Dr. Pepper Baby Back Ribs

everybody I'm chef Tom with a tbq calm and this is dr. pepper baby back ribs that's right today we're about to get sweet and saucy with some dr. pepper baby back ribs we're gonna be loading up the smoker with these ribs today give them a good smoke wrap him up and braise them in a dr. pepper based braise and finish them off with a dr. pepper infused barbecue sauce all right so here we got a rack of baby back ribs we're just gonna do a little bit of trimming we need to get the membrane off the back we need to square off the sides make sure that we don't have anything that's going to poke through the foil later on when we wrap these up for example this bone right here popping right out the edge go ahead and get rid of that because that's just going to be in the way a little bone at the bottom to cut around just slice that end right off and square everything up now we'll do the same thing down here at the shorter end I'm gonna find this last bone we've got a really tiny one right here so we'll go ahead and just square that off clean it up and make it look nice then we come down to this little skirt this flap this is gonna burn up while we're smoking so we're going to take that off and then we'll move on to take off the membrane so this membrane here this is if you've ever bit into a rib and on the backside there's this kind of like piece of paper II parchment that peels off that's what this membrane is and so we remove it for a couple of different reasons one because you don't necessarily want to be chewing on that and once you can get a hold of this thing with your paper towel you can check out how we've got a glossy side and a more matte side that's because we're taking the membrane off and exposing the flesh and once you've done that you can go ahead and rip the whole thing off and now you've opened up all of this meat that you can now season and get smoked through as opposed to putting it on top of the parchment which is just gonna peel off in the end anyway and then I'm just gonna run my hands along the edges make sure we don't have anything sharp sticking out anything that you don't want to chew on now we do have these little that are kind of stuck it's just just the knob of it that's kind of stuck right in between our bones and it's gonna make it a little bit difficult to cut so we could take these off now but if we do we're gonna kind of tear up all this meat so I'm just gonna let it be inwe'll deal with that after the cook so I'll square this up now so we don't have any stringy bits hanging off kind of do the same thing on the opposite side these stringy bits that are just going to burn up anyway you can take those off if you want to take some fat off you can you don't need to this fats gonna be fine right here but I'm not getting too fussy with this we're not cooking competition barbecue we're cooking for our friends and our family so this is all we need to do so we got those ribs trimmed up pretty simple we're gonna move on to getting our seasoning on these including our mustard slather and then we can get them on the grill so we're gonna start off by putting down a binder with our big Rix jalapeno honey mustard you don't have to go super heavy on this probably got a little bit more than I need down here so we'll share that around but we just want to get the entire surface covered in this mustard and this mustards going to be used in the braise as well otherwise you could just be using a plain mustard you could use hot sauce whatever you like it adds a small amount of flavor but in the end this one's not going to be as noticeable as the rubs speaking of the rubs we're gonna go ahead and do something a little interesting today where we're going to season the back side of the ribs and the top side of the ribs a little bit differently so we're going to start on the back side with our butts are smoking honey Chipotle it's got a nice little bite on it so think about when you take a bite out of your ribs typically the way you hold it is with that rib arching up and the first thing that your tongue hits is the bottom side of that rib so you're gonna get just that little bit of kick out of a honey Chipotle it's not too heavy it's just the right amount and it's got just a little bit of sweetness so you're gonna get just a sweet and salty with a little bit of kick right your tongue is you take that first bite because this is going to be a pretty sweet rib if you like sweet ribs this is the one for you the top side is gonna be glazed and sugary sauce so we want to break that up by offering something a little bit salty and a little bit spicy on the bottom and as I shake this on I'm making sure to get full coverage we want this seasoning on every last little inch of our ribs you don't have to be shy with it now the rub needs to attach before we can flip these over but if you want to go ahead and speed that up you can add a little bit of spray oil or fat to the back to help it stick we've got the sprayed duck fat today not enough to like wipe it off of there just enough to make it clean so now we can flip these over without fear of losing our rub go ahead and repeat the process starting with the big rigs jalapeno honey mustard massage that into all the little nooks and crannies and then for the top side we're gonna be switching up the rub for something a little bit sweeter we're going with the killer hogs the barbecue rub I think they call it the barbecue rub because this is one that everyone should have in their pantry just a standard barbecue rub great flavor nice sweetness