Even though there are people who like to barbeque chicken and other kinds of meats, barbeque rib cooking seems to be far and away the favorite of many. Cooking barbeque ribs is an art, necessitating a watchful eye through every phase of the preparation and cooking process to end up with a mouth wateringly crispy, tender and tasty rack of ribs. Barbeque rib cooking is a drawn out process, usually needing approximately six hours from start to finish. That means they’re frequently prepared only on special occasions involving a social gathering so that the guests can enjoy some appetizers, have a drink, and socialize while the chef tends to the ribs.
The first thing you need to do in barbeque rib cooking is to select a rack of ribs at the grocer or butcher. Look for ribs that have approximately the same amount of meat on each side of the rack so that they will cook evenly. Even though you can’t get perfectly symmetrical ribs, do your best to look for ones that are lean and have well matched sides. When you get them home, remove the membrane from the bone side of the ribs to avoid toughening during the barbequing process.
Next you need to decide on the kind of rub to use. A rub is a blend of herbs and spices that are applied to the ribs to lend them some flavor during cooking. The rub should be used liberally so that it completely coats the ribs and will stay on during cooking.
Next you add the ribs to the smoker, which should be pre-heated and ready for them. Ribs need to cook in the smoker at low heat with sufficient air flow. The level of smoke throughout cooking needs to be higher at the start, less in the middle and then higher again towards the end, when you will add BBQ sauce to the meat.
If you want really tender ribs, about halfway through cooking, following about three or four hours of smoking, wrap the ribs in foil and let them cook for an additional hour or two. If you don’t want the rib meat to be falling away from the bone, then skip the foil and let the ribs cook on the grill for those last two hours.
The typical time needed for barbeque cooking ribs is around six hours, but if you’re serving baby back ribs, it’s a little less, usually around five hours. When the ribs are nearly finished cooking, increase the heat to add some crispness before using barbeque sauce. Once the ribs are crispy, then placed them back in the smoker and add the sauce to blend the smoke flavor with that of the sauce.
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