These baby back ribs were so good and I cannot wait to share this recipe with you. Having a little knowledge about this cut and in turn how to cook it can go a long way. Ultimately, you need patience and time for these to turn out amazing. Back ribs (or loin ribs) come from the top of the pig’s rib cage and sit just below the pork loin (thus the name loin ribs). They are shorter and fatter than their counterparts Spare ribs. As with any cut of meat you plan to smoke, knowing the mass and density of the meat is important. Ribs are a much smaller cut and leaner so to cook them right you need a lower temperature and longer time. I will walk you through my process below and explain the steps along the way. Now sit back, grab an ice cold IPA, and enjoy this post for Big Green Egg Baby Back Ribs.
Big Green Egg Baby Back Ribs
Ingredients for this recipe are simple: yellow mustard, BBQ rub, and of course the baby back ribs!
Trim any excess fat and remove the membrane from the bone side of the ribs.
Apply a small amount of mustard as a binder for the BBQ rub then generously season the front and back of the ribs with the rub. For this cook, I used one of my favorite rubs Dizzy Pig Dizzy Dust
.
For this cook I preheated the Big Green Egg to 225° and used 2 chunks of hickory wood and 2 chunks of apple wood.
I placed the ribs inside and had an aluminum drip pan sitting on top of my ConvEGGtor
to catch the drippings.
Leave the ribs alone for the first hour. After that check on them every hour and spritz with a mix of apple juice and apple cider.
Between 4 – 5 hours start checking the ribs to see if the meat has pulled back from the bone and they pass the “bend test“.
Now bump the temp to 275° and pour some BBQ sauce on the ribs. Using a brush apply evenly to the surface of the ribs. Let the sauced ribs cook in that higher temp for 10 minutes or so until the sauce sets.
It is time to slice these beauties and serve!
Big Green Egg Baby Back Ribs
Ingredients
- Baby Back Ribs
- Yellow mustard
- BBQ rub
- 1 c apple juice
- 1 c apple cider vinegar
- Hot sauce
- Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Preheat your Big Green Egg to 225° using 3 - 4 chunks of smoking wood
- As the grill comes up to temp start prepping your ribs
- Pull the membrane off the bone side and trim excess fat and loose ends
- Put a small amount of yellow mustard on the front and back of the ribs and spread evenly to create a binder for your rub
- Apply the rub front and back until evenly coated
- Place the ribs in the Big Green Egg and leave alone for the first hour
- After that check on the ribs every hour and spray with a mix of apple juice, cider vinegar, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce
- After 3 hours bump the temp to 250°
- At the 4.5 hour mark check the ribs to see if the meat has pulled away from the bone and the ribs pass the "bend test" if so move on to next step and if not wait 30 minutes and check again
- At the 5 hour mark (or when your ribs pass the previous step) glaze with BBQ sauce and bump temp to 275°
- Let the ribs sit in the BIg Green Egg another 10 minutes until the sauce sets
- Pukl, slice and enjoy!
I bet your boy is way to smart! He know your wel spot and used it to get you created these haha! I can’t wait till my boys come up withthese challenge haha
Nice one
He sure did motivate me!
So are the ribs fall off the bone this method or with a little tug?
My family says every method I have had so far renders the ribs into mush or more of the consistency of pulled pork.
You can go a little longer for fall off the bone. But for this cook they needed a little tug. Great ribs!
Do you leave the ribs in the rack when you do the temperature change and when you glaze them do you lay them directly on the cooking grid with the converter still in place or do you remove it?
I did not leave the ribs in the rack. Put them bone side down right on top of the grill grid. Left the egg setup using indirect heat.
Can you use just one rack of ribs and still use this method!
Absolutely!
Would you say using the rib rack changes how the ribs are cooked (cooked evenly, etc) vs cooked laying flat during the entire process?
Ron that’s a great question. I believe it distributes heat more evenly but more importantly smoke. I have some ribs both ways and find little difference. So, you are good either way.
Made these tonight. By far the best ribs I’ve ever had!
Thanks Ron! Appreciate your comment.
What was the internal temperature of the ribs when you pulled them? Did you wrap them when in foil?
Not sure about temp as I cook ribs by feel not temp. And yes, I used foil when wrapping ribs.
I used this method with ribs from Publix. I live in Florida. And the ribs came out horrible. The ribs you have in the pictures are half the size of the ones they offer around where I live. I might have to go to local butcher but it’s the CUT of the ribs as well as the method of cooking. While this seems to be a good method (why I chose to use it in first place) it all depends on the cut and size of ribs also. I can never find thin ribs like you have displayed.
