Congratulations, you've reached the halfway point in your path to WSM greatness, and are now trustworthy enough to be allowed to try more expensive and unforgiving meats: in this case Baby Back, aka Pork Loin Back ribs.
Ingredients Needed:
• 3 or 6 racks of ribs from Costco—not Niman Ranch ribs, not Whole Foods, that's one or two cryovac'd packs from Costco
• Distilled white vinegar
• Cheap yellow mustard
• BBQ rub of your choice
• Olive oil
• Cranberry juice
Plus: everything shown on the What You Need page
4 to 5 hours before dinner:
Ribs, or any meat for that matter, may have a slightly off smell when taken out of cryovac, this will dissipate within just a few minutes.
Rinse ribs with water, then wash with vinegar. When using the vinegar rub with your hands and really clean the ribs. What the vinegar does is, aside from removing any slight stickiness and or odor from residual blood trapped in the cryovac, is to act as a very mild antibacterial agent. The vinegar also has a (very) slight tenderizing effect on the ribs.
Give the ribs a light coating of cheap-yellow-mustard (see middle rack in picture above), this helps the rub stick to the meat and also provides a (very) slight tenderizing effect from the vinegar in the mustard.
Apply either Gary W's Soon-To-Be-Famous Big Time BBQ Rub or any rub you desire (see lowest rack in picture above). Do not use a rub with sugar and, especially for your first rib cook, go lightly on the rub. Less is more.
Build the WSM fire exactly the same as the first two cooks.
When placing ribs in the cooker put two racks to the outside with the larger bone, chine (where the outside portion is removed) to the outside. WSM's are hotter at the very edge of the outside grate, due to heat coming up around the waterpan, you always want the portion of meat most resistant to temperature fluctuations at the edge.
Place the smallest rack in the middle, be sure to gently curve the two outside racks so they fit properly. Bone up. If you are cooking six racks, place the next three the same way on the grill above the water pan.
If you are cooking 6 racks, and using both top and lower grill, you will need to switch the ribs. After (approximately) 1-1/2 hour switch the bottom rack with the top rack, same configuration as before, bone up. Switching top to bottom insures even cooking.
After 2-1/2 hours (total cooking time), or slightly before, check ribs, they may be done or almost done at this point. You can tell if the ribs are done if they are slightly pulled back from the bone at the end and if they yield, to your satisfaction, with a finger poke test. This portion of the cook is highly subjective and takes practice. If you are in doubt you can always cut a rib off the rack and taste.
Odds are the ribs will not be done at this point and you will need to smoke them for upwards of 1 hour additional, though you should check at 20-minute intervals.
Also at the 2-1/2 hour mark switch the ribs to meat side up. You may also start lightly misting the ribs with a mix of 1/3-olive oil and 2/3 cranberry juice. The olive oil helps keep the ribs moist and the cranberry juice adds color, a very slight tart and a subtle nuance of sweet. While the lid is off, check the water pan and refill as needed (it's usually easiest to move one rack out of the way so you can pour through the center and not splash the coals).
The baby back ribs will most likely take in the 3-1/2 hour range, but BBQ tends to fool you on time and no two meats ever cook alike.
Fire control for the Baby Back Rib cook is simple, approximately 1/2 hour after putting the meat on the WSM close, by 1/3, no more, the two vents farthest away from the Dome (lid) vent. Remember the dome (lid) vent should always be wide open, never close the top (dome/lid) vent. The dome vent should always be, as I mentioned before, on the opposite side of the access door, this insures even air flow through the WSM as the access door is not completely airtight.
Important note, the two bottom vents are being closed by 1/3, they should remain 2/3's open.
Here's what they'll look like on the outside and on the inside, with a visible pink smoke ring:
