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!

Yield: two full racks of baby back ribs

BABY BACK RIBS ON THE GRILL

Print

Baby Back Ribs on the Grill recipe is an easy way to serve up some of the best pork ribs you will have ever had. They are tender, juicy and amazingly delicious!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 3 hours

Total Time 3 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 full racks of baby back ribs
• 1-2 cups of water
• 2 Tbsp dry rub or seasoning salt
• 2 cups of your favorite BBQ sauce, divided

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
2. To remove the rib membrane start by first loosening it at the narrow end by using a small paring knife. Then with a dry paper towel as a grip pull the membrane using a firm but steady force. Re-position your grip on the membrane as needed and continue to pull until it is completely off.
3. You can use the paring knife to remove any small bits of membrane that remain. You can also trim any excess fat that is on your rack of ribs.
4. Place between half an inch to three quarters of an inch of water in your roasting pan.
5. Add a metal rack to your roasting pan and lay your ribs meat side up on the rack making sure that they are not soaking in the water. We don’t want to boil them just steam them!
6. Tightly cover the roasting pan with aluminum foil and cook in the oven for 3 hours.
7. Remove the ribs from the oven. At this point you can allow them to cool, wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate them to cook later, or continue and finish them off.
8. Either way once you are ready to continue preheat your grill to medium heat. 
9. Cover your ribs with seasoning salt or dry rub on both sides of the rack.
10.  Place the ribs on the grill and brush on your BBQ sauce. Turn the ribs over and brush the other side.
11. Close the lid and allow the BBQ sauce to caramelize, you will also want nice dark grill marks on your rack of ribs.
12. Turn the ribs and grill the other side, I always add a little more BBQ sauce mostly because I like my ribs extra saucy!
13. Once the ribs are heated through and you have nice grill marks it’s time to server them up.
14. I like to serve them with a small bowl of BBQ sauce for dipping; they go great with a nice grilled corn on the cob too!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 747 Total Fat: 35g Saturated Fat: 12g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 20g Cholesterol: 132mg Sodium: 4133mg Carbohydrates: 68g Fiber: 2g Sugar: 55g Protein: 38g