Pellet-grilled baby back ribs (better than 3-2-1)

Most people say their favorite BBQ cuisine is pork ribs (with brisket and pulled pork following in a close second and third).

Then ask them how they like them and divide the room. Some like their ribs dry, where the dry rub complements the pure pork flavor, while others prefer a sticky wet glaze.

I’ll teach you how to make both types of ribs on a pellet barbecue using baby back ribs today.

Smoked pork ribs

There are several recipes and processes available that attempt to describe a simple formula for creating the ideal rib.

The issue with affixing a timed formula to a piece of meat is that each pair of ribs is from a different animal. Cooking times might vary greatly depending on the quality and amount of the ingredients.

Rather of following a timed formula, such as the 321 technique, I recommend utilizing your sight and touch as a guide.

I believe my approach is equally as simple as the 3-2-1 method, but it produces greater outcomes.

Once your smoker is ready and your ribs have been seasoned. You’ll put them in the smoker.

The ribs must be smoked long enough for the rub to solidify and a deep mahogany color to emerge.

By rubbing your finger on the rub, you can detect whether it has set. If it does not come off, go to the next step. This typically takes an hour and a half.

At this stage, cover the ribs in foil with a combination of sugars and butter and cook until the ribs are soft to the touch. They are ripe when you can insert a probe without resistance into the flesh between the bones. This should take around an hour more.

Once your ribs have reached this stage, you may either dry them if you want dry ribs or glaze them if you prefer moist ribs. You accomplish this by unwrapping the foil and returning them to the smoker for another 15 minutes.

So the basic formula you want to follow is:

1. Smoke for color and until the rub doesn’t scrape off (about 1 1/2 hours).
2. Wrap for tenderness; the meat should be probed without resistance (about 1 hour).
3. Glaze or dry out (15 minutes)

The important thing to remember here is that you are cooking with your senses and adjusting the timings. You will never again have overcooked or undercooked ribs.

I smoked my ribs at 300°F; if you use a lesser temperature of 225°F, your cook time would be longer.

Equipment you will need

• Smoker (I used a Z Grills 700E-XL pellet smoker)
• Chefs knife
• Chopping board
• Saucepan pan
• Basting brush
• Instant read thermometer (I used a Thermapen ONE)

You might also look at our electric smoker ribs recipe.

How to smoke pork ribs in a pellet smoker

1. Rib selection and trim

When it comes to cooking pork ribs, there are three major ways to select from. Spare ribs, St. Louis Style ribs (trimmed spare ribs), and baby back ribs are the three options.

I used baby back ribs for this dish, but you can use any cut of rib and it will come out just as well.

The baby back ribs originate under the loin muscle and connect to the backbone. They are also much smaller in size than spare ribs and St Louis Style ribs, thus the name “baby.”

I enjoy them because they are the right size to handle, cook quicker than spare ribs, and have a delicious taste.

To trim ribs, first remove the membrane that connects the bones to the bones. If left on, the ribs will have a chewy finish and will prevent any seasoning from entering the bone side of the meat.

Peel back the corner of the membrane using a butter knife, then hold with a paper towel and pull it off in one motion.

The ribs should next be trimmed of any extra fat and shaped to a uniform thickness so that they cook evenly over the whole rack.

2. Get the smoker ready

This recipe may be made in any smoker, or even on a gas grill with the proper setup. I like using a pellet grill because of the constant temperatures and simplicity of operation, which allows me to concentrate on optimizing the tastes.

If you’re using a pellet grill, make sure the hopper is full with enough wood pellets to smoke the ribs.Because ribs are forgiving, you may use any kind of smoke wood.

Set your smoker to 300°F and wait for it to heat up. Depending on the type of smoker, it takes between 8 and 12 minutes to be ready to smoke.

3. Smoking the baby back ribs

Once the smoker has reached 300°F and your ribs have been rubbed with your preferred pork rub. Close the cover on the pellet smoker and set them inside.

A 50/50 mixture of apple juice and apple cider vinegar. Close the cover and let the ribs to smoke for another 30 minutes.Check them for color and determine if there are any extremely dry patches on the rub. If there are any dry spots, spray with 50 percent alcohol.

After an hour and a half, your ribs should be a rich mahogany color, and the seasoning should not come off if you rub your finger on them. This indicates that they are ready for the wrapping step.

You’ll need two sheets of foil each rack of ribs to wrap them. Because of the bones, they may be sharp, and piercing the foil provides a supplementary layer of protection to keep the essential fluids in.

Add some brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, butter, and spritz to the foil and place the ribs meat side down on the wrapping components.

Fold up the foil and make sure the ribs are well covered to avoid air pockets and steaming.

set the glaze ingredients in a heat-proof saucepan, whisk, and set in the smoker to thicken and let the sugars to melt.These are then returned to the smoker for an hour. At this point, you may add all of the sauce.

Unwrap the ribs after an hour and insert a probe into the flesh between the bones; if there is no resistance, they are ready for the next step.

Remove them from the smoker and fold up the foil edges to make a boat for each rack of ribs. Turn them over to expose the flesh side. One rack of ribs will be glazed with the sauce we had on the smoker for the past hour, while the other rack will be left alone.

Return both racks to the smoker in their foil boats for 15 minutes. The glaze will set in 15 minutes, and the dry ribs will crust again.

4. Serving ribs

After 15 minutes, cut the ribs into individual ribs and serve.

Brushing a bit extra warmed-up glaze on the wet glazed ribs.

They go well with any BBQ side dish, like as potato salad or slaw.

The most difficult decision is whether you want moist or dry ribs.

Try these other rib recipes

• How to Make Smoked Pork Ribs the 3-2-1 Way
• Texas Style Smoked Beef Short Ribs Recipe
• Smoked Baby Back Ribs Hot & Fast
• BBQ Ribs the Johnny Trigg Way
• Korean BBQ Beef Short Ribs