Smoked Baby Back Ribs with Spicy Creole Barbecue Sauce

So this recipe needs lots of tweaking. We had it for Thanksgiving. I don't like salt all that much, but D loves it. My dad broke his nose at an earlier phase of life, so everything has to be overspiced for him. Both of them thought it was too salty. Dad even went so far to rinse one of his ribs. D knew there could be a problem when making the Creole Seasoning, and the salt made it too light. So if we make this again, we will half the salt. Really, it overpowered any spice there might have been.

I can't say anything about the actual smoking of the ribs. D smokes ribs all the time, and like most batches he makes, these were tender and fall off the bone.

I was not a fan of the BBQ Sauce on its own. D did some baste or something with one of the racks and that was good. But on its own, all I could taste was Tabasco. It was also too thin. Now that we know, we would not use sauce, or use Stubbs (the orange stuff) if we had guests.

So I believe this recipe has potential. But the spices need to be kicked up/salt knocked back. And perhaps just not make the BBQ sauce. And like I said, I don't know how D smokes ribs, so I can't tell you if he followed this recipe or not. I do know he used spare ribs and not baby back.

D's Notes (after reading mine): Can easily be fixed. Do not need all the suace, would definitely half the sauce and only use it as a baste. Half the salt and add a tablespoon of thyme to the rub. I never use the water pan when smoking, it adds steam and I do not like my ribs to get that soft. Like ribs that pull more than fall off the bone

Smoked Baby Back Ribs with Spicy Creole Barbecue Sauce

Source: Cooking.com
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 14 hours

INGREDIENTS
4 whole racks baby back pork ribs (about 8 pounds total)
Creole Seasoning (see below)
Charcoal briquettes
2 cups hickory wood chips, soaked in water 1 hour, drained
Disposable 9x6x1-inch aluminum broiler pans
Spicy Creole Barbecue Sauce (see below)

DIRECTIONS
Sprinkle ribs generously with Creole Seasoning. Cover and refrigerate at least 12 hours or overnight.
Mound charcoal briquettes in barbecue and burn until light gray. Using tongs, carefully divide hot briquettes into 2 piles, 1 pile at each side of barbecue. Place empty disposable broiler pan between piles; fill pan with water. Sprinkle each pile with generous 1/2 cup hickory chips. Position grill at least 6 inches above briquettes. Position vents on barbecue so that chips smoke and briquettes burn but do not flame and temperature registers 350 degrees F.

Place ribs on rack over broiler pan. Cook until meat is very tender and pulls back from ends of bones, adding briquettes and wood chips to each pile, and water to broiler pan as needed, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Brush both sides of ribs with 1 cup Spicy Creole Barbecue Sauce and cook 15 minutes longer.

Transfer ribs to platter. Serve ribs, passing remaining sauce separately.

CHEF'S NOTES: It's very easy to turn your grill into a smoker. Preheat grill and let coals become hot. Add wood and turn heat to low. Add a small pan of water to coals. This helps ribs to stay moist. Adjust temperature when needed. If you don't have a temperature gauge on your smoker or grill, use a fryer thermometer. Also add wood when needed. If flare ups occur, place a small sheet pan over coals to catch fat drippings. I like to soak the wood so it will smolder, not just burn. My favorite woods are apple, pecan and hickory.

Take the time and completely cook your ribs until tender. It takes a while, so plan in advance.

Creole Seasoning

Active Time: 5 Minutes
Total Time: 5 Minutes
Yield: Makes 1 1/2 cups
This seasoning powder gives jambalaya, ribs and chicken a spicy kick. Store in a glass jar or airtight container. It will keep indefinitely.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup salt
1/4 cup onion powder
1/4 cup garlic powder
1/4 cup freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon (about) cayenne pepper
1/4 cup paprika

DIRECTIONS
Whisk all ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Store in glass jar or plastic container. Will keep indefinitely.

Recipe created exclusively for Cooking.com by Jamie Shannon, Executive Chef of Commander's Palace and co-author of Commander's Kitchen.

Serving size = 1/2 tablespoon

Spicy Creole Barbecue Sauce

Active Time: 25 Minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
Yield: Makes about 1 1/2 quarts

RECIPE INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon butter
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
2 medium bell peppers, coarsely chopped
20 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups apple cider vinegar
8 ounces fresh ginger, peeled, coarsely chopped
1 cup mild-flavored molasses or honey
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
One 6-ounce can tomato paste
1/2 cup (about) hot pepper sauce
1 1/2 cups beer
cayenne pepper, optional

DIRECTIONS
Melt butter in large heavy-duty saucepot over medium-high heat just until brown, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. Add onions, peppers and garlic. Saute until very brown, about 15 minutes. Stir in vinegar and ginger. Bring to boil. Stir in molasses, brown sugar, tomato paste and hot pepper sauce; bring to boil. Add beer; bring to boil. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour.

Puree sauce with hand blender or bar blender until smooth. Season to taste with salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Thin sauce with more beer or water if too thick. Cover and simmer for flavors to blend, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

CHEF'S NOTES:
Don’t over season your barbecue sauce. Remember that ribs are also seasoned heavily. Sauce will last up to 3 months stored in air-tight container in refrigerator. It’s best at a couple of weeks, and goes great on all meats and game.

Recipe created exclusively for Cooking.com by Jamie Shannon, Executive Chef of Commander's Palace and co-author of Commander's Kitchen.

Serving size = 1/4 cup