I loved Smoked baby back pork ribs!
If I had my way, I’d eat them every day.
But, to avoid getting into a rut eating baby back ribs with BBQ sauce, we will smoke the baby back ribs on our Weber Kettle with an Asian-flavored glaze.
As the Asian glaze is introduced to the heat and smoke, it caramelizes and becomes ever so wonderfully delicious. When the caramelized Asian glaze combines with the melting, glossy pork fat, it creates a crusty, juicy, tender bite of porky lusciousness, just waiting for you to devour. So let’s fire up that Weber Kettle!
Why You Should Try This Weber Kettle Asian Glazed Smoked Baby Back Pork Rib Recipe
- The bold, smoky pork rib flavor is elevated – The incredible porky essence of smoked baby back ribs is accentuated with the addition of tangy Asian flavors, imparting the trio of sweet, salty, and spicy goodness into the already mouthwatering baby back pork ribs.
- Just a few ingredients – The simple and economical ingredients to make the baby back rib glaze can easily be found in the Asian section of your supermarket.
- Prepping is incredibly easy – Prepare the baby back ribs, combine the glaze ingredients, brush on the glaze, and it’s ready to go on the Weber Kettle and be smoked. And then eaten!
- A simple three-hour smoking process – On the grill grate for 2 hours, maintaining moderate heat and smoke, wrapped in aluminum foil for 1 hour, back on the grill grate, out of the aluminum foil. Done! Eat!
Ingredients For Weber Kettle Asian Glazed Smoked Baby Back Pork Ribs
- One full rack of baby back pork ribs
Baby back rib glaze:
- 1 cup hoisin sauce
- 1 cup oyster sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons garlic
- 2 tablespoons minced ginger
- 2 green onions, thinly diced
- 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice
Directions For Weber Kettle Asian Glazed Smoked Baby Back Pork Ribs
1. Set up your Weber Kettle for indirect smoking – Fill your charcoal chimney fire starter with charcoal briquettes, and when ready, empty the chimney in the center of the charcoal grate. With tongs, move the charcoal to both sides of the Weber Kettle, creating two equal piles. Add three more charcoal briquets and one small piece of soaked wood or wood chips to each pile.
2. Wipe off the moisture and remove the membrane – Take a paper towel and remove the excess moisture from the rib rack. Use a sharp knife to separate the clear membrane from the ribs on the underside of the rib rack. Then, using a paper towel to grab the membrane, firmly pull the membrane down and rip it off the rib rack.
3. Combine the nine ingredients for the rib glaze – In a small saucepan, combine the rib marinade ingredients, and while stirring, bring to a low simmer. Remove from the heat, and let cool for 10 minutes. With a kitchen brush, thoroughly coat the baby back ribs with the glaze.
4. Place your baby back rib rack on the grill grate – Place the baby back ribs side by side in the center of the grill grate, equidistant from the right and left side piles of coals. Smoke for 1 1/2 to 2 hours depending on the thickness of your baby back ribs maintaining moderate heat. Maintain the smoke by adding a few charcoal briquets and wood chunks every 30 minutes or as needed. As you add the briquets and wood, baste the baby back ribs with the glaze.
5. Wrap in foil with the glaze – Take your rib rack off the grill grate and place it on a large sheet of aluminum foil. Liberally brush the ribs with the glaze and fold the aluminum around the rib rack to form a tight seal. Place back on the grill grate as before and smoke for 1/2 to 1 hour, again depending on the thickness of your baby back ribs. This step will help ensure that your baby back ribs are very moist and juicy.
6. Cut and serve – Remove the baby back ribs from the Weber Kettle. Unwrap the ribs and discard the aluminum foil, and let the baby back ribs rest for at least 5 minutes. Slice the rib rack between the bones to create individual pieces, and serve with more Asian glaze sauce or your favorite dipping sauce.
Variations And Substitutions For Weber Kettle Asian Glazed Smoked Baby Back Pork Ribs
Try a different type of pork rib rack – I like using baby back ribs to smoke with because they are smaller and easier to handle, have incredible flavor, and have a shorter smoking time. But there are two other types of pork ribs besides baby back ribs. They are spare ribs and St. Louis-style ribs, both delicious and readily available. Both other pork rib variations are a bit bigger, so longer cooking time will be necessary.
Mix up the ingredients in the glaze – The base of the baby back rib glaze is Hoisin sauce, but any other deep, rich Asian sauce will do as well. Try using plum sauce, honey sesame sauce, duck sauce, kung pow sauce, orange sauce, sweet chili sauce, General Tao’s sauce, or teriyaki sauce.
