I Want my Baby Back, Baby Back, Baby Back Ribs

This past weekend I decided to bbq baby back ribs. So, I went to Adams Fair Acre Farms in Newburgh and immediately I was drawn to their wonderful meat department where I found the baby back ribs. They were on sale, lucky me, but I had to scrutinize the quality of them and the only way to do this was by carefully examining the contents of each package. I want the ribs to be in the full rack and not cut in small chunks. Also, baby back ribs must weigh less than 1-3/4 pounds per slab.

I picked up each package and made sure each slab was intact, the meat on ribs in not bruised and, generally speaking, the ribs look healthy.

I bought four slabs and here they are at home on the counter top still in the shopping bag. 

I took them out of the shopping bag and the packages. Gave them a quick wash in the sink, dried them and got ready to process them.

First I had to remove the membrane that is found under the rack. It is almost invisible but you can pull it away from the rack if use a kitchen paper towel and begin by pinching it. Here I show you the membrane after I've pulled it a little.

After pulling each membrane I placed the four racks in a bowl. As you can see I have my trusted knife sharpener ready.

Before starting to slice anything, I try to sharpen the knife that I will use. By following this rule to the letter my knifes are always sharp as they are beautiful.

I took one slab at a time and cut each rib because the ribs cook quicker this way and the rub and mopping sauce goes on better.

 Here is what I used for my dry rub.

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 3 tablespoons onion powder (must have)
• 3 tablespoon garlic powder (must have)
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 2 tablespoons ground mustard (must have)
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (must havr)
• and fresh ground pepper (not the pepper some people buy that is already ground!)

The amounts are all approximate and not set in concrete. I mixed them all in a bowl and set it aside.

I took each rack and as I cut the ribs individually I place them in a bowl where I sprinkled the rub, and then mixed the ribs well.

Here is a rack-worth of ribs with the dry rub on them. After I mixed the rub well I carefully arranged the ribs into a separate dish.

Here are the ribs ready to be transported to the cooking site. The dish to the right, with the aluminum foil, will be used to bring the ribs into the house after cooking them.

In the background is a mystery structure that I will not talk about it today. I will have a separate entry in a week or so.

Here is Achilles, the grill, getting warmed up. It's about 250 °F. It has a few more minutes to go.

 Here we are at 280 °F ready for the ribs. At this point I cleaned the grate first with used lemon and then a small piece of newspaper that I had sprinkled some vegetable oil.

My wife purchased three small and sturdy outdoors-type of tables that I have next to the grill. One of this table is used below. I have on it with the spray bottle containing 1/2 bottle of beer and the same amount of apple cider vinegar. Also to the right you can see a small container with the bbq sauce and the brush. For bbq sauce I use a modified Neeley recipe. Basically, I don't use all that sugar. Instead, I use one tablespoon of brown sugar.

As you can see I have a drip pan directly under the ribs. The charcoals are on the left, where the grate flap is located.

After one hour of cooking time I opened the cover to spray the ribs with my "secret" mixture of 50% beer and 50% apple cider vinegar. The ribs are beginning to look ghhhhooood!

2 1/2 hours later the ribs were done. I used the modified Neeley bbq sauce and I brushed it generously on the ribs.

Here are the ribs on the table ready to be devoured. I had some bbq sauce on the side too.

I also made some bbq beans inside the house. I need to go out to buy a small, cast iron pan that will fit on the grill with the ribs. Since I didn't have that, I made the beans inside on the stove.

I used two small, minced onions that I fried in two tablespoons of olive oil for four minutes. Then I added three finely minced cloves of garlic. 

I took two cans of red kidney beans and drained them well. Then I grabbed one can of cannellini beans, with its juice, and added all the beans in the pan with the onion and garlic. I also added a cup and a half of my bbq sauce. Brought the whole thing to a boil and then reduced the heat to a simmer. Left it like that for one whole hour. 

The ribs look just great. Only Michelangelo could create such perfection. I call this a mound of ribs.

Here are two ribs and a spoon-full of beans.

Later on that evening Raspy nibbled on a rib and she LOVED it. As Raspy was devouring the rib I could hear her making yummy sounds. She loves my cooking.

I hope you enjoyed this entry. Happy cooking and eating.

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