The following two products, Competition Barbecue Secrets and BBQ Secrets Revealed, which I reviewed on 4-12-09 and 4-19-09 respectively, answered my question and provided much more details on how to finally cook my “baby backs” the right way.

Before I announce the winner in this head-to-head review of the best barbecue ebook reference/cookbook, I must say congratulations to Bill Anderson and Randy Pryor, the authors of these two well-written and popular ebooks.  But I also want to warn them that I call them as I see them, and as good as these ebooks are, there’s only room for one winner.

Presentation

Starting with how easy it is to read and follow, Competition Barbecue Secrets (CBC) gets the nod here.  With CBC, you can actually skim to the section of the food you want to cook, and fill your head with great tips quickly on how to prepare that particular food.  With BBQ Secrets Revealed (BSR) the layout makes it a little harder to get your recipe and method together.

Completeness

BBQ Secrets Revealed is the more complete cookbook and in it you’ll find out how to barbecue just about anything.  Competition Barbecue Secrets focuses more on  a few particular foods which are the mainstay of traditional barbecue such as chicken, ribs, butt, and brisket.

Taste

During a taste test I conducted for my family on two successive Sundays with chicken and ribs, the winner here is Competition Barbecue Secrets.   Both cookbooks yielded excellent-tasting chicken and ribs with distinctive flavors, far better than anything I had ever cooked, but (CBC) edged out its competition probably because of Bill Anderson’s experience in cooking award-winning barbecues.

The winner of this head-to-head review is:

Competition Barbecue Secrets by a nose.

The reason I prefer (CBS) is purely for the taste.  (BSR) is a more thorough book covering pretty much everything you could think of as it relates to barbecuing.  But to really impress your family and friends with a barbecue they won’t ever forget, it’s (CBS).

Both products can actually give your family a lifetime of barbecuing pleasure, but the one I turn to the most since I bought both products is Competition Barbecue Secrets.

Click Here To Visit the official Competition Barbecue Secrets Web Site

First peel off the membrane lining from the back of the ribs, and either put your favorite dry rub on them, or season them with salt, pepper, and paprika.

Next, turn on your gas grill and set it to 275 degrees, but only turn on half the burners; you want top place your ribs on indirect heat so they slow cook and don’t burn.

Place smoking chips in your chip tray if you have one, and if you don’t, wrap some smoke chips in foil, place them in your grill’s heat diffuser, and leave an opening where the smoke can escape and affect the ribs.

Put your ribs onto the grill where there is no direct heat, cover the grill, and leave it closed shut for at least 30 minutes before you start checking on them.

Turn the ribs over for another 30 minutes and continue turning the ribs over every 30 minutes until you get to the 3 hour mark.

For the last 10 – 20 minutes, brush on your favorite barbecue sauce, cook them over direct heat, and you’ll have the most succulent, great-tasting smoky ribs in your neighborhood!

Note*** – If you don’t have a gas grill you can use a regular barbecue by placing the charcoal on one side and using the same method of indirect heat.

Here’s what you do:

1. Take the membrane off the back of the ribs by starting on one end using a sharp knife and lifting up a little flap, and using that flap to pull off the rest of the membrane. This may be difficult at first but  with a little practice this becomes much easier.
2. Season the ribs with only salt and pepper, wrap the ribs in aluminum foil, and bake in the oven slowly at 250 degrees for 2 hours and 45 minutes to 3 hours.
3. While the ribs are slow-cooking, whip up “Big Mama’s Barbecue Sauce” using this recipe:

1 cup tomato sauce
4 cups catsup
1/2 cup vinegar
1 cup water
1 tsp. liquid smoke
1/2 cup maple or corn syrup
2 tsp. hot sauce
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 cup steak sauce
2 Tbl. seasoned salt
1 /2 cup coca cola
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. red pepper, optional

When the ribs are done slow-cooking in the oven, brush the sauce over them and slap those babies onto the grill.  Be careful not to burn them and use some hickory smoke chips if you desire.  These ribs are so delicious you and your family will be licking your fingers for a couple of days!

So now that you have at least one method and an answer to how long do you cook baby back ribs, in the next post, I’ll provide a review of the two top online barbecue guides.

It seems everyone has a different method to cook baby back ribs whether on the grill or in the oven but one thing is clear; they’re all trying to make ribs that’ll be firm enough to stick to the rib bone yet melt in their mouths. 

If you slow-cook ribs to the point where they’re soft and falling off the bone, they’ll probably taste good, but you don’t get to enjoy the process of picking them up and putting them to your mouth.  What you want to do is find a way to slow-cook the ribs so they’re very soft yet stay on the bone while you eat.  See the difference? 

Oh, and one last thing; absolutely no boiling!  Water tends to rob all the flavor from the meat.

Stay tuned…