This recipe is incredibly easy and delicious, but keep in mind that cooking time is 2 hours.
We made this recipe with two different flavors of Grumpy’s BBQ sauce. The ‘Good night loving’ Texas Style and the ‘Bold XX’ Kansas City Style. The Tasters (Me, my husband, my mother-in-law, and my nephew) were divided in our favorites. However we all agreed that the Texas style is a bit spicier (but oh so delicious, yes you guessed it, my favorite was the Texas style). We still have two more flavors of Grumpy’s BBQ sauces to try, but so far I’m impressed with them, very, very delicious.
Serves 2-3 if you’re hungry
(If you don’t have any chili powder, you can make your own by mixing 1 teaspoon paprika, 2 teaspoons cumin, 1 teaspoon cayenne, 1 teaspoon oregano, 2 teaspoons garlic powder)
Start up the BBQ. Because we are smoking the ribs in this recipe, we used a charcoal bbq, but if your bbq can’t smoke, don’t worry, even unsmoked these ribs are very tasty. The coals should be placed as far to one side of the bbq as possible. The ribs will be going on the opposite side, as far from the heat as possible, we want them to cook slowly.
Soak the wood chips. It’s important to soak the wood chips until they are fully saturated this is so they don’t catch on fire and burn up when they’re put on the hot coals. We want smoke, not flames. Ours were more sawdust than chips, so they only needed half an hour, but if you have larger chunks you may need to soak them for an hour.
To get delicious tender ribs, the important first step is to remove the membrane on the back side. Turn the rack so the boney side is facing up. Using either your fingers or a butter knife, pry up a bit of the membrane at one side of the rack. (picture 1)
Pull the membrane that you have pried up, you want to pull it across the ribs, removing all the membrane. If you’re lucky it will come off in one piece! The membrane can be quite slippery, so if you’re having trouble gripping it try using a paper towel. (picture 2)
Two racks with membranes removed. (picture 3)
Mix together the cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
Sprinkle the rub onto both sides of the rack, you don’t have to use all of it.
NOTE: Be careful to only lightly rub the mixture into the meat. If you rub it in too vigorously the flavor becomes very intense.
Make sure the coals are stacked at one side of the bbq and are white hot.
Bring your ribs and soaked wood chips to the bbq. Drain off as much water as you can from the wood chips
Remove the grate and put the wood chips on the hot coals. Use your hands to do this, and squeeze out excess water before putting the chips on the coals. Replace the grate.
Place the ribs on the grate, as far from the coals as possible. Since they will be cooking for a total of 2 hours, we don’t want the coals to be cooking them directly. Make sure the ribs are meaty side up.
Put the lid on the grill, make sure it is positioned so the vents are on the same side as the meat, this way the smoke has to pass over the meat to escape.
Adjust the vent opening so it is only ¼ open, and enjoy the smoke show.
Leave the bbq for one hour. Do not open the lid to peek!
Now that you’ve patiently waited one hour, remove the grill lid.
For this second hour you need to baste every 15 minutes with your chosen BBQ Sauce (as I mentioned in the introduction, we used two different Grumpy’s BBQ Sauces, their ‘Goodnight Loving’ Texas Style and their ‘Bold XX’ Kansas City style. Both of them were incredibly delicious, I liked the Texas style best, however my husband disagrees and thinks the Kansas City one has the edge.)
After the last basting, leave the ribs on the bbq for 5 more minutes (make sure to put the lid back on). Then remove and prepare to eat!
Serve the ribs with a nice green salad, such as our Bacon Lettuce, Avocado, and Tomato Salad, french fries, or both!
David B. May 2nd, 2010
Posted In: Recipes
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