Grilled Baby Back Ribs

My family loves ribs and I have made them in the oven and on the grill and both taste great! Our sons love grilled ribs so I have been experimenting the last couple of years. For one thing, I love to watch Steven Raichlen, author of the "Barbecue Bible", and other books, on PBS when ever he is on. If you have ever watched his show, you know how good his food looks! It's very drool worthy! Last summer, I made his Baby Back ribs and followed the directions perfectly and had very smokey, spicy, delicious ribs. They could have been a little more tender, so, I am experimenting to find the most flavorful and tender way to do them. Our oldest sons birthday is tomorrow, so this past weekend we did a birthday dinner with ribs. I wrapped them in foil which produced the most tender and moist ribs ever! They didn't pick up as much smoke flavoring as I wanted, but they were really good and received high praises from everyone at the table. They are easy to do, you just need to plan ahead. Steven Raichlen suggests putting the rub on the ribs the day before and letting them marinate for a day, but I have done it just a few hours ahead and they are still delicious. So, lets start these mouth watering ribs!

The ribs have a membrane on the back and it really needs to come off as it is rather tough and the spices can't penetrate it. Take a small knife or screwdriver and loosen the corner and pull up and back to pull it off. You may need to use a paper towel or kitchen towel to hold onto it. Pull it completely off. Mix up your rub recipe or use a prepared on. I used one of Raichlen's, adapted.

I rinsed the ribs with water and dried well with paper towels. Spread the rub over both sides of the ribs and gently rub so that it will adhere to the meat. Wrap the ribs in heavy duty aluminum foil and refrigerate until ready to grill. We have a charcoal grill, so I set it up for indirect grilling, with a grill pan in the middle and coals on either side, so that the meat will not burn over the coals. Place foil wrapped ribs on hot grill and close grill lid and grill for two hours. Pull the foil back, brush with BBQ sauce if desired, and grill for about 20 more minutes. Remove ribs from grill. Oh, the aroma of these tender and moist pork ribs! Just sink your teeth into one of these ribs and your taste buds will thank you, and family and friends will love you! No kidding!

BASIC BARBECUE RUB ( slightly adapted from Steven Raichlen

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup sweet paprika

2 T.black pepper

3 T. kosher salt

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. onion powder

2 tsp. celery seed

1 tsp.cayenne pepper

Mix spices. I used about 3 T. of rub on each rack of ribs, but you can use less, or more. Keep what you don't use in an air tight container. Remove the membrane from the ribs and apply spice rub to both sides. Wrap each slab of ribs in heavy duty foil. Lay on grill over indirect heat. Cover grill with lid and cook for two hours. Peel back the foil and check ribs; they should be tender when poked with a fork. Apply BBQ sauce, if desired and grill for another 20 minutes will grill lid closed. I cooked 2 racks of ribs and only used BBQ sauce on 1 rack. Some people prefer just the dry rub. Remove ribs to a pan cool slightly, and cut into serving pieces.

Arrange on a serving platter and get ready for some lip smackin and finger lickin compliments!

These were so tender and moist! These can also be done in your oven- just prepare the same way and wrap in foil and bake for 2 hours at about 350. But, grilled is my favorite. Enjoy!