Babybacks in a hurry
Almost everything on this site tells you to take your time cooking ribs. Low and slow. Three hours or more for baby backs, and five or more hours for spares and St. Louis cut. But sometimes you can’t wait. Here’s how to have baby backs ready in 90 minutes, the way they do in many of the best rib joints in Memphis.
1) Get the coals started in a chimney.
2) When they are coated mostly with white ash, push most of them to one side of your grill and scatter a few on the other side so you have a two zone grill. Stabilize the temp at about 325-350F in the cooler section. At the Rendezvous in Memphis they cook directly over the coals and the dripping fat vaporizes and flavors the meat. But they get the meat 2-3 feet above the heat so there is no problem with flareups singing the meat. On most grills you cannot get the meat this high (although it is possible on some bullet smokers if you remove the water pan), so place the meat on the cooler side of the grill.
3) Every 15 minutes mop the meat on all sides with beer or apple juice and flip it over. Or wait till the ribs are done and then coat with my famous glaze or your favorite sauce.
4) After 60 minutes, test it to see if the meat is ready. When it is ready, give it a final mopping, and if you wish, sprinkle with rub, as much or as little as you like. It’s typical to serve sauce on the side in Memphis, but if you want it on your meat, just add it 10 minutes before you serve them to heat up the sauce.