to it beautiful red color you're gonna see as we smoke these things that red color is really gonna shine so again we want this rub to tack up on the surface it should start to darken in color as it attaches to the meat and you can actually see what that looks like right here that dark red color it looks wet all across the surface these are ready to go on to the smoker today we're smoking on the Yoder smokers ys6 40s Pella grill we're running at 275 with cherry pellets and I'm doing cherry straight up because I really want to intensify that red color on the outside as well as the way that smoke complements the dr. pepper in the end now I told you we were going to load it up today which is why we've got the Yoder smokers three-tier rack in here cuz we can get about four to five racks on each one of these we could even do four or five on the bottom if we wanted to we're gonna start here on the bottom we're gonna go forward to Iraq today but you've really got the room to go up to about 16 or so if you want to total and I love how these conveniently pull out so a little bit easier to load now we'll be feeding the whole neighborhood today throw one Beauty right there on top I'm pretty stoked on these new three tier racks I've been playing around with them the ability just to feed a crowd I mean really feed a crowd incredible accessory you can pick up 80 bbc.com or here in the store at this point in the cook there's nothing to do but wait we've probably got three to four hours before these are ready to wrap and how are we gonna know that they're ready to wrap all by look we're going by color we're going by texture we can see what's going on the outside there should be some pockets kind of formed on the surface where there's some moisture there should be a nice red mahogany color we're waiting for all that to happen but that just takes time we're four hours into the cook now and these ribs are starting to look really nice I want you guys to get in here and take a look so check these out I mean this is exactly what we're looking for we talked about we want some pooling on the top it shouldn't look dry anymore the color is that nice mahogany Brown great red colors going on but it's getting a little bit darker than that and that's what we're going for so we're gonna pull these off to wrap them now and these smell fantastic right now nice and smoky ah whoo come on look at that so now it's time to prepare a little braising liquid to cook the ribs in almost until the end of this cook and it's time to introduce dr. pepper so we are going to be combining dr. pepper with our jalapeno honey mustard from big Rick's to make a really nice braising liquid we're gonna pour a little bit of that into each wrap wrap these up and get them back on the grill all right so we are gonna go for parts of dr. pepper to one part of our honey mustard and since we got a big old stack of ribs I'm gonna multiply this over three times we can also break this recipe down for you to a little bit more manageable size for those of you who don't want to cook for the whole neighborhood and whisk it up now we're gonna double wrap these in foil because you've always got these little edges of the bones that poke out and want to poke a hole in there and then you lose all your braising liquid before we add that braising liquid we're just gonna hit the back side of the ribs one more time with that honey chipotle from our butts are smokin and then we're gonna add only about a quarter to a half cup to each one of these so I like to gather the foil in the middle roll it down nice and tight and then roll in the edges and this is super tight so that there's not much room in there for air - cause steam to affect our bark in a negative way so again doubling up on the foil meat is going meat side down the ribs are going meat side down I should say we've been cooking them bone side down for the entirety of the cook so far and that's to kind of provide a nice thermal barrier between the bone and the meat from where the fire was coming from but from here on out we want the meat down below to really braise in this liquid so we put it meat side down so that liquid just kind of works its way around the ribs braising it tenderizing and adding all that extra flavor all right got the tower of ribs let's head back to the smoker all right so again we're going meat side down this time again we're sliding four onto each one of these racks but we definitely could go a little bit tighter and I bet we could get a good 16 racks on with the new three-tier rack going but that's gonna work perfect for what we're doing today I've turned the temperature up to 325 now just because I'm impatient I like it to go a little bit faster so we're just gonna let these braise away my guess is for the next hour could take longer you never know so we'd be back to check on the flexibility of the package here in about 45 minutes to an hour and see if those are just about done now while the ribs are finishing up they're cooking we're gonna put together our dr. pepper glaze we're gonna brush over right at the end and that's going to start by making a dr. pepper reduction we're gonna reduce this down until it's syrupy and then mix it into our barbecue sauce now for like a three rib batch I would probably start with about two cups of dr. pepper here and we want to reduce this down until it's just syrupy in general but volume-wise probably about two to three tablespoons of syrup so we'll turn on the induction burner bring that up probably medium high until it comes to a simmer and then we'll