Smoked baby back ribs, competition style

My ribs of choice are the Swift vacuum packaged baby back ribs from Costco. We prefer our ribs meaty and lean. But you could use this recipe on St Louis cut ribs; just note that the cooking time is usually less for St Louis spare ribs than for baby backs.

Trim away all visible fat and silverskin. We prefer our ribs super lean, so all visible white fat is surgically removed. Fat does not absorb rub flavoring nor smoke, but as it drips it can create flare-ups during the cooking process — so this chef carves away as much of it as possible.

Apply Willys II rub (see below) thoroughly over all sides.

Smoke 90-120 minutes at LowHeat/HeavySmoke setting of pellet smoker, which is approx 180 degrees, so that the ribs absorb lots of smoke flavor. Spritz lightly with apple or pineapple juice, half diluted w water, around every 30-45 minutes to add moisture.

Now begin smoking at 250 degrees, for 2 hours.

Brown sugar, Rendevous, Tiger sauce

Remove ribs; time to foil wrap. Place each rack on thick aluminum foil. Rub brown sugar over both sides. Dust with Rendevous brand seasoning. Drizzle lightly with Tiger Sauce (a sweet chili sauce) Brush to cover the entire rib rack evenly with all 3 ingredients. Not too much Tiger Sauce, just a light coating.

Do that to both sides of ribs. Then wrap tightly in the foil,  and then wrap a second layer of foil to catch any leaks.

Smoke another 2 hours at 250.

Unwrap the ribs, dust with smoked paprika for flavor & red color, and then back in the smoker for approx. 30-60 minutes at 250.

Check ribs regularly for doneness and easy flexing; meaty parts should be around 203 degrees, probe should feel like thick peanut butter. Gotta watch them carefully, during this final cooking stage. Easy to undercook them (stringy and tough) or to overcook them (fall off the bone before biting).

Willys II all purpose rub (great on beef or pork)

3/4 cup paprika

1/4 cup ground black pepper

1/4 cup coarse salt, either Kosher or Sea Salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons onion powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne (up to 2 teaspoons if you like it hot)