Summertime Smoked Baby Back Ribs

There’s no summer without ribs — smoky, tender, and falling off the bone. This adaptation of a classic baby back ribs recipe brings all the flavor you’d expect from a pitmaster, but scaled for the backyard enthusiast. I use my trusty electric SmokinTex smoker that has truly withstood the test of time.

Ingredients

• 2 racks baby back ribs (about 4 to 5 pounds total) membranes removed (you can ask your butcher to do this for you!)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 teasoppn dry mustard
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsb honey

Instructions

1. Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs using a paper towel for grip. Pat dry.
2. In a bowl, mix the brown sugar, paprika, salt, chili powder, pepper, cumin, and dry mustard.
3. Rub the spice blend all over the ribs, coating generously. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, or refrigerate overnight for a deeper flavor.
4. Preheat your smoker to 225°F. Use a combination of hickory and applewood for balanced smoke flavor.
5. Place the ribs in the smoker, bone side down. Smoke for 3 hours, basting with the combined liquids to keep them moist.
6. Wrap each rack in aluminum foil and return to the smoker for another 2 hours to tenderize.
7. Unwrap the ribs, brush with barbecue sauce, re-wrap, and let stand at room temperature until prepared to finish them on the grill (or refrigerate overnight).
8. Preheat grill on medium heat. Unwrap ribs from the foil and finish on the grill being careful not to create flareups which will create an unwanted acrid flavor. If starting from room temperature, this will only take about 10 minutes, and perhaps 5 minutes longer if reheating from refrigeration.
9. Continue to baste with bar-b-que sauce until at the desired temparature. Remove from the grill and slice between the bones then serve warm.

Serving Suggestion

These ribs pair perfectly with a bold and tangy side — we serve them alongside Bobby Flay’s Mustard Green Onion Potato Salad , which cuts through the richness of the meat with its vinegary bite and punch of fresh scallion flavor and my mom JoAnn’s Coleslaw.

Reflections

For the vinegar in this recipe, I use a homemade blend that adds an unmistakable layer of complexity. It started as an experiment: I combined a bottle of raw apple cider vinegar with the mother to a forgotten but treasured bottle of 1995 Rombauer Chardonnay. After letting it rest in a cool, dark spot, it transformed into a golden, fragrant vinegar with the depth of wine and the brightness of fresh cider. That custom vinegar brings a subtle tang that perfectly complements the smoky, sweet, and savory layers of the ribs and makes the potato salad a one-of-a-kind experience!