Simple BabyBacks

These were some the best ribs I've cooked. I can't believe it took me this long to try this method. I think I'm done with wrapping, at least for a while.
I did something similar on my last rib cook, but I bumped the temp up to 275* for the entire cook, done after around 4 hours. Turned out great, and I’ll be doing it again.
 
This thread brings back fond memories. Being older and from NC, I never heard about wrapping (or maybe we were too poor to waist the foil, haha). My grandparent‘s farm had livestock and our definition of “farm fresh” or “farm to plate” was different than today’s definition. That being said, everyone had a smoker. Our’s was a two story 6,000 sqft smokehouse. For entertainment and small cooks, we all used 50 gallon barrel smokers that leaked and had to be babysat. We would typically use low heat 210-230 degrees over 4-5 hours, sauce, another hour with one flip and get fork tender ribs. One thing I remember as a 6 year old was my responsibility to be the spritzer. Every 30-45 minutes I had to open the cooker and spray a combination of freshly squished/squeezed apple juice, sugar cane juice and vinegar, generously over all sides of the ribs. This process was well known in the family and I don’t remember any ribs coming out bad. I sometimes reproduce the process on my 40 year old vertical (see photo below). Interestingly, I don’t remeber anyone ever saying the smoke had to be light blue. Further, I don’t remeber anyone talking about an acrid taste or bad flavor because there was too much smoke. Did they make trees differently back then? To sum it up, I’ve circled the globe (109 countries and counting) and everywhere I have been, the taste of food had to be calibrated by your experiences or lack thereof. If you've never had soda pop, water is just fine. One thing that will sour the taste of your meal is to overthink or overwork yourself making the meal before you can enjoy the meal. We have modern tools to minimize the surprises but I always have to remember cave men and women didn’t have temperature gages.
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Just my 2 cents worth.
Now, that brings back memories! We couldn’t afford a “store-bought” vertical smoker like the New Bransfel, so my dad and I built one out of an old propane tank, some flat bar and round stock we found. My dad was a welder, so that part of the process was pretty easy. That old vertical worked very well for many years.

Thanks for the memories!
 
Now, that brings back memories! We couldn’t afford a “store-bought” vertical smoker like the New Bransfel, so my dad and I built one out of an old propane tank, some flat bar and round stock we found. My dad was a welder, so that part of the process was pretty easy. That old vertical worked very well for many years.

Thanks for the memories!
I have been cooking and smoking ribs BB, STL, Spares since the early 1990’s never heard of wrapping them until a few years ago. I have never wrapped ribs. My BNL cooks and smokes ribs twice a Year for approx. 60 folks. Never wraps. Many rib comas from over eating and never a dry rack. Never a compliant. He can treat the over eating being a Doc. 🤣 I know folks have great results doing the extra work and achieve consistency. I just do it with out the extra effort. I only crutch shoulders/butts when pressed for time. I do as of late, crutch briskets. Something new for me. Smokem if you gottem. 🤘
 
Ok, my $0.02 worth.

My most recent BB ribs method:
Remove silver skin
Rinse pat dry
Flaked Kosher salt lightly both sides (Dixie Crystals work great). Put ribs in fridge for a couple of hours.
Spray lightly w/ water
Coat both sides w/ Meathead's Memphis Dust let them sit for 10-15 minutes
Light up two smoke tubes with Cookin' Pellets Perfect mix
Load hopper w/ Perfect mix
Put ribs on grate w/ smoke tubes
Start RT 590 on Low
Leave lid closed and let smoke on low for 1 hr.
Raise temp to 225F
Check for doneness at about 4.5 - 5 hrs. I'm a "If your lookin' your not cookin'." guy so lid probably is not opened until the doneness check.

What I get is a really nice bark and meat is juicy and pulls off the bone easily.

I am just too lazy to do 3-2-1 and really like the bark and smoky flavor this method gives.

Maybe I will use some Speedy Pig Hot BBQ sauce (Fayetteville, GA) but usually not.

Since my RT-590 is hotter on the right than the left, the thicker slab goes to the far right and the thinness one on the far left.

I am always to anxious to eat the ribs to take a photo. Maybe next time.
 
Now, that brings back memories! We couldn’t afford a “store-bought” vertical smoker like the New Bransfel, so my dad and I built one out of an old propane tank, some flat bar and round stock we found. My dad was a welder, so that part of the process was pretty easy. That old vertical worked very well for many years.

Thanks for the memories!
When I first moved to the Pacific Northwest, I couldn't figure out why so many houses had an old refrigerator in the back yard. Then I noticed the smoke coming out of them. Smoked Salmon anyone?
 
When I first moved to the Pacific Northwest, I couldn't figure out why so many houses had an old refrigerator in the back yard. Then I noticed the smoke coming out of them. Smoked Salmon anyone?
Yep, that was in the day when refrigerators had metal interiors. When they went to plastic, they were useless as smokers.

Believe it or not, I built my first salmon smoker out of plywood and used a hot plate for the heat source. Those were the days! And, we smoked a lot of salmon back then.
 
Now, that brings back memories! We couldn’t afford a “store-bought” vertical smoker like the New Bransfel, so my dad and I built one out of an old propane tank, some flat bar and round stock we found. My dad was a welder, so that part of the process was pretty easy. That old vertical worked very well for many years.

Thanks for the memories!
Me, too. My dad gutted and old washing machine and turned it into a smoker. He loved to smoke cobia and Spanish mackerel that he or a friend would catch off-shore. Oh, and mullet, too.
 
There is a show on Netflix, Barbecue Showdown, and they had an episode this season where the contestants had to use a repurposed item like a dryer, file cabinet, to smoke on. Quite entertaining!
 
Not a 3-2-1 sort...

Two racks of baby backs took ~3 hrs 15 min total on the 1250 (cooked @250F until they hit 165, wrapped in foil with a line of BBQ sauce down the middle of each). Let 'em ride to ~195F then rested / transported to a friend's house for dinner

Broiled on high for ~10 mins before serving. My oven is no match for that baby (and it was a bit more than my typical approach!). Still came out juicy and delicious.

IMG_20230603_185403.jpg


IMG_20230603_184812.jpg
 
Well after many years of 3-2-1, I figured it was about time to try "simple" today. I prepped three racks of spare ribs with a brush of olive oil and Bad Byron's Butt Rub. They went on the bull for six hours at 225 with nothing but a quick spritz of apple juice and apple cider vinegar at the two hour mark and hourly thereafter.

These were some the best ribs I've cooked. I can't believe it took me this long to try this method. I think I'm done with wrapping, at least for a while.
I gotta know…do you / y’all pull the membrane during prep?
 

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