When it comes to cooking some baby back ribs, there are a number of ways you can do it. You can cook them fast or slow, marinade them or just add seasoning, and cook them in an oven or over charcoal.
Charcoal adds a great unique flavor to your ribs by giving it some excellent flavor and by using the method below you will guarantee a rack of ribs your entire family will fall in love with.
Baby Back Ribs On The Weber
Ingredients
- Baby Back Ribs
- Yellow Mustard
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic Powder
Instructions
- Add charcoal around the edge of the weber smoker to create a snake-like pattern about 3/4 of the way around the weber.
- Make the snake-like pattern 2 charcoal briquettes thick.
- Add a few charcoals over the top of the snake for an extra layer of charcoal.
- Place about 10 to 12 charcoal briquettes in the center of the snake pattern.
- Spray ONLY the briquettes in the center with some lighter fluid.
- Immediately light the charcoal that has been covered in fluid with a match.
- After the 10 or so charcoal pieces ash over, using tongs or a pitch fork move them towards the beginning of the charcoal snake. This will allow them to slowly burn down the patch of the snake keeping a slow heat for a lengthy period of time.
- Add a pan of water in an aluminum or heatproof pan in the center to help control the heat.
- Place the grate over the charcoal and cover it with a lid to preheat it to about 250 degrees.
- PREPARE BABY BACK: Remove the membrane from the back of the baby back rib.
- Add mustard and rub over both sides.
- Liberally sprinkle salt, pepper, and garlic (or the seasoning of your choice) over the ribs. Let stand for about 10 to 15 minutes while the grill preheats.
- After the grill has been preheated, keep the temperature between 225 - 250 degrees during the duration of the cook.
- TIP: To cook the ribs slightly faster you can cook them closer to 300 degrees.
- Place the ribs on the grate and close the lid.
- Cook the ribs for 5 to 7 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 195 - 205 degrees.
- Once they have reached the desired temperature, remove them from the heat and let them rest for 10 minutes
- Cut them up and serve.
Notes
Determining They Are Done
If you are not able to test the internal temperature of the ribs, a very common method is to simply try a bend test or try and pick them up.
When you bend the ribs if they show signs of cracking, tearing apart or quite fragile they are most likely done.
Sometimes you may have difficulty handling them with tongs, or trouble keeping them in one piece. This is definitely a sign they are ready to remove from the grill.
Additional Flavor
Add some pieces of your favorite wood on top of the snake such as pecan, hickory, mesquite, or apple. This will help add some generous smoky flavor to your ribs during the cook.
Charcoal Snake Method On The Weber
The snake method simply put is a series of charcoal briquettes lined up after one another around the edge of your weber grill. You will place each charcoal in a row until you form a series of charcoal that looks similar to a snake.
Once you have created the snake pattern around the weber grill, you will need to add a hand full of about 10 charcoal briquetts in the center. Douse the charcol in the center with lighter fluid, then light with a match.
Once the lit charcoal becomes ash, move it over to the begininng of the snake with proper tools (metal tongs, pitch fork, small shovel) and the slow burn process will begin.
To finalaize it so that it ready to begin the cook, add a pan of water in the center of the snake to help control the temperature and will also help with moisturizing your cook.