baby back ribs on a gas bbq
I am planning on making ribs on my new gas bbq tomorrow (Tuesday) and am looking for ideas. How long, what temperature(low,med,high not degrees). I plan to use a dry rub on them and sauce the last 15 minutes or so but haven't made them before with a gas bbq always with charcoal or wood so any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Here's a completely different take, and what I usually do with the baby backs on the gas grill -- simply grill-roasted. Seasoned salt and pepper, then 45 minutes over indirect heat with the other burners on high. Baby backs are so naturally tender they don't need low and slow.
No oven, no rub, no foil, no boil, no nothing. You can sauce them for the last few minutes if you want but it isn't necessary.
Try this and you will be amazed. Crispy on the outside, crackling and juicy inside.
Very quick and easy and perfect for a weeknight.
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re: acgold7
lunchbox
Sep 27, 2011 11:46 AM
Similar: I'm doing some spare ribs on my gas grill tonight.
I have my ribs already rubbed and I'm making foil packets of apple/hickory wood (about a cup of each) poked full of holes. I don't put boil or foil the meat, but I do use some steam!I start my grill to get all the burners hot, put the foil packet on top the burner I plan to leave on. I replace the grates, then put a metal bowl (or foil pie pan) of water directly over the packet. When the smoke starts, i turn off the 2 back burners and put the last burner on medium. the ribs sit in the back of the grill in indirect smokey heat for an hour (change the packet once & keep water in the bowl).
the thermometer usually hovers high for BBQ, but low for grilling- about 300- I have gone lower, but I don't mind cheating. There's enough fat on ribs to keep 'em tender at the slightly higher temps. For my spare ribs, it usually takes about 2.5 hours, give or take depending on the weather factor. The only way I determine if they're done is to poke 'em between the bones with a skewer- if it slides in and out easy, it's time to sauce; pull the water, turn the single burner up to high for 15 minutes and get that crust.
Rest for 5-minutes and carve 'em up -
re: acgold7
mcf
Sep 27, 2011 01:46 PM
I don't think you can recommend "other burners on high" universally. My new Weber grill hits 500 degrees easily that way. That's why I recommended a thermometer. My old one never would have topped 350, if that. Now, I have to put on only one burner, and as low as it goes, putting the ribs on the other end of the grill. We each have very different equipment.
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re: mcf
Very true, but I am going for a high-temp roast here. I have a Weber Six Burner Summit, so if I have two or three racks of baby backs running lengthwise, that will take up the space of the center four burners; I'll leave the extreme right and left burners on high, plus the smoker burner. That'll give me a reading of about 450 or so at the thermometer level, which I've learned can be much lower at the actual grate level.
My burners run from front to back, but if you have the type that run from right to left you could certainly use only one or two and do what it takes to maintain a temp of about 375 to 400 at the grate level.
What I was going for here was to essentially do the opposite of the standard low and slow with baby backs. Doesn't really work with anything else. (Well, it's pretty good with Beef Backs too.)
You are absolutely correct that we all really have to get to know the personalities of our equipment.
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re: acgold7
mcf
Sep 27, 2011 02:06 PM
I never cook ribs that high, though. And only one burner (Genesis) on low keeps it as high as I ever want it for them. I always like low and slow, though it's certainly true that baby backs don't need as much time as other types of bbq meats. I usually start them in a stove top smoker, though, and just finish on the grill. But on really hot days, I'll just do them outside on low, indirect. Even if they don't need it, they sure like it. :-)
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re: mcf
I know. It would never occur to most people to do them my way. It's definitely an alternative method. But try them this way once. You will be shocked. It's like eating Prime Rib from a piggy. And it's fast.
Remember, the goal here is not soft fall of the bone BBQ. It's crispy and juicy.
My wife and one of my boys -- and I'm not really sure he's mine -- just don't like the smoky flavors of BBQ, but they like grilled food. Their idea of BBQ is hot dogs and hamburgers. So I came up with this to mollify them and it's great. Just throw the ribs on the grill and quick roast them. Baby backs have virtually no connective tissue that needs to break down, so it works.
Trust me.
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re: acgold7
mcf
Sep 27, 2011 02:53 PM
I absolutely agree that fall off the bone tenderness is not what you shoot for with ribs, but I don't buy lean, feedlot ribs, I buy juicy ones and I do like them to self baste with the fat content. You definitely can get away with cooking baby backs faster due to their tenderness. Crispy and juicy has its merits, too.
See if that kid looks too much like the mail man. ;-)
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I actually dry rub them and wrap them in foil with a little apple cider. They go into the oven set at 220 for 4 hours. Then I throw them on the grill with some sauce to give it the crunch and texture.
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re: attran99
I had thought about using the oven first but seeing as I'm in Vegas with temperatures in the 90's the last thing I want to do is turn on my oven! LOL
I'll play around with wrapping them in foil like this and trying indirect heat on my grill. Hopefully they'll come out okay. If not, out to dinner it is!-
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re: julesrules4food
I do the foil in the oven method first, too, since my grill just doesn't like to stay at a nice low temp. Since you don't want to use the oven, I'd try the grill with foil and then, once they are tender, grill them without the foil for a little while to get that wonderful char. My extra advice would be to start them in the foil well ahead of time so that they have as long as they need in there. If they finish and you aren't ready for dinner for a while, just set them aside before finishing them unwrapped. You don't want it to be 8 and realize you still need a long time before they'll be tender.
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mcf
Sep 27, 2011 08:50 AM
I smoke them first in a stove top smoker after letting them sit overnight with a dry rub. I've tried using a smoker box in the grill with minimal smoke flavor. I grill them over indirect heat at the end of the grill opposite a burner on low. Your grill may vary depending on btus, but aim for around 225 until tender, not that long with baby backs... use a thermometer if you don't have one built in to your grill cover.
