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BABY BACK RIBS ON THE GRILL

Baby Back Ribs on the Grill recipe is an easy way to serve up some of the best pork ribs you will ever taste. This is a straightforward recipe that creates some of the juiciest, most tender ribs ever.

You never have to worry about grilling ribs again, every single time they will come out brilliantly!

I got this idea on how to cook ribs from a friend of mine Dave Harvey. We were over at the Harvey’s for dinner and they served these ribs.

I was so blown away with how they turned out, I had to ask for the recipe. He was gracious enough to share it with me and now I get to share it with you!!

When I serve ribs I always get baby back ribs. I find them to be a little more tender and meatier. There is one thing that you absolutely have to remember to do before you start cooking your ribs.

It’s quick and easy if you know the secret.

Learning From the Best

Many years ago my wife Tara bought me a full day BBQ and smoking class for Father’s Day. It was put on by Competitive BBQ Champion Rockin Ronnie Shewchuk, who also has a great cookbook.

This little secret I got from him and it makes this task way easier.

As you may or may not know there is a very thin membrane on the underside of your rack of ribs. Although it is thinner than a sheet of paper it doesn’t soften when cooked and is very tough and chewy.

If you want to achieve absurdly tender ribs you have to remove this thin membrane prior to starting.

Preparation Secret

The problem with this little sucker is that it’s slippery and can be super frustrating to remove unless you use this technique.

Using a sharp paring knife separate a corner of the membrane from the ribs. Then, holding a dry paper towel, grab hold of the loosened membrane using the paper towel as a grip.

Peel off the membrane using slow steady pressure adjusting your grip as you go. Once you have it removed you can trim off any excess fat or bits of remaining membrane.

Now you are ready to start to cook your ribs.

What type of ribs are most tender?

We use baby back ribs almost exclusively for barbecuing as they are meatier and more tender.

Side ribs are good in a slow cooker I find where they have a long time at a low heat to get tender. Side ribs or spare ribs as they are also known are less meaty, a bit tougher but also cheaper to purchase. 

How to cook baby back ribs on the grill

Don’t be surprised by this next step, I don’t put the ribs on the grill right away. I get out my roasting pan, with a metal rack and add about ¾ of an inch of water to the bottom of the pan and lay the rack of ribs in the roasting pan on the rack.

Meat side up, making sure they are not resting in the water; no seasoning, nothing, just the ribs.

Wrap the pan tightly with aluminum foil and bake in a slow oven for about 3 hours. This allows your ribs to cook slowly; they will not dry out, guaranteed!

You can do this in advance. Wrap and refrigerate your ribs until your guests arrive and it’s time to serve them.

 

Barbecue sauce and Seasonings

OK now it’s time to pile on the flavors. First I season both side with my favorite seasoning salt or dry rub. I don’t like to be too heavy handed with the seasonings. I don’t want it to have the seasoning overpower the barbecue sauce but to complement it.

Place your rack of ribs on a medium hot grill and brush with BBQ sauce, turn and brush the other side.  Close the lid and allow the BBQ sauce to begin to caramelize.

Add more BBQ sauce if you like. Wait until you have nice dark grill marks on your ribs and your BBQ sauce is just bubbling.

These ribs will be some of the most tender you will ever have. I don’t like my ribs cooked to the point of fall off the bone. I think they should require a gentle tug to come away from the bone. After all who wants a pile of rib bones and a pile of meat on a plate?

You should be able to pick up your ribs and the meat should pull off the bone with just a little tug.

Now it’s time to serve them up!  I like to include a small bowl with additional BBQ sauce for dipping, I like my ribs really saucy!