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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!
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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.