Since this post, I have cooked at least 1000 ribs in all shapes and sizes. The one thing I can echo is… every cook is different and any recipe (including this one) is a reference not a specific set of instructions. As you know, you have to cook with your 5 senses as that is the only way you will know when BBQ is done. Thanks for the comment and the follow.
This is the Car Wash Mike Method which has been on the Green Egg Forums for ages. It’s a tried and true way to smoke great ribs. You should credit Mike, may he RIP.
Thanks for the call out. Had I got this from Mike and the boards I’d certainly credit him. Keep Eggin’ on brother!
These look amazing! I’ve never started the ribs at 200 but will try. I’m throwing 2 racks on for mothers day. If I cut the racks in half to create 4 mini racks, will that impact the time of the cook?
No, it will not impact the cook time at all. Thanks for checking in 🙂
This is my first attempt at the baby backs on the egg. I’ve been using the egg for 10 years. I’m very spoiled about baby back says I have never had any better than MichelBob’s in Naples. First of all, unlike many other recipes this was very straightforward. One step, no significant basting or marinating or prep work. Some of the others that I found were very offputting. These require literally about two minutes of prep work, takeoff the membrane, slather on some mustard and rub. That’s it. With the Bbq Guru I was able to keep the temp pretty good. These were as good as MichelBob’s. They were absolutely falling off the bone and terrific flavor. Kudos
Kind words my friend! Thanks for taking the time to write that.
Some of the best ribs I’ve ever had!!
Nice work!
I am eager to try this recipe on the egg. How much hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce did you add to your spritzer mix?
Maybe 3 dashes each… just a little 😉
Yes oddly my brother is using this recipe today and just literally texted me the same question. For some reason I omitted the hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce when I’ve made these. Just used vinegar and apple juice. Still the best ribs I’ve ever had.
Hi I have a question, can I use regular coal or do I need to use wood? It is our second time using The green egg, today we made pizza.
Thank you very much
Always use lump charcoal in the Big Green Egg. I bet the pizza was good!
When you say use lump, are you using the green egg branded coal or you are putting actual wood in your egg? Thanks, can’t wait to try these.
Yes, I’m using BGE lump charcoal. Good luck with the cook!
You can use any lump charcoal. I found great variability in different brands as far as size of the lumps but no difference in performance. Meathead Goldwyn wrote a fantastic book on grilling and barbecuing and says you can even use briquettes, which I have and can’t tell any difference. They do burn a little cleaner and more uniformly. I always throw at least one 4- 5 inch wedge of wood in to get my smoke. I don’t soak it, I don’t use pellets or chips anymore, but you can do whatever you would like. This is a terrific recipe. I’ve only had one failure and I’m convinced it was the quality/brand of ribs.
Regular charcoal will ruin your BGE according to the manufacturer, but I guess they also want you to buy their BGE lump charcoal.
Don’t use regular charcoal in the BGE.
Since you didn’t say in the video I assume no indirect heat.
Not sure I understand the question? The cook is indirect the whole time.
What if you are using spareribs? How would you alter the cooking time?
With the COVID 19, spareribs are all I could find ?
I have mastered Rib Roast and pizza but this will be my first attempt at ribs using the BGE.
Thanks!
Great question! And it is something I have already taught you (remember the whole grilling by feel thing). But in all seriousness it depends on the quality of meat, cut, and thickness. But spares usually take me an hour or two longer than baby backs (typically done in 5-6 hours). But I would keep checking on the bend test once your bark is ste and you are far enough along in the cook to being close to done. Once the ribs bend and slightly crack… your gtg!
Loved it…what direction should the stone be? Legs up or legs down?
Legs up… typical indirect setup works great here.
Trying this today!
How’d it turn out?!
Very good, thank you. We are new at this and still learning to regulate the temperature. Even with the temperature hotter than suggested the ribs were tender and delicious. The ends that were thin were a little dry and I also think the cut of meat was not the best. I bought the ribs at Sams and I have had better cuts.
Love your recipes I have tried! During baby back rib video it looked like there might be something between coals & grill. In reading narrative I see ConvEGGtor . Is that the same as a plate setter ? Do you soak your wood chunks ? ?
Love your receipts ! In baby back ribs do you soak your wood chunks ? Is ConvEGGtor the same as plate setter ?
Thank you! I do not wood. That’s a myth I dispel in my upcoming book. And yes, conVEGGtor = plate setter.
Chris,
In this baby back rib video … I noticed your round drip pan on the place setter. Did you place any liquid in the drip pan (apple juice/water, etc) or was it empty? If it was empty, why do you prefer it that way?
Thanks,
David
Jus to catch the fat dripping for easy clean up.
