Electric smoker smoked baby back ribs (Video!)
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Tender flavorful smoked baby back ribs cooked to perfection in your electric smoker. You also can use st. Louis ribs for this recipe, just don't forget the best rub mix! Pair it with some side salads or vegetables and call it a fantastic dinner.
How to smoke baby back ribs in electric smoker step by step (3-2-1 method)
- Preheat your electric smoker to 225 degrees with hickory wood. I use a Masterbuild smoker and it works perfect.
- Yellow mustard is important for this recipe. Coat ribs with the mustard , it will help the rub to stick to the meat better.
- Prepare the rub (directions below) and coat ribs with it. Now, place ribs in to your electric smoker for 3 hours. Add more wooden chips as needed for maximum flavor.
- Take ribs out of the smoker and wrap each slab in the aluminum foil ( i used a heavy duty foil). Add mixed apple juice with brown sugar mixture into each foil pocket, cover each slab with more foil and place back into the smoker for 2 hours. No wooden chips needed this time.
- Unwrap the ribs and coat with BBQ sauce of choice. Cook uncovered for another hour or so. Serve with avocado potato salad!
Rub i used for the smoked ribs in Masterbuilt smoker
For the rub this time i used an amazing mixture of this spices (measurements are in the recipe card):
- paprika
- white sugar
- brown sugar
- cajun seasoning
- onion powder
- black pepper( i didn't use this one today because my kids didn't want it)
What kind of ribs are best to smoke?
My favorite kind of ribs for smoking is baby back ribs. They require about 6 hours total of smoking time and come out delicious.
The white membrane can be removed or left in place, its a personal choice. Avoid ribs that have been pre-marinated or filled with salt water/brine or other additives.
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Spare ribs comes from the fattier belly side and usually take a bit longer to cook. Like baby backs, the ideal rack of spare ribs is meaty with lots of streaky white fat and no shiners ( shiner is a bone you can see through the meat).
The picture above shows ribs right after i brushed them with some BBQ sauce and it was ready to go back in to the smoker for another hour.
Here is a helpful pork internal temperature chart to make sure your pork cooks perfectly. Or your can just check by pulling the bone- if it comes out , they are perfect!
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More smoker recipes readers love!
- Easy smoked whole chicken
- Perfect smoked brisket
- Smoked cajun chicken quarters
- Smoked orange chicken quarters
- Perfectly smoked beef ribs
Electric smoker baby back ribs
Equipment
- Electric smoker
Ingredients
- 1 slab of baby back ribs
- 0,5 cups yellow mustard
- 1 cup apple juice
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup BBQ sauce
Rub for baby back ribs
- ⅓ cup paprika smoked paprika is great too
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- 1 tbspn brown sugar
- 2 tbspn cajun seasoning
- 2 tbspn onion powder
Instructions
- Preheat your electric smoker to 225 degrees with hickory wood. Slice a slab of ribs in half.
- Cover each piece with yellow mustard. Then make a rub- mix all the dry ingredients listed above in RUB section in a separate little bowl. Cover ribs with the spice rub.
- Place ribs in the smoker for 3 hours.
- Once done, take them out of the smoker. Prepare some heavy duty foil. Mix 1 cup brown sugar with apple juice.
- Wrap ribs in foil, separate apple juice mixture in two and add in each foil pocket. Cover with another piece of foil(each) tightly and put back in to the smoker for another 2 hours.
- Once done, take ribs out, take the top foil out too. Brush both slabs with BBQ sauce and send back to the smoker for another hour, uncovered.
- Its a long recipe but worth the wait. Take ribs out, cut and serve.
It's not a good idea to read this while hungry! Love the rub with cajun seasoning. And the mustard. It adds a lot to the finished dish.
These ribs look so juicy and full of flavor! I can’t wait to try this rub—I love a good rub! Thanks for the recipe!
Oh my goodness!! These photos are absolutely gorgeous! 😀 I'd love to dig into these. Having a smoker must be so much fun and adds a ton of flavor I'm sure!
I have never heard of using mustard on the ribs before adding the spices but it makes perfect sense!! Loving that you used hickory wood to smoke, as well! This is the perfect recipe for the 4th of July!!
I love how much detail this recipe goes into about smoking different kinds of meat! Very straightforward and helpful for anyone looking to learn about smoking meat in an electric smoker.
These ribs look amazing. We have an electric smoker but never seem to use it. Now I have an excuse!
I literally drooled when I saw your delicious ribs! I love everything about them and am going to convince my sister to make these for the 4th!
My mouth is watering. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the process shots and step by step instructions in this recipe. Smoking is something I've never felt confident enough to do, but your post makes me believe that I could! Thanks for sharing!!
I didn’t even know that electric smokers existed. This is a game changer. Those ribs look amazingly good!
Our neighbour just got an electric smoker. I will pass this recipe along to him. He is in charge of the neighbourhood bbq this summer. Sounds like a delicious plan to me.