Makes
1 slab baby back ribsIngredients
Method
- Prep. Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs and trim excess fat. Mix ½ cup (118.3 ml) water with the liquid smoke, and marinate the meat in this for an hour. I usually cut the slab in half, put each half in a 1 gallon (1.9 L) zipper bag, and divide the marinade between the two.
- Cook. Season both sides with salt and then Meathead's Memphis Dust. Wrap the meat in foil. Put it in a pan (to catch leaks) and cook in 225°F (107.2°C) oven for 2 hours. This makes the meat very tender, but not mushy.
- Roast. Now take the meat out of the foil, then put it back in the oven, meaty side up, without the foil to dry roast for another 2 hours at 225°F (107.2°C). This will firm the bark.
- Broil. Read this article to see how to tell when the meat is ready. I use the bend test to make sure it is done. When it is, turn the slab meaty side down. Slather the bone side with the sauce, turn the oven to broil and put the meat under the broiler so it is aligned with the heat source. Broil for 5 minutes with the oven door partially open or until the sauce bubbles, watching closely to make sure it doesn't burn. Leave the door open so the oven cools a bit and to make sure the thermostat doesn't turn off the broiler. Repeat for the meaty side. This direct concentrated heat caramelizes the sugar and creates more deeper flavor. Serve.
Notes
About the smoked Meathead's Memphis Dust. To amp this up to 11, we make Meathead's Memphis Dust with smoked smoked garlic, smoked onion, smoked salt, and paprika. They are available in some stores or online.
About the sauce. You can use a store-bought sauce or one of the recipes on this site such as "Kansas City Classic Sauce". If you go for a store bought, get one that calls itself "smoky." That means it has liquid smoke added. KC Masterpiece original is a good example. If you wish, you can add about 1/4 teaspoon of liquid smoke to the barbecue sauce after you taste it. You can also make a sauce the way my friend, Christopher Kimball, makes it over at Milkstreet. Save the pork juices that collect in the foil or pan and mix them with other flavorful liquids to make a BBQ glaze. Chris mixes in gochujang, rice vinegar, sesame oil and fresh ginger and garlic in one version. In another, he amps that mix up even more with hoisin sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, five spice, and cilantro. Have fun with the seasonings and make it your own.
About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.
Optional. Add 1/4 teaspoon of Prague Powder #1 to get a faux smoke ring. The smoke ring is not really made by smoke! Click the link to read more. And PP#1 really doesn't impact flavor, so you can skip it, but if you add it, you might be able to pass these ribs off as cooked outdoors.
Note. If you use thicker, heavier cuts such as spareribs or St. Louis Cut ribs, add 1 hour to the cooking time outside the foil.