Baby Back Ribs (feat. Meat Church)

I went on a spending spree a little while back and picked up a whole box of seasonings from the fellas over at Meat Church. When I mean a box, I mean their Ocho set. I love, LOVE, seasonings – but mostly making my own. My wife and I love using their Gourmet Garlic and Herb – but for this one, we’re going with their Honey Hog rubs from Waxahachie, Texas

---

Recipe

---

The Prep Table

The last thing I needed to set up before going to the ribs was to get the Juice mixed up. I splash this on the ribs during the first 2-3 hours on the smoker to keep them moist.

Picked up this three-pack of Baby Back Ribs from Sam’s Club and pulled them out the night before. Did the usual rib trim, cut off some loose bits that’ll burn up, remove the membrane, and get them rubbed down. I don’t do a traditional wet brine marinade. I lay them out and throw a heavy dose of seasoning on them. I wait a good 5-10 minutes until they get that “wet” look, flip them over and repeat.

After I’ve dusted every bit of the rib, I wrap them in a double layer of Saran Wrap and stick them in the fridge. I recommend a shallow bucket to catch the liquid (I didn’t, and spent some time cleaning up the fridge).

Now that everything is prepped the night before, figure out your time table for the next day. We were expecting a house full of people tomorrow with a dinner at 3pm. I subscribe to the 3-2-1 method of smoking my ribs: 3 hours on the rack, 2 hours in a foil wrap, and one more “naked” hour on the grates.

I also know my smoker – and know the 3 hours won’t exactly be 3 hours. This is one of the few meats I smoke without my Thermapen handy, because I’m cooking to color for Baby backs. It’ll get looking good around 2 – 2.5hrs, great after the 2 hour wrap, then finishing it up for that last hour. I’ll throw a very slight glaze for the last 15 minutes, and we’re good. Enough talking, let’s look:

---

The Process

These are fresh-removed from the Saran Wrap the next morning. You can see on the top rack, that “Honey Hot BBQ” has a different color to her. The other two were dressed with the regular “Honey BBQ” rub, and they already look great. I throw another small dusting of rub on them and get my Recteq (new name, same grill) preheated to 225 degrees. For this cook, I burned off some Char-hickory and Mesquite pellets during the preheat. I put some handfuls of Cherry wood in one side of the hopper and Apple in the other. While waiting, this will let the ribs get to room temperature for even cooking.

Once they go on, I’ll let them get settled for a half hour. I put them bone-side down and check on them in 30 minutes. I’ll splash a bit of Juice on there and close it back up. I know, “If you’re looking, you ain’t cooking” – but this part is a delicate balance. I don’t want these ribs to dry.

After that first 30 minutes, I’ll go peek every 15 minutes and throw a bit more juice on there if needed. I don’t want them soaked, but I want them moist.

After about two hours – two and half hours – maybe 3.. Get that foil wrap prepped. This is my go-to wrap recipe, and it obviously works great with the Honey Hog rub. Lay out a sheet of foil, toss some Parkay, a honey drizzle, and some brown sugar in the middle.

I’ll take a slab off the grill, lay it meat side down in the middle and wrap it up. I’ll throw a second foil wrap over to seal up any holes that’ll let the steam escape.

After that long, boring two hours – you’re ready for Christmas morning – get them unwrapped. You should see the meat starting to pull from the. bone and should have a great color. You can do whatever you want during this hour – you can glaze, spritz, but I’m going to keep her going as is.

I don’t like a saucy rib. Let that rub and smoke be the star of the show. However, I also don’t want a completely dry rib. With about 15 minutes to go before I pull the ribs off, people start showing up. It’s a great feeling knowing you timed it perfectly and the ribs are looking exactly where you want them. As everyone is settling in, I throw a very small coating of Bone Suckin’ BBQ sauce. This has been my go to for the last couple years until I recently mixed my up my own (Stay tuned for that post!)

---

The Result

After you brush on just a small amount of BBQ sauce, let it turn to a glaze over 15 minutes. This is great for flavor, but also presentation. After the 15 minutes are up, and it’s about 3:10pm – everyone is hungry.

Now, one of my guests has never had a ForensicBBQ product before – and when he pulls me aside saying it’s the best ribs he’s ever had, makes it all worth while. These ribs don’t “fall of the bone”. I’m not eating these with a fork. If you followed along – cooked to color, wrapped, etc.. you’ll get the result I was looking for – and got.

If you gently twist the bone back and forth a few times, it’ll slide out. It’ll have some pull, but not a lot. It’s a balance to get it there without overcooking. Another guest “won’t eat meat that’s on the bone”, so when I do the twist/pull and its out of there, she was pleased.

---

So there’s the Baby Back Ribs three-ways: Glazed Honey Hot BBQ, Glazed Honey BBQ, and naked Honey BBQ. The guest of honor requested a naked rib, and ended up eating the glazed Honey. (I kept saying trust me – and he finally did).

The Glazed Honey Hot BBQ was the star of the show. It wasn’t ForensicBBQ hot – but it had just a slight kick that was really enjoyable. That was the guest favorite, and I can see why. I was very pleased with the Meat Church products. I still think my personal rub is my favorite, but it’s a biased opinion.

Leave a comment, let me know what you think!

---

The Recipe