turn it down alright so once we've coming up to a boil we're just gonna turn this down we want to keep it kind of at a gentle simmer as its reducing and take your time with this just go slow low temperature you can get this done faster but if you go too quick chances are you're going to overshoot it scorch it and have to start over anyway so just let it go to low simmer until it's nice and syrupy well we reduced way down now you see as I pull the wooden spoon through it takes a long time for that syrup to fill back in the bubbles are nice and big it's kind of sticky so I've turned this way down now we're gonna add to it our barbecue sauce to complete the glaze now what we're putting in here is the smoke on wheels Kansas City bootleg sauce we want to add about a cup of that now this is a great barbecue sauce on its own but in addition to the bourbon infused in it it also has a bit of dr. pepper in there so we are fortifying that dr. pepper flavor now I'm just gonna leave this on low let it kind of thicken up a bit because it's gotten loose again we want it a little bit tacky when we paint it on the ribs are we been braising about an hour now so I want to check on the doneness just where these are at kind of initially by picking up a package and you'll kind of just feel for the flexibility and you see how this one's bending pretty easy that tells me that it's probably pretty cooked when you get one that's like that I like to go ahead and open it up and take a look all right so there's a few things that we're looking for here when I look at the back and I can see that those bones are exposed a bit see how much that meats pulled back that tells me that these are going to be pretty tender as I flip this thing over and pick it up in the center you see how it starts to break right there that tells me these are fully done for sure also if we do the little wiggle test you start to move the meat around the bone and you see that meat move freely that means all of that stuff is broken down and these are super tender and ready to finish now as these finish up and as soon as we unwrap them we're just gonna put them back on the racks here open and glaze them up with our dr. pepper glaze that bootleg sauce in there as well me and the sauce it's crazy how much dr. pepper you get off of it since this sauce is reduced down just a little bit that makes it a little extra sticky and then it tacks up that much easier but I'd like to give it about 15 minutes to finish out here on the grill before we pull them we're just gonna let that sauce set up on top and we'll just continue to do this until all these racks are done there's some good-looking ribs all right we've given these about 15 minutes to tack up on the surface I gotta say these are some beautiful looking ribs and the smells just killing me we got to get these sliced up all right so we're gonna slice into this and now I don't want to flip this over and just lose all that sauce but come get in here close and check this out here we can see some of those little bits of bones just those nubs that we talked about earlier so we want to make sure we don't eat any of those for sure but also they may be in the path to slicing so just keep that in mind as we start to slice these up so when I'm slicing from the top and I can't see the bone as well I like to put a finger up here at the top and one at the bone down here at the bottom and that way I know where to aim right in between those bones and we hit one of those nubs on that one but that's okay we'll get through it so you can see here we got a side shot of that one still oh man that juice is just dripping out you see that running down let's get a little bite on it mmm well that is like that's like competition done right there that perfect bite through you know for eating at home I might even have them a little bit more tender and you'll find that as these racks are coming off they're at slightly different doneness --is so if you've got someone who loves that fall-off-the-bone rib we can totally go there in fact one of these ribs I bet we can get down at the end here and you'll find where these guys look at that the bone even just slips right out of there so that's totally up to your personal preference where you're gonna pull that these babies still slice just as well it's still just as juicy oh my gosh that's crazy but when you go for that bite on them they want to pull away from the bone fantastic there's just this little bit of pepper and it makes everything in that sauce pop it's not spicy but it makes the dr. pepper better and makes the barbecue sauce better I mean they're so tender and juicy like you just can't complain well thank you guys so much for watching be sure to check out ATB BQ comm for all of the products featured in today's video or just click that link in the video description down below if you enjoy the recipe please hit that subscribe button and if you have any questions or comments so there's anything you'd like to see me cook let me know in the comment section down below and let's be good to one another for more recipes tips and techniques head over to eighty b BQ comm slash the sauce all things BBQ where BBQ legends are made

Channel: allthingsbbq

Views: 327,372

Rating: 4.9260893 out of 5

Keywords: atbbq, allthingsbbq, all things bbq, all things barbecue, the sauce, bbq, barbecue, smoking, smoked, pork, ribs, baby back, dr. pepper, smoke on wheels, killer hogs, r butts r smokin, chef tom

Id: C74YbiDVV2E

Length: 18min 28sec (1108 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 24 2019