Small wood chunks or prepackaged wood chips – Just likeusing an indirect smoker, you are truly adding wood smoke flavor to your baby back ribs by burning wood. But with your Weber Kettle, the wood is placed on top of your briquets. The wood type and size are totally up to your discretion. Store-bought wood chips will do just fine. You can also soak your wood chunks or chips in water to create more smoke; just be sure not to put out the charcoal with too much water.
Tips And Tricks For Weber Kettle Asian Glazed Smoked Baby Back Pork Ribs
Use a Weber Kettle hinged grilling grate – The hinged portion of the grill grate on both sides lifts up so you can add more charcoal or wood chips as you need to. This is an incredible game changer because you don’t need to lift the entire grill grate off the Weber Kettle every time you need to add more fuel.
Use a disposable aluminum loaf drip pan – Try this trick; it really does works! Place an aluminum loaf drip pan halfway filled up with water between the two piles of charcoal. As the Weber Kettle does its spectacular job and creates heat intense enough to cook your baby back ribs, having an aluminum loaf pan with water ensures that your precious and delicious baby back ribs will stay tender and moist.
How do you know when the baby back ribs are done – If the baby back ribs are “fall off the bone tender,” then your ribs are overcooked, mushy, and lacking in flavor. If the baby back ribs are undercooked, they are tough and chewy because the fats and collagen have not had the proper time to melt into the meat. You want your baby back ribs to have a slight tug and pull when you bite into it and pull it from the bone. The meat should be tender and juicy, full of meat and fat flavor with a little “give” as you chew. Here are three methods to check when your baby back ribs are finished:
1. Check the temperature with a meat thermometer. Place the thermometer probe between the bones into the largest piece of meat. The thermometer should slide into the meat very easily. The temperature should be between 195 and 205 degrees.
2. Pick up the ribs vertically with a pair of tongs. If the entire rib rack bends like it wants to do a backflip, then your baby back ribs are most likely done.
3. Take a wooden skewer and slide it into the meat between the bones. If the skewer slides in very easily, then they are most likely done. If you feel resistance or struggle to push the skewer in, then they are not done.
Asian Glazed Smoked Baby Back Pork Ribs
Equipment
- 1 Weber Kettle Grill
- 1 Hinged Grill Grate
- 1 Charcoal Chimney Fire Starter
- 1 Aluminum Drip Pan
- 1 BBQ Tongs
Ingredients
- 1 rack baby back pork ribs, full rack
- Baby back rib glaze:
- 1 cup hoisin sauce
- 1 cup oyster sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons garlic
- 2 tablespoons minced ginger
- 2 whole green onions, thinly diced
- 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice
Instructions
- Set up your Weber Kettle for indirect smoking – Fill your charcoal chimney fire starter with charcoal briquettes, and when ready, empty the chimney in the center of the charcoal grate. With tongs, move the charcoal to both sides of the Weber Kettle, creating two equal piles. Add three more charcoal briquets and one small piece of soaked wood or wood chips to each pile.
- Wipe off the moisture and remove the membrane – Take a paper towel and remove the excess moisture from the rib rack. Use a sharp knife to separate the clear membrane from the ribs on the underside of the rib rack. Then, using a paper towel to grab the membrane, firmly pull the membrane down and rip it off the rib rack.
- Combine the nine ingredients for the rib glaze – In a small saucepan, combine the rib marinade ingredients, and while stirring, bring to a low simmer. Remove from the heat, and let cool for 10 minutes. With a kitchen brush, thoroughly coat the baby back rib with the glaze.
- Place your baby back rib rack on the grill grate – Place the baby back ribs side by side in the center of the grill grate, equidistant from the right and left side piles of coals. Smoke for two hours, maintaining moderate heat; maintain smoke by adding a few charcoal briquets and wood chunks every 30 minutes or as needed. As you add the briquets and wood, baste the baby back ribs with the glaze.
- Wrap in foil with the glaze – Take your rib rack off the grill grate and place it on a large sheet of aluminum foil. Liberally brush the ribs with the glaze and fold the aluminum around the rib rack to form a tight seal. Place back on the grill grate as before and smoke for one hour. This step will help ensure that your baby back ribs are very moist and juicy.
- Cut and serve – Slice the rib rack between the bones to create individual pieces, and serve with more Asian glaze sauce or your favorite dipping sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
