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Ed’s Mouthwatering Baby Back Ribs Recipe
Excerpted from ‘Ed Mitchell’s Barbeque’
John “Edge” Koladish
Serves 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
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Cooking Time: 3 hours
These are the baby back ribs I used to defeat Bobby Flay on the Food Network television show Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Let me remind you that as a cook, I can’t compete with Bobby Flay. The man is beyond talented. He just happened to challenge me on a dish I think I have mastered.
My rib technique involves smoking the racks for two hours, then steaming them with vinegar sauce for a few minutes, then drying them out again with more rub and smoke.. The result is moist, fall-off-the-bone, winning ribs.
Ingredients
- 2 (12-rib) baby back rib racks
- 2 tablespoons Spanish paprika
- 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons dry mustard
- 2 tablespoons ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- Olive oil
- 3 to 4 cups Ed’s Eastern North Carolina Vinegar BBQ Sauce (recipe below)
- 1 cup True Made Foods Ed’s Kansas City Barbeque Sauce (or your preference)
Directions
The night before cooking, rinse the ribs with water and pat dry with paper towels. Remove the skin-like membrane on the bone side of the ribs by sliding a paring knife underneath it. Grab the membrane, peel it off and discard it.
Combine paprika, pepper, mustard, coriander, cumin, salt in a small bowl. Rub both sides of the racks with just enough olive oil to coat them, then rub them on both sides with two-thirds of the spice mixture. (Reserve the remaining spice mixture for later.) Wrap the ribs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.
The next day, prepare a grill for smoking the ribs. Preheat the grill to 225° to 250°F. Place the coals to one side of the grill. Once hot, place oak wood chunks on the hot, gray-white charcoal. Set the cooking grate over the fire, then place the ribs on the cooking grate on the opposite side from the coals so they cook with indirect heat. Cover the grill, adjusting the vent to keep the temperature low, and smoke the ribs until a bone releases from the rack when tugged at, about 2 hours. (If the coals burn down, add more as needed.) Transfer the ribs to a large aluminum pan.
Mix the vinegar sauce and barbeque sauce in a bowl. Pour enough of the mixture into the pan to come 1/4 inch up the sides; reserve the remaining mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and set back on the grill, but not directly above the coals. Cover the grill and let the ribs steam for about 15 minutes.
Remove the ribs from the pan. Lightly dust them on both sides with the remaining spice mixture, then place them back on the grill, this time directly over the coals. Cover the grill and smoke until the ribs are dry on the outside but still moist inside, about 10 minutes. Serve with the remaining barbeque sauce mixture.
Ed’s Eastern North Carolina Vinegar BBQ Sauce
Serves 12
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 gallon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup red pepper flakes, plus more if needed
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar, plus more if needed
- 1 cup hot sauce (or True Made Foods Cayenne Hot Sauce), plus more if needed
- 1/2 cup smoked paprika
- 1/4 cup kosher salt, plus more if needed
- 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
Directions
Combine all the ingredients in a container and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Taste and add more salt, red pepper flakes, hot sauce or brown sugar to suit you. Just before applying, strain the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve.
Ecco
Cook With Ed
Two more recipes from Ed Mitchell's Barbeque for AARP members to try:
“I Don’t Eat Everybody’s Potato Salad!”
This potato salad is legendary. We served it at our restaurant, pig pickin’s, church and every family function.
Cast-Iron Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
This was a holiday dish at the Mitchell house, and then it became a highly requested item on the menu at Mitchell’s BBQ restaurant in Wilson.
Read about Ed Mitchell’s cookbook, Ed Mitchell’s Barbeque.
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