Smoked Baby Back Ribs! Exploring the 3-2-1 method.

Smoked Baby Back Ribs just gets my mouth watering saying it! Baby Back Ribs cooked, er, uh smoked via the 2-2-1 method that is, slow style, mouth watering, sauce dripping, falling off the bone succulent Baby Back Ribs! Oh, Yea! Last month I learned a few things from the folks at the CBBQA BBQ University and the 3-2-1 method is one that many of them use during competition BBQ cooking. I was actually surprised that this was used during competitions as you don't win competition BBQ by having the meat fall of the bone. It should pull away from the bone when you bite into it, but most of us don't compete so the heck with that!

What exactly is 3-2-1 or 2-2-1? It is the method for cooking ribs, that in my humble opinion, beat most other methods hands down. So lets look at what the numbers mean.

First this is smoking low and slow, 220 – 225°F is where you want the temp guage to be at. Now for those numbers:

3-2-1 = 3 hours smoking with just a rub on. 2 hours wrapped in foil with only a small amount of room for steam to circulate in the packet. 1 final hour out of the foil packet slathered with your favorite sauce every 15 minutes or so. This schedule works best with full rack and your Saint Louis cuts. Pork not beef, don't know why but thats what they say.

2-2-1 = 2 hours smoking with just a rub on. 2 hours wrapped in foil with only a small amount of room for steam to circulate in the packet. 1 final hour out of the foil packet slathered with your favorite sauce every 15 minutes or so. This is for your small rack of ribs and Baby Backs.

Here is a start to finish breakdown of the 10 steps required:

1. Wash the ribs with warm water completely.
2. Remove the membrane from the back of the rack. Use a butter knife to pry it up alittle and the grab it with a paper towel and pull it off. All of it!
3. Dry the rack completely.
4. Here is another trick I learned from the CBBQA boys – rub with a light coating of Mustard. Yep, Mustard! I used Honey Mustard on mine. Really the purpose here is to act as a binder for the rub.
5. Apply your rub everywhere. Top, bottom, ends, sides – everywhere.
6. Heat up your smoker to 220°F.
7. Place your ribs on the rack for 2 – 3 hours depending on the size and cut of ribs as explained above. Keep the heat steady and don't peak!
8. Taking a large sheet of aluminum foil, place one rack of ribs in the middle and fold it up good. Remember to leave a small amount of space for the natural steam to move around.
9. Smoke these for 2 hours at the same tempurature. 220°F.
10. Final step – remove ribs from foil and place back on the smoker rack for the final hour. Slather with your favorite sauce every 15 minutes for one hour. Remove and let rest for 15 minutes in foil if you like and if you can wait that long! 🙂

That's it! 10 easy steps to the most incredible ribs you'll be eating at home for a long time. The envy of the neighborhood for sure.

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