Baby Back Rib Rub
4 pounds racks baby back pork ribs (2 racks) You can use spare ribs
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup ground black pepper
1/2 cup paprika
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
1/2 tablespoon minced dry onion
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
vegetable oil
Baby Back Rib Sauce
4 cups brown sugar
12 ounces tomato paste
1 cup water
1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (7.5 ounces)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup minced garlic
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
1 tablespoon chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
Ribs
Preheat pellet smoker to 225 degrees fahrenheit.
In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, salt, pepper, minced onion, garlic powder, cayenne, and paprika. Whisk together.
Place your ribs, with the bottom facing up, on your baking sheet. Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs.
Drizzle a bit of vegetable oil (around 2 tablespoons, but you don’t have to be exact) on the back of the ribs and rub it all over.
Sprinkle about ? of the spice mixture on the back of each rack of ribs and rub it in thoroughly.
Flip the ribs and repeat the oil and spice process, just divide the remaining seasoning mixture between the two racks
Place your 8×8 pan of water to the back of your smoker and then place your racks of ribs in the smoker.
Cook for 3 hours at 225 degrees, spraying every half an hour with the apple cider vinegar. Spray them just enough to make them shiny, you don’t have to be exact here.
Place foil on your baking sheet, making sure that the foil is about 5 inches longer than the ribs on each side.
Place your ribs on the foil, generously squirt with apple cider vinegar, seal it tightly, and continue to bake at 225 degrees for 2 more hours.
Remove the ribs from the foil, smother with BBQ sauce, and place them back in the smoker, without the foil, and smoke for 1 more hour. Enjoy!
BBQ Sauce Instructions
Add all the wet ingredients to a medium boiling pot. Using an immersion blender, blend the ingredients until smooth. You can also use a normal blender if you have one large enough, or do it in batches.
Add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and simmer for 30-45 minutes. The longer you simmer, the thicker it will get.
Notes:
If you would like to save on pellets, during the two hours that the ribs are wrapped in foil, you can place them in your oven at 225 degrees for those two hours instead. The first 3 hours and then the last hour of cooking still need to be in the smoker.
Heat-resistant gloves make handling the gloves a little easier than using tongs.
Keep that lid closed as much as possible. Open, squirt, close. Keeping the heat consistent is key to a good smoking process.
If you don’t have competition pellets, no problem, just use your favorite.
To make the BBQ sauce milder, reduce or remove the chipotle peppers.