Smoked baby back ribs with Honey Bacon BBQ and fajita rub, wrapped with brown sugar and butter, then glazed. Cooked low and slow at 275 for fall-off-the-bone tenderness.
Prepare your smoker at 275 degrees. We recommend hickory wood for this smoke.
Flip the ribs meat side down and remove the membrane off the back of the rack.
Grab the membrane with a paper towel and pull it off. Removing it lets the rub penetrate the meat more effectively.
Apply a light coat of the Fajita rub to the bone side. Then come back across it with the Honey Bacon BBQ rub.
Allow the rub to adhere for 15-30 minutes.
Flip the ribs over and repeat the process. Cover the meat 100%. Allow it to fully adhere for another 15-30 minutes.
Allow 30 minutes per side if time allows. No longer.
Place the ribs meat side up in the smoker.
Spritz the ribs with apple cider vinegar one time at about 90 minutes to 2 hours into the cook.
Smoke the ribs until you get a beautiful mahogany color. This will take 2 to 2.5 hours max depending on the size of your ribs.
The visual cue is most important. Get ready to wrap once you have the color you want.
Wrap the ribs in aluminum foil to protect that color. Lay out 2 long pieces of foil and create a bed with a handful of brown sugar and a heavy bead of butter (or 5-6 pats). Lay the ribs meat side down on the mixture, bones up.
Pour a bead of Texas Pepper Jelly across the mixture as well. Some folks use hot sauce instead.
Return the ribs to the smoker and cook until the meat starts to pull back and the internal temp reaches 203-205. This typically takes 90 minutes depending on size.
Remove the ribs from the foil and sauce or glaze them at this point.
We use a 3:1 mix of our favorite BBQ sauce and Texas Pepper Jelly Rib Candy.
Leave the ribs on the cooker for 10 minutes to set the sauce. This keeps the BBQ sauce from running down your face.
Remove the ribs from the smoker. Allow to sit for a few minutes, then slice and enjoy!