To me, there’s no other way to do ribs now that we own a smoker. I got our smoker as a gift for my husband on Father’s Day this past year. We both love to grill and be outdoors while the weather is good….So I thought another grilling item is always a good gift idea!
While I love smoked meat, I didn’t want a smoker that was high maintenance. I wanted something that was easy to use and big enough to be able to fit a good amount of meat in. Because you never know when you’ll be smoking bbq for a big party, right!? I also wanted something fairly compact that didn’t take up too much place…otherwise it wouldn’t fit on our small porch. As for the price… I also didn’t want to spend a million bucks. After plenty of research, an electric smoker is what I boiled it down to.
So on father day, I told my husband to get in the car because I had a surprise for him. It wasn’t supposed to be a “day of” kind of gift purchase. I originally planned to order it online and wrap it up with a big bow. Well, I put things off and by the time Father’s Day rolled around, it was too late to order anything. (oops!). So I drove Clay to Home Depot and told him to “pick out a smoker”…fully knowing exactly which one I wanted to get (lol). Sure, sure it was a last minute gift but it made him happy. It made me happy too. We use the smoker pretty much every other weekend and will continue to do so throughout the cold months. An electric smoker is so low maintenance, you don’t need to stand over it all day fueling the fire. All you need to do to keep it smoky is add wood pellets every hour or so. It’s that simple. Set the temperature and time and it’ll cook all day. It’s kind of like cooking in a crock pot. Dump everything in and come back hours later to a wonderfully slow cooked meal. I’m a born and raised Texas girl, so I feel like smoked bbq is in my blood. I grew up not knowing anything different. So if you’re like me in that sense, then you might love cooking with an electric smoker too. I’ll link the one we have below.
These ribs are really quite simple. First, you’ll pat the ribs dry and then smother them in a homemade rub. Put it in the smoker for 4 hours and then take them out. Brush them with a little of your favorite bbq sauce and wrap them in foil. They go back into the smoker for about 2 hours or so…depending on how “fall off the bone” you want them. You can stop right there and eat them as is…or you could finish them off on the grill with a little more sauce. All the grill will do is simply caramelize the sauce. And ya-da! You are done. Easy, right?
My smoker: MASTERBUILT ELECTRIC SMOKER
Side Items? I’ve got you covered.
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Can’t have a bbq without dessert!
PEANUT BUTTER + OREO + ESPRESSO BROWNIES
SIMILAR ELECTRIC SMOKERS:
SMOKED BBQ BABY BACK RIBS
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 5- 6 hours
Total time: 6 hours
Serves: 1 rack of ribs
Special cooking needs: electric smoker
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 rack baby back ribs (can do more than one if you’d like)
- 1 bottle of your favorite bbq sauce, I used Stubbs Sticky Sweet
Rub: whisk ingredients together
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp ground mustard
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat your electric smoker to 215 degrees F. Use hickory wood pellets (or whatever your favorite might be).
- Mix together the bbq rub. Note: there is enough rub to cover 2 racks of ribs.
- Pat your ribs dry and sprinkle on a thick coat of the bbq rub over both sides of the racks.
- Place in the smoker in the middle rack for 4 hours. Replenishing wood pellets when necessary.
- Next, take the ribs out and brush both sides with bbq sauce. Wrap tight in heavy duty foil and place back into the smoker for 2 hours. Depending on how thick and large your rack of ribs is, it might need more or less cooking time at this point. Check after 1-2 hours to see how tender they are, and cook more or less as needed. Cook in foil until they are fall off the bone tender.
- Take out of the smoker and brush them once more with bbq sauce.
- You have two choices at this point: You can place the ribs on a baking sheet under the broiler in the oven for 3-5 minutes. Or you can cook on a grill for 3-5 minutes at medium heat. All you are doing during this step is warming the sauce and caramelizing it with heat. Whatever is easier for you, do that. I used my grill.
- Take off of the grill and slice ribs at the bone.
- Tip: sometimes it’s easier to slice the ribs when you turn them upside down. You’ll be able to see the line of the bones this way.
- Serve hot with extra sauce on the side.