Myron Mixon's Baby Back Ribs

Bite Into These Smokey Ribs

Top pitmasters cook up famous barbecue recipes for ribs, sauce, sides on "GMA."

From the kitchen of Myron Mixon

2 Comments

Servings:4-6

Difficulty: Moderate

Cook Time: Over 120 min

"My favorite rib to cook and eat is the baby back, because I learned competitive cooking at MIM contests and that's their rib of choice. I just developed a real love for them. They're fun to cook and fun to eat, and they almost always earn me money. Even I can't ask for more than that!" Myron Mixon

Ingredients

For the marinade:

1 liter ginger ale

1 quart orange juice

1¼ cups soy sauce

2 cups salt

2 1- ounce packets dry ranch dressing mix

For the rub:

1 cup (packed) light brown sugar

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons dry mustard

2 tablespoons onion powder

2 tablespoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons coarsely ground

black pepper

For the hog glaze:

2 cups Jack's Old South Vinegar Sauce or Basic Vinegar Sauce

2 18- ounce jars apple jelly

2 cups light corn syrup

For the spritz:

3 cups apple juice

2 cups white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons liquid imitation butter

For the ribs:

4 racks baby back ribs

1 recipe Rib Marinade

3 cups Jack's Old South Original Rub, or 1 recipe Basic Barbecue Rub (recipe follows)

1 recipe Rib Spritz

1 cup apple juice

1 recipe Hog Glaze

Cooking Directions

For the marinade:

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Stir well to thoroughly incorporate. Pour into a large bottle or other container and store, refrigerated, for up to 2 weeks.

For the rub:

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients thoroughly. You can store this rub in an airtight container indefinitely.

For the hog glaze:

Combine all the ingredients in a blender, and blend until thoroughly combined, about 3 minutes. Pour out into a clean bowl, using a plastic spatula to scrape it all. Store, refrigerated, for up to 2 weeks.

For the spritz:

In a large spray bottle (one that will hold at least 5 cups of liquid), combine all the ingredients. Shake well to blend.

For the ribs:

One at a time, place the racks on a cutting board, bone side up, and remove the membrane (or "silver"): At whichever end of the rack seems easier, work your fingers underneath the membrane until you have 2 to 3 inches cleared. Grab the membrane with a towel and gently but firmly pull it away from the ribs. Pulling off the membrane exposes loose fat that will need trimming, so take your knife and cut out any excess fat. Now the racks are ready.

Set the racks in an aluminum baking pan and cover them completely with the rib marinade. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and let it sit for 4 hours, either in the refrigerator or, if you're at a contest or in a picnic situation, in a cooler packed with ice.

When you are ready to cook them, remove the ribs from the marinade. Pat them dry with towels. Apply the rub lightly around the edges of the ribs, over the back side of them, and on top. Then let the ribs sit, uncovered, at room temperature for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, heat a smoker to 250°F.

Put the ribs in a baking pan, put the pan in the smoker, and cook for 2 hours. After the first 30 minutes of cooking, spritz the ribs. Continue to spritz at 15- minute intervals for the duration of the cooking time. (The ribs should be uncovered so they can absorb as much smoke as possible.)

Remove the pan from the smoker. Pour the apple juice into a clean aluminum baking pan.

Place the ribs in the pan, bone side down, and cover the pan with aluminum foil. Place the pan in the smoker and cook for 1 hour.

Remove the pan from the smoker and shut off the heat on the smoker. Remove the foil, and apply the glaze to the top and bottom of the slabs of ribs. Re- cover the pan with foil, return it to the smoker, and let the ribs rest in the smoker for 30 minutes as the temperature gradually decreases.

Remove the ribs from the pan and let them rest for 10 minutes on a wooden cutting board. Then cut and serve.

This recipe was styled by chef Karen Pickus for "Good Morning America."