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
2 1/2 tsp Brown Sugar
Method
Mix ingredients together and either grind in spice grinder or in a mortar and pestle. Store in an airtight container.
If you'd like to get the ingredients for some of my other grilling spices and barbeque sauce, click here.
If you have any questions or comments, please send me an email at wayne@waynesweekend.com or follow me on Facebook or twitter.
