Due to an enormous amount of reader mail I’ve decided to post my super infamous recipe for slow-smoked baby back ribs. Apologies to vegetarians up front. This recipe was developed and tweaked over the past four years by yours truly, failing and succeeding over and over again with a half-hundred racks of baby backs and more hot peppers than you can shake a twig at. The following is my casually archived, yet beloved, recipe. Enjoy!

Con Queso’s slow-smoked ribs

Everything you need except for smoke and fire.

1 rack of prime/natural choice baby-back ribs
1 large  pepper, chopped (poblano or banana supreme work great)
2 serrano peppers, chopped (optional)
Tablespoon of fresh chili powder
Tablespoon of salt
1/2 tablespoon of pepper
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Tablespoon of toasted cumin seeds
Tablespoon of toasted coriander seeds
Quart of apple cider/juice, or distilled apple cider vinegar

Aluminum foil

All natural charcoal chunks (don’t use briquets)

Two handfuls of apple, pecan or oak chips, soaked in water or cider overnight

One gallon freezer bag

Grill thermometer

The night before:
Remove thin skin membrane from underside of ribs. This is tough to do, but worth it. Use a paper-towel to get a grip on the membrane and work a sharp knife underneath.

Cut rack in half (for easier handling on the grill), set aside.

Cut the rack in half for easier handling and whatnot

Toast cumin and coriander seeds in skillet on oven.

Toasting the cumin and coriander

Combine this with salt, chili powder, pepper and grind (I have a dedicated coffee grinder for this. If you use yr regular coffee grinder it will forever taste funky). Use this as a dry rub, applying roughly 3/4s of it on the tops of the ribs, the rest on the underside. My grinder is broken at the moment, so I’m using a traditional Molcajete – which might be better anyway.

adding cumin/coriander to the rest of the dry spices

finished dry rub

After working the dry rub into the ribs, combine poblano and Serrano peppers in small bowl with garlic. Rub this mixture evenly on ribs, doing your best to get it all adhered.

ribs with dry rub

Put ribs in plastic Ziploc freezer bag to sit overnight. Sometimes I add a couple tablespoons of apple cider in with the ribs to help moisten them up (and for good luck).

Prepare the grill. You will be grilling indirectly, with the coals on one side and the meat on the other. Grill temperature is ideal at 225, but it is imperative to keep between 200 and 250.

Preparing the grill, yo.

Once grill is at right temperature (250 degrees) add ribs with the meaty side up and the bones on the grill. Add some of your soaked apple/pecan/oak chunks for smoke. Let those babies rock for about two and a half hours, rotating the meat once or twice during this process. You can also drizzle/mop the ribs a few times with yr apple cider.

Indirect heat

After 2 1/2 hours into cooking I wrap the ribs with foil. Sometimes I buy aluminum cake pans from dollar general and cover with foil, I find this method most effective. You’ll want to add about a cup of cider to the ribs/foil bowl – and then maintain that amount of moisture for the rest of the cooking process. Keep yr eye on the ribs and add cider as necessary…don’t let ‘em dry out! The more solid the bottom of yr foil container is, the less it will leak.

The ribs turn out best when you let them cook for 8-14 hours on the grill. I usually go 10. If you get tired of maintaining a 225-degree grill fire after 4 hours, you may finish them off in the oven. I usually do this, but it is important they get at least 4 hours of real smoke on the grill. The last couple times I’ve done this, I’ve done slow and low on the grill for 3-4 hours, then put them in the oven at 225 for another 12-16 hours. Make sure the cake pans never go dry – keep ’em about an 1/8 inch deep with apple cider or apple juice. I’ve never had better ribs. Geeez!

Also important: after removing ribs from grill/oven, let them rest for a good 10 or 12 minutes before you touch them. This will allow the displaced moisture to find its way back into the meat. Good luck!

Slow and Low