Ingredients:
1 Rack Baby Back Ribs
Brine:
6 cups warm water
3/4 cup salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup Apple Cider
4 Tbs. Black Pepper
2 Trays of ice, for cooling the brine
Wood for Smoking: Hickory Wood Chunks, soaked 1 or 2 hours in advance.
Instructions:
- Heat all brine ingredients except ice in a pot and mix thoroughly.
- Remove from heat and add ice to start cooling the brine.
- Remove any major top side fat or silver skin from the ribs, cut off with a filet knife.
- Remove membrane from the back of the ribs, by getting a knife under the fat layer and pulling with a paper towel, to improve grip.
- Once brine is at room temperature. Place the ribs into a brining bag.
- Carefully add the brine solution into the bag and fully cover the ribs, then remove excess air and seal the bag.
- Place the brining bag into a pan and place in the refrigerator and allow the ribs to brine for about 4 hours.
- Remove the ribs from the brine and pat exterior dry with paper towels, but don’t squeeze the moisture out of them while drying the exterior.
- Cover ribs with a light coat of yellow mustard.
- Cover with Rub of choice.
- Cook in grill with soaked Hickory Wood Chunks, at 225° F. for 3 hours.
- Wrap in foil and add 1 cup apple juice to each slab, and cook still at 225° F for 2 hours. (Adding apple juice is optional, since the ribs will still be moist from brining.)
- Remove from foil and cook for 1 hour, still at 225° F. (Anyone wanting sauce cooked in, would apply sauce here.)
- If the meat is not at or over 160° F internal meat temp. Cook for 30 additional minutes at 300° F.
- Ensure the meat temperature is at least 160° F. If still not at or above 160° meat temp, cook at a higher temp of between 325° – 375° F., to reach 160° F internal meat temperature.
- Visually, the meat should have pulled back from the bone some, check the underside of the ribs. But testing the meat temperature is the safest method.
- Enjoy!