Ridgecrest Ray's Ribs

I haven't met too many people who didn't like a good set of Ribs! Here's our take on how it should be done.

I'm going to jump right in on this post because it has a few more steps than some of my previous ones.

Equipment needed

Charcoal, Electric, or Pellet Smoker

Paper towels

Cutting board

Aluminum foil

Hickory or Apple wood chips

Bowl

Spray Bottle

Ingredients

Slab of Ribs

Black Pepper

Salt

Chili Powder

Onion Powder 

Garlic Powder 

Paprika (for color)

1/4 cup Ridgecrest Ray’s BBQ Sauce

1/4 cup Honey

1/2 cup Sweet Baby Ray's

Apple Juice/Cider

Total time: 5 hours – Prep time: 30 minutes – Smoke time: 4.5 hours

Rub Mix

Black Pepper

Salt

Chili Powder

Onion Powder

Garlic Powder

Paprika (for color)

*There isn’t an exact science behind this rub, I honestly just eyeball the mixture until it looks right then mix it all up in a bowl.

Ridgecrest Ray’s “Secret Sauce”

1/4 cup Ridgecrest Ray’s

1/4 cup Honey

1/2 cup Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce

*Mix well before application

Directions

1. Ribs usually come in a plastic package. Remove the ribs from the package and give them a good rinse under cold water. Some say this is not necessary but, in my opinion, it's a good thing. Make sure the sink is nice and clean and you'll want to clean the sink afterwards as well. After rinsing, set them on some paper towels to drain.

2. Removing the membrane causes folks lots of frustration and let me just say that it's not the end of the world if you have trouble with this. If you can't get it off for some reason, forget about it. It is nice to remove it but it's not worth a lot of frustration so try and do the best you can and leave it at that.

It's hard to get a picture of this being removed but you simply lay the ribs with the boney side up. You will notice a thick plastic like skin covering the meat.

Slip a knife or other sharp object under it and try to get enough pulled up so you can grab it. It's slick so use a paper towel for better grip.

*My go to knife for this process is a Boning Knife made by Naylor Forge in Boone, NC.

3. Add Olive Oil and the rub we mixed together earlier to both sides. This is the only thing you need to season these up. Don't over complicate it! While it's boney side up: Drizzle light olive oil and rub it all over to create a nice base for the rub to stick too.

Pour on about ¼ cup of the rub we made earlier and spread it all over the ribs making sure you have full coverage.

*You can also sprinkle it on evenly using a cheese shaker or an old spice bottle with large holes.

Flip the ribs over and do the same thing to the meaty side.

Once the ribs are seasoned, leave them laying while you go get the smoker ready to cook.

4. Set up your smoker for cooking with indirect heat at about 250°F using hickory or your favorite smoking wood. If you smoker has a water pan, use it. I like to add apple juice or apple cider vinegar to my water for added flavor. Once the smoker is ready, place the ribs bone side down on the smoker grate.

About an hour in flip the ribs so they're meat-side down with the opposite edge of the racks closer to the smoker box. Spray with the apple juice mixture; close the grill and let smoke 1 more hour.

5. After the ribs have been smoking for 2 hours, it's time to wrap them up and let them get the heat inside of a closed space so they can steam and get really tender.

Once the ribs are ready, I spray my foil with apple juice or apple cider vinegar. Once I’ve got it sprayed down, I brush on our sauce mixture, then wrap it up to go back into the smoker. Place the ribs back on the smoker at 250°F but you don’t need to add any more wood during this time since they are wrapped up.

*I usually get my foil pre-cut and ready ahead of time about 30 inches long and 18 inches wide.

6. After cooking for 2 hours wrapped in foil, unwrap them from the foil. The meat should have shrunk away from the bones by this point. Throw them back into the smoker for another 30 minutes and let the bark finalize. It's also a great time to add some more sauce if you like them that way.

That's all it takes to make a fantastic rack of ribs in our opinion. We'd love to hear what y'all think about our way of of making ribs.