Ingredient and Equipment Notes
Babyback Pork Ribs – Up to 3 pounds. Mustard – Yellow mustard or Dijon. Dry Rub Chili powder Smoked paprika Kosher salt Pepper Cumin Brown sugar Garlic powder Onion powder
How to Smoke Babyback Ribs
Step 1: Mustard Rub
The first thing I do give my ribs a thin rub of mustard. You can use Dijon or even plain yellow mustard. It doesn’t make them taste mustard-y, it just helps deepen the flavor and adhere the spice rub. There’s no measurement, I just give it a good squeeze and rub it all over both sides.
Step 2: Dry Rub
The next thing you need is a dry rub. I shared my rub recipe a couple weeks ago, here it is if you missed it! Rub it all over both sides and gently pat in.
Step 3: Smoke
At this point your ribs are ready for the smoker. Your smoker should already be preheated to 225 and I always place a pan of water underneath my grate just to circulate some moisture in there.
3-2-1 Method for Smoking Ribs: I use the 3-2-1 method as a guide. This means, smoke your ribs directly on grates for 3 hours, then wrap them securely in foil and cook for 2 more hours, then unwrap, place on grates again and smoke for 1 more hour, glazing in BBQ sauce.
Step 4: Roast
After the 3 hours of smoking, your ribs will look like this- kind of dry to the touch. Now we’re going to wrap them up and roast them. I get an extra large sheet pan and cover it with 2 criss-crossing sheets of heavy duty foil. Depending on the size of your ribs, you could also place them in a large disposable foil pan. Either way, I add about 1-2 cups of apple cider (or apple juice, or if all else fails, chicken or beef broth) and then seal up the foil. Your wrapped up package goes back on the smoker for about 2 hours. You’ll find when you unwrap, tons of moisture was trapped in there and everything is now soft and tender. You’ll want to be careful handling them so they don’t fall apart, but gently place them back on the grates and smoke them for 1 final hour, glazing with BBQ sauce 1-2 times during the hour. You’ll get sticky sweet and savory exterior with soft tender smoky meat.
