Easy Smoked RIbs | Giant National Capital Barbecue Battle

Easy Smoked RIbs

Instead of smoking these baby back ribs for hours, this recipe lets your oven do the hands-off cooking, then finishes them on the grill for the same smoky flavor in a fraction of the time.

Ingredients

  • 2 (3 ½ – 4 lbs) racks baby back ribs
  • ¼ cup dry barbecue rub
  • Heavy duty aluminum foil
  • 2 cups wood chips, for smoking
  • ¾ cup barbecue sauce, plus more to serve, if desired

Instructions

    1. Preheat oven to 325°F. With knife and damp paper towel, cut and pull off membrane from backs of the ribs. Rub all over with the barbecue rub. Wrap each rack in a large sheet of foil and place on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake 2 hours, until tender when pierced with tip of knife but not falling off the bones. Remove ribs from foil.
    2. About 70 minutes before serving ribs, set grill to medium. Place the wood chips in center of a large sheet of heavy-duty foil. Fold foil around chips to create a packet, crimping edges tightly to seal. Poke holes all over top of packet. Place packet on one side of grill. Cover and heat until chips just begin to smoke, about 10 min.
    3. When smoke begins appearing from grill, reduce heat under foil packet to medium-low. Place ribs on other side of grill and turn off heat under ribs. Cover and cook 45 min., turning over once (temperature should stay around 250°F–300°F in grill).
    4. Brush tops of ribs with the barbecue sauce and flip over. Continue cooking, brushing with sauce, and turning after another 15 min., until sauce has cooked onto ribs. Serve with additional sauce, if desired.

Tips

  • Cooking the ribs in step 1 can be done up to 2 days in advance. Keep ribs in refrigerator until ready to smoke.