If you do wrap them with foil (I’m doing St. Louis ribs) at what step do you wrap them at?
Typically after the first 2 hours
I followed this recipe to the letter, and I was very disappointed in the outcome. Too much “tug”, too dry, and too much smoke flavor.
Sorry you had that experience. This has helped 1000’s of Big Green Egg owners turn out great baby back ribs. Hopefully you will find a recipe or technique that works better for you ?
Doing 5-6 racks vertically (lengthwise). Anything you would change in doing that method to have them all fit on the large BGE?
Vertical racks are great for fitting more ribs. My only issue with them is you can disrupt the bark when pulling the ribs out of them. With that said, I wouldn’t change anything with this recipe to accommodate more ribs. The bend test will tell you when they are done!
Chris, First thing! Thanks so much for the intel. I’ve had my BGE for 21 years now. Still looks great. My daughter and I did a refresh on it back in 2018. I’ve cooked dozens of racks over of the years. I am in the middle of following you rmethod and I will tell you I learned more from your video than I have learn in years. The biggie waiting until the intial white smoke is gone before putting them on. I’ll give you an update when I’m done. Thanks a million!
Very clear and instructive video….. the ribs look delicious…
Thank you!
Trying these for Thanksgiving…I’d rather not foil them or use a rack. What size egg are you using?
XL for this cook.
Very tasty, however the bone sideof the ribs was dry. Suggestions?
Perhaps move them around and sauce both sides at the end.
Will make them this way again. Great taste!
Thank you ?
My wife gave me the BGE for Father’s Day and this was the first time I tried ribs. I followed your recipe as best as I could (made my own rub, did not have apple juice) and the ribs were fabulous. My wife, daughter and son-in-law all agreed that it was the best ribs they have eaten. I plan on doing more this weekend with my son and his family. Thank you!
Kind words my friend. Thank you!
I see something about wrapping in foil in the comments, but not in the recipe. When do you wrap them if you do? Thanks. Can’t wait to try them tomorrow.
I typically don’t wrap my ribs anymore but when I do I use foil and wrap them after 2 hours but for only 45m to and hour.
Hi, your video was great – explained well about each step, with options and why to do each step. Any questions I had were addressed in the comments. I’m using my BGE for the first time today, and my ribs are dusted and in the fridge until we start smoking.
I’ve smoked ribs before, but can’t wait to try this method!
Great cook for your first use of the BGE! I am honored to be the recipe creator for you 🙂
Chris, First thing! Thanks so much for the intel. I’ve had my BGE for 21 years now. Still looks great. My daughter and I did a refresh on it back in 2018. I’ve cooked dozens of racks over of the years. I am in the middle of following you rmethod and I will tell you I learned more from your video than I have learn in years. The biggie waiting until the intial white smoke is gone before putting them on. I’ll give you an update when I’m done. Thanks a million!
Timothy thanks for the kind words! I hope the ribs came out great.
Inspiring video and recipe! I’m going to try this TODAY for the first time. This will also be my first time with such and long duration cock on my extra lg BGE. SO wondering how much lump charcoal you start with and did you need to add any additional charcoal or wood chunks during the cook?
Thanks for the positive energy! I typically fill the firebowl 3/4 of the way with lump and nestle 3-4 chunks of smoking wood in with the charcoal. Should last the whole cook. Here is another post where I review my setup: https://thebbqbuddha.com/how-to-set-your-big-green-egg-for-low-and-slow/
Foiling is key!!
It certainly is one way of cooking ribs…
I don’t use a mustard binder. I coat my ribs with the dry rub and vacuum seal them the night before. That gives them a good 15 hours to marinate with the dry rub and juices. Bring to room temperature and on they go.
That’s awesome. I bet they are delicious.
Yo Buddha – love this recipe. Just goes to show less can be more. Followed your instructions to the letter and cooked the best ribs of my life! Even tasted the benefit of adding barbecue sauce during the last 30 minutes of cooking. This is how I will cook ribs forever. Thanks so much for sharing, Dan O’Leary
Kind words Dan. Thank you ?
First time ever doing this and it turned out great! I never thought I could take off a membrane, but your instructions were so easy! I’m new to the BGE, followed your directions to a tee and they came out perfectly! I’m going to try your leg of lamb this weekend. Mine is boneless, so I hope it works. Thanks again!
Thanks for the kind words!
Awesome recipe! Made a couple slabs on the BGE XL today. Family demolished em. Thanks Chris!
Thanks brother! Always good hearing from my Chitown people!!!
I can’t buy the use of smoking wood to get to temp. I believe the coal should be started, smoke is replaced by “sweet blue” smoke. I will use 300 deg. (Doing five racks tomorrow”.)