Smoked baby back ribs are one of the quintessential meats that make up backyard barbecue as a whole. Not all ribs are the same. Spare ribs are different in many ways than baby back, but both have their place in the arsenal of the backyard barbeque master. Also, regional barbecue types vary wildly and will give you all sorts of different experiences. Any particular kind of rib is not better, but knowing the difference between the types of ribs and barbecue styles is the knowledge that a true craftsman of the coals will want to know. With all that said, let’s talk about some fabulous Memphis Style baby back ribs!

Memphis Style Baby Back Ribs

Over time most people come up with a good way to make ribs that satisfy their perspective family and friends. I know I certainly have.
I cannot begin to calculate the number of racks of ribs I have smoked over the last 20 years. But it wasn’t until the last few years that I decided to delve into regional barbecue and explore the subtleties between them all. What I found is that I have always leaned towards Memphis-style barbeque. There are two ways to prepare Memphis-style ribs: wet or dry. Both are prepared similarly up to the point of finishing them up on the smoker. A dry rib will not be sauced, whereas a wet rib will have sauce applied and allowed to tack up for a few minutes.

Memphis Rub For Ribs

Memphis style uses a forward heavy hand on the paprika. Typically, it’s two to one part paprika to brown sugar. After that, additional spices are added to suit the particular cook whipping up the ribs. The rub is not overly sweet, with hints of heat from cayenne pepper. This type of rub lends itself well to ribs and pork butt (shoulder). Our rub for this recipe follows the same path. It also contains all the usual suspects: salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, etc. We have worked on this rub to create a well-balanced flavor. You will get a touch of sweet, savory, and heat without overpowering the ribs themselves. We use this same rub on our smoked pork shoulder as well. We also take some of our Memphis rub and toss it into a spice grinder to make finishing dust. When they’re done, you sprinkle this magic dust on your ribs, and it is a blast of fantastic flavor. This will elevate your ribs over all your competition. If you don’t have a spice grinder, get one! They’re super cheap and will change up many of your dishes when you start using them.

St Louis Ribs Vs Baby Back Ribs

Which is better, you ask? Whichever is your favorite. The difference between these two racks of ribs is that spare ribs (St Louis ribs are spare ribs) contain less meat and have more fat in them than baby backs. The fat renders down in the spare ribs making for a juicier rib. The baby backs have much more meat giving you a meatier bite. This is not to say that baby back ribs are not moist. It boils down to what you want, when you want it. Sometimes I want St Louis style ribs, sometimes I want baby backs.

Preparing The Ribs

Remove the baby back ribs from the packaging. Dry them off with some paper towels and place them onto a large baking sheet. You may notice right off that there isn’t much fat on baby back ribs compared to spare ribs. As such, there won’t be much need of trimming. You may want to remove any loose bits hanging off from the processing and at the end of the rack, where it’s very thin. These pieces will burn up during the smoking process. Turn them over so they are bone-side up. Taking a knife or edge of a spoon, work some of the membrane (silver skin) off of the bone. Once you have a little to grab hold of, pull and remove the membrane using a paper towel. Some racks of baby backs will already have this removed for you, so if you don’t see any, don’t worry about it. Apply a generous amount of rub on the back sides of the ribs. Pat the rub in and flip them over so the ribs are bone side down. Apply more rub very liberally, pat it into the ribs, and set aside an hour before smoking. We’re basically going to give it a quick dry brine. This will help the ribs retain moisture during the smoking process and introduce the spices from the rub into the meat of the ribs.

Smoking Memphis Style Ribs

Get your smoker to 250 degrees Fahrenheit and add your favorite kind of wood. Memphis-style barbecue uses hickory wood to smoke their pork. I am a massive fan of hickory. I like an aggressive smoke on my pork ribs and pork butts. If you can’t get your hands on any hickory, oak and pecan are good options. I also throw a couple of hunks of cherry wood on as well. Cherry adds some good color and actually tosses a sweetness on the ribs that make it all the better. When your smoker is ready, place the ribs on. Put them as far away as you can from the heat source. If you’re doing more than one rack, put the smaller racks further away from the heat than the larger ones. Cover and smoke for an hour. After the first hour, spritz the ribs with a 50/50 mix of water and apple cider vinegar. Continue to spritz every thirty minutes after that for the first three hours. After three hours, remove the ribs. Next, tear off two large pieces of aluminum foil. Onto the aluminum foil, place three pats of butter (1 tbsp each), a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, and a healthy squeeze of honey (about 3 tbsp). Place the ribs on top of the butter mixture, bones side up (upside down), and wrap the aluminum foil fairly snug around the ribs without ripping it. Place the ribs (still upside down) back onto the smoker and continue to cook for an additional hour. After an hour, remove the ribs from the aluminum foil and place them back onto the smoker, this time right side up. At this point, you want to start looking at the temperature of the ribs and see how the rack of ribs bends. As sizes can vary wildly, so will the amount of time that these need to cook. For a clean, tender bite of the rib without all the other meat coming off, you want to pull your ribs off at 195 degrees F. Use an instant-read thermometer if you’re unsure where they’re at. You can also use the ‘rib bend’ test. Pick the ribs up in the center and allow the ribs to hang. The ribs should bend significantly to the point where it feels like they’re going to fall apart. The angle should be similar to a half circle. I will always use the bend test with the internal temperature check. Leigh likes her ribs with a bit more tug than I do, so I do my best to find a happy medium. At 195 degrees F, pull the ribs. Take some of the ground spice rub (if you did that) and finish the ribs by sprinkling the dust over the ribs. Allow them to rest for at least 20 minutes. Don’t worry, they’ll still be nice and hot. After 20 minutes, flip the ribs over so you can see the bones better. Cut the ribs with a sharp knife and plate them up!

Time To Eat

Serve up these smoked baby back ribs with all your favorite sides. There’s always the barbecue baked beans that scream barbecue. Want some color? Summer succotash or a street corn salad would go great with these ribs. Or you can be like me and just cut ’em and eat them right off the board. 🙂 Whichever you decide, you will love these Memphis-style dry ribs!

Other Barbecue Recipes

St. Louis Ribs – Learn How To Do Smoked Ribs Like A ProBBQ Chicken Thighs With Bite-Through SkinFall Off The Bone St Louis Style RibsPork Butt Burnt Ends RecipeDouble Bone-In Smoked Pork Chops