First baby back ribs for me

[wilburpan]

Rib cooks are not unique, for sure, but this was my first try at them. Yesterday we had friends over, and I figured four racks of baby back ribs should be good for two families. I went over to the local butcher, to get four racks, and found that he had them in packages of three. So I got six. I found that I can get six racks of ribs onto my KK 23â€. 
 

 
I took a KISS approach to these ribs. I coated them with rub ( Melvin’s Bar-B-Que Dry Rub Shake), got the grill set at 225ºF, and let it go for about 5-1/2 hours. This was the result.
 

 
They were great. Our friends said that they didn’t need to put sauce on them, which I took as a sign that they turned out well. 
 
One thing that I didn’t expect was how much more meat you get on baby back ribs that you get from a butcher compared to ones that you get at a restaurant. Usually I can eat a half slab of baby backs pretty easily, and a full rack if I’m really hungry. I was stuffed after half a rack.

[DennisLinkletter]

Now those are some really meaty ribs.. wish I could get them that big here..

For cooks this big best to run foil from front to rear on the lower grill to make a huge indirect area.. 

Drip pan on that..

[CeramicChef]

WIlbur - you must have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express recently because YOU NAILED IT!  Very nicely done.  Very nice indeed!

[tony b]

Yummy looking ribs for a rookie, Wilbur! Nice job!

[amir]

That looks awesome.  What's in the rub?  I just made my first baby back ribs too.  Here was my rub:  1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup paprika, 1-2 tablsp salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and 2 tablespoon chili powder.  

 

I put it on at 250 with alder chunks (didn't have anything else around).  I used the heat deflector.  It was a windy day and I barely had the bottom vent open; had to go out for a couple of hours and came back 4 hours later to find the grill at 325.  Boohoo ;(  I think point you made about the top vent is right on - on windy days I've noticed the temp goes higher.  

 

The outside of the ribs were blackened which I didn't like so much.  But it was so tender and delicious inside. We ate them all.  

 

Gonna get the bbq guru so I can just set it and forget it.  I used Wicked Good, Jake's blend.  It's very dense hardwood charcoal.  Very hard to light but great for low and slow.  Nice aroma too.

[tony b]

Just a warning Amir, the Guru is great (own a DigiQ-II), but windy days can play havoc with the Guru too. If it's windy, leave the Guru damper almost closed. Top vent is usually just cracked open using the Guru on a lo & slo, so that part of the equation is OK.

 

In my case today, I just got busy doing other things and didn't check on the KK after putting the meat on. Since it was a short cook, I didn't use the Guru today. C'est la vie!

[wilburpan]

That looks awesome.  What's in the rub?  I just made my first baby back ribs too.  Here was my rub:  1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup paprika, 1-2 tablsp salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and 2 tablespoon chili powder.  

 

The ingredient list on the bottle reads: salt, sugar, paprika, spices, garlic powder, soybean oil, less than 2% tricalcium phosphate to prevent caking.

 

Now that I’m done with this bottle, I’m going to try making my own. This rub was very good, but the ingredient list makes me think that it’s mainly salt. I may steal your recipe.

[fcnich]

Very nice job! I did some ribs yesterday. I don't use a rub on my ribs anymore, just some salt and pepper, cook at 235° for 2 hours, wrap in foil and cook another 2 hours. Remove from foil put back in the kk, brush my sauce on them and cook another 10 min for sauce to set a bit. I use hickory, peach or pecan wood, come out perfectly cooked every time! Enjoy your KK and have even more fun experimenting with different "stuff"!

[amir]

thanks tony and wilbur.  i think my other problem was that the TOP vent was open too much... it was open 2 turns, and i think that (along with the wind) was probably the contributing factor.  i'll try a few more lo and slo's with the top vent less open and see how it goes.  

[MadMedik]

Amir,

If you wanted 250 temp and the top was open 2 complete rotations that is way too much. Generally, about 1/4 of a rotation and lower vents barely opn will get 250. 325 is not a surprise with 2 turns open on top

Wilbur,

Ribs look great. Did you use indirect stone. I would think yes?

[wilburpan]

Amir,

If you wanted 250 temp and the top was open 2 complete rotations that is way too much. Generally, about 1/4 of a rotation and lower vents barely opn will get 250. 325 is not a surprise with 2 turns open on top

 

I can attest to that. My vent settings for cooking these ribs at 225ºF were nearly identical to the above description. My lower vent was open just enough so that the opening was a skinny triangle. Any more open and the opening would be a skinny trapezoid. (Hope that description makes sense.)  My top vent was turned about 1/4 of a turn.

 

Wilbur,

Ribs look great. Did you use indirect stone. I would think yes?

Yup. Indirect stone, sitting on the fire basket handles. Ribs on the main grate and upper grate.

[tony b]

thanks tony and wilbur.  i think my other problem was that the TOP vent was open too much... it was open 2 turns, and i think that (along with the wind) was probably the contributing factor.  i'll try a few more lo and slo's with the top vent less open and see how it goes.  

 

Way too open on the top - that's like shooting for 450F - 500F range. I was trying to cook yesterday's pork roast @ 275F and got impatient and opened the top vent 3/4 turn and before I knew it, the KK was at 375F. And it was very windy, too! Shuddah known bettah!

[amir]

Thanks all.  Lesson for next one.