Prize Winning Baby Back Ribs

This is the PERFECT spice mix, and the best way to season the meat. Trimming the membrane off is crucial, and actually not that hard to do with a flat boning knife if you insert it parallel to the rib and directly over it. Once you get the first few done, you can grab the membrane and just tear it off the rest. But for the preparation, I prefer to SMOKE the ribs Southern-style on a Weber instead of doing them in the oven. The key to this is that you put all the coals in a pile on one side of the grill, then all the meat at the far opposite side. Add the soaked hickory chips and the seasoned meat (no sauce yet) and close the lid quickly, close down the top and bottom vents to about 1/4 open, and leave it that way for an hour. Then, add more soaked chips (adjust the vents if needed) and start basting the meat with the barbeque sauce once every 15 minutes for another hour. Close the lid as quickly as possible every time, as the chips will want to flare up and you want to try to avoid that. I've done this at least a dozen times now, and it comes out perfect every time, with the crunchy carmelized sauce on the edges and the meat very tender and juicy.

This is one of my favorite rib recipes. Last saturday I prepared these for a guest list of 40. I had three bbq's on the go. I did something different though. I added mesquite wood chips and let them smoke the whole time. Oh and a trick to removing the membrane: use a dry butter knife and scrap into the membrane at the small end of the back ribs..then take a piece of paper towel and grip that sucker and tug...should come off every time in one piece.

(1-29-06)This was my first time cooking baby back ribs and what a success! This recipe is very easy and very delicious! Don't be afraid it will fail you--it more than lives up to its five-star rating! Here are my tips: We had close to 6 pounds of Costco baby backs--very meaty. The butter knife method of removing the membrane (described by another reviewer)worked perfectly. Thanks! I made double the dry-rub and took suggestions by other reviews to decrease the cumin (I used a little over 1T for the double batch and increased the chili powder accordingly) and rub the mixture into the meat a bit (2-14-07 update: take the recipe's caution about not rubbing it in too much seriously. I put too much on my last batch & it was overpowering). We followed the grilling instructions to a 'T'! Our ribs were perfectly cooked in just under two hours. Because we had double the amount of meat, I did peek after an hour and 20 minutes to see the progress. Based on the recipe description, I could tell we needed more time. We cooked them for about another 20 minutes (next time I won't have to peek!) then added the sauce. I made the sauce in Scott Hibb's Amazing Whisky Grilled Baby Back Ribs recipe (5 stars!). After adding the sauce we grilled as instructed. DELICIOUS! My husband, who claimed to not like baby back ribs, LOVED these. I loved these! My 6 and 3 year olds loved these. The cooking method, the rub and the sauce are winners! TRY THIS ONE!

I must say I was a little skeptical, as I've married into a family of Texans and have heard stories of all the steps a proper rib cookout should entail - well, these were really great! I actually just used an inexpensive, store-bought (gasp!) BBQ sauce, but next time I'll plan ahead and make some of Bubba's Best BBQ Sauce (here on allrecipes.com) and really knock 'em dead. Great ribs!

This was my second time for this recipe and it rocks! I used baby back ribs, about 6 lbs so I doubled the rub. I cut down the amount of cumin and added onion and garlic powder. They sat in the refrigerator with the rub on them for a day and a half. I slow cooked them in the oven at 300 degrees for 2-1/2 hours then grilled last 15 minutes with BBQ sauce. They were the best, fell right off the bone. Look out Tony Romas! Mmmmmmmmmmmmm - the best !

These ribs were awesome. Very flavorful. Easy to prepare. The texture of the ribs was as if a professional chef had prepared them. I followed the recipe to a T, except I used commercial BBQ sauce and added a good amount of bottled hot sauce. I like them a little zippy. The rub was excellent. To remove the membrane use a very sharp small knife on the edge of the rack in the middle. Shimmy the knife with the blade down between the meat and the membrane. Once you have a good size opening, grip it and pull back across the rack of ribs. It will pull off. On the grill make sure you put the ribs on the top rack of the grill. Also I used heavy duty foil and folded a lip around the foil edge to catch the oil. It worked fine, make the piece of foil wide enough to cover the area under the ribs. I did not open the grill even though was tempting. No flames. Make sure the temp is on low. These were great enough to impress company!

Oh my goodness, these are WONDERFUL. We have made them 5 times now and I must say they are foolproof. They key is, you must follow the instructions EXACTLY. Each step is important and the key to these is to shimmy the membrane in between each rib. I had never thought to do that before and I believe that is what makes these ribs so tender and flavorful. My husband is very picky about his ribs, he even dislikes Tony Roma's ribs, but these he gobbles up and wants to make them all the time. We also add garlic powder and kosher salt to the rub for a little extra flavor. Thanks for a great recipe!

WOW!!! we have never had any luck grilling ribs...but after using this recipe i know we will never have any problems again! This recipe is the absolute best!!! I used the 'dry butter knife' method for removing the membrane and that worked like a charm!! i only used about half the amount of cumin(because thats all i had on hand) I dont think i used more than half of the dry seasoning mix and the ribs just turned out so flavorful! i was a little worried about being able to keep the grill lid shut for a whole hour without peeking...lol...but once that hour is up and you open that lid...the ribs just look amazing! im not the 'griller' in the family so everytime i heard it sizzle underneath the grill lid i thought for sure it was the meat catching fire...but to my relief it was just the meat juices hitting the HOT aluminum foil! LOL these ribs are the BEST and im sure we will be making them again very very soon!! thanks!!!

This made a memorable picnic for our family today. Because of a time constraint,yesterday morning, I baked them covered in the oven at 375 for 2 hours with the dry rub. Then before lunch today my husband finished them with the sauce on the grill.

As another reviewer put it, the hardest part of this recipe is not opening the grill. Yes, a bit tedious to prepare, but worth all the effort. My husband loves them this way, just make sure that they are baby backs, no sub will do. Thanks Bonnie!