First round of baby back ribs

[badf00d]

Bought two racks of baby back ribs today and started getting ready for my first smoke on the KBQ. No idea what time it will arrive, but it may be too late to start a cook if FedEx is running on their normal schedule - so maybe Sunday for the cook. Tonight I put together a batch of MMD. I need to come up with a better way to turn dried rosemary into powder, but other than that it was easy and smells great. A local Indian grocery had most of the spices in bulk for cheap.

Since this is new to me, I've been trying to read enough to understand what I need to do. How close am I?

1. Remove membrane from ribs, rinse, trim any big fat.
2. Dry brine in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours if not overnight.
3. Wet the ribs and rub with MMD and back to the refrigerator.
4. Fire up the KBQ and use the clean smoke setup.
5. Cook the ribs at 225F.
6. The baby backs would take 2.5 to 3.5 hours in the KBQ before passing the bend test?
7. Paint some BBQ sauce at the end (a la Last Meal Ribs recipe).

What am I missing or have wrong? And do I need to do a dry run with the KBQ for a couple of hours before I risk a couple of racks of ribs?

[Jon Solberg]

Sounds like a plan.

I few thoughts from me.

A personal blender works great to make Rosemary dust if you have one.

BTW We need pics. : )

I budget 5 hours to do BB ribs at 225. I can seem to get them bendable at 3.5

[badf00d]

Mother nature may have interrupted my plan for today. 35 to 45 MPH winds this afternoon with gusts to 57 MPH, bringing in an unexpected freeze tonight - I thought it was spring! Probably best not to turn the KBQ into a roman candle.

Great idea on the blender. Thanks.

[badf00d]

And FedEx just updated my delivery to now come on Tuesday instead of today. Ack! Sadly, it's only 1.5hrs away from my house, but at a facility that is already closed for the day. 3 days to go 90 miles. Bah.

With 2 racks of ribs in my refrigerator, what are my options to keep them from getting nasty?

[HorseDoctor]

They should be fine but could always wrap in plastic & pop them in the freezer for a day or two to be certain. FYI: A little blade style coffee grinder is great for spices.

[GBA]

Just to be safe vacuum seal then they will be fine for Monday

[oldsteve]

You don't need a dry run using the KBQ for the first time! You're good to go. I've never gone more than 3 1/2 hours @ 217°-230° doing baby backs. That's one of the benefits of the KBQ having convection oven like qualities.

[porkfat]

For your rosemary, use a household coffee mill. Krup makes a good one for about $20.00. One caution: once you use it for spices and herbs, it is best that you not use it for coffee as it will make your coffee taste funny.

[badf00d]

Great idea!

[badf00d]

The ribs have been dry brined tonight. Wow, you guys make that membrane look easy. Definitely need to improve my skills on removing it. Not sure I got all of it on one rack but simply couldn't get a grip on it, or when I did only a little bit came off.

*Cough*, *Cough* - I must be coming down with something. Have to work from home Tuesday afternoon. Will be cooking the ribs tomorrow afternoon as long as FedEx doesn't set me up for failure again.

[Huskee]

The ribs have been dry brined tonight. Wow, you guys make that membrane look easy. Definitely need to improve my skills on removing it. Not sure I got all of it on one rack but simply couldn't get a grip on it, or when I did only a little bit came off.

*Cough*, *Cough* - I must be coming down with something. Have to work from home Tuesday afternoon. Will be cooking the ribs tomorrow afternoon as long as FedEx doesn't set me up for failure again.

Inevitably I'll get 1 out of 2 or 3 racks where the membrane is just stubbornly impossible and comes off in little slippery strips. Then, you'll get one that comes up in one swipe and life is good. (Those are the ones that make all the rib videos)

Have a great day tomorrow! I know that excitement!

[Jon Solberg]

Looking forward to the pics!

[Gooner-que]

I've found that gripping the membrane with some paper towel makes getting it off very easy. Can't wait to see the pics of the KBQ and your first cook.

[badf00d]

KBQ is assembled and has been running for about an hour. Ribs are looking good. I will post some pictures when I can later tonight.

[badf00d]

Success!

[ribeyeguy]

How were they? If they weren't great don't get discouraged! The bend test is one thing but you also need to see the meat shrinking up a bit and showing some exposed bone. I don't see that on yours, we're they tender and just short of fall off the bone?

[badf00d]

They were, without a doubt, the best ribs I've ever had. We devoured a rack and a half before we decided we should stop eating this BBQ crack. If they get better than this I'm in for a treat. My daughter (wants to be a vegetarian) even said they were good.

Still waiting for my dual probe to arrive, so I wasn't able to fully control the temperature inside the cookbox. I think I also overshot the internal temperature because it went faster than expected. What's the trick to get ribs to shrink up a bit? They were tender, but not falling off the bone.

None of this stopped them from being amazing, especially considering this is the first time I've ever used a smoker.