Maple Syrup Baby Back Smoked Ribs

Maple Syrup Glazed Baby Back Ribs on the smoker.

A hint of maple syrup for a sweet and savory treat

Here's one of my own creations: Baby Maple Ribs. In this Canadian-themed recipe I combine the understated sweetness of 100% pure organic Canadian maple syrup with the mellow spice of a good rub. This sweet and spicy combination brings a mouth-watering finish to these tasty and moist ribs. The maple syrup results in a finishing glaze that stands up to the best of them and really complements the zest of the rub.

For this cook we will be using indirect heat and a woodchip combination of hickory (50%), maple (25%) and oak chips (25%). The recipe is pretty straightforward and the result is worth the wait

Ribs with rub, ready for the refrigerator.

Ingredients

It doesn't get much more straightforward than this:

• baby back pork ribs (I usually do 2 racks if it's just for the family)

• one bottle of 100% natural Canadian maple syrup

• your favorite rub

• 1/4 cup apple juice

Wood chip blend pre-soaking before the smoke.

Preparation

At 9:00 a.m. on the morning of your cook, remove the membranes from your ribs and rinse them in cold water.

Also at this time you can begin soaking your woodchips in the amounts noted above.

Coat ribs with your favorite rub on both sides and press deeply into the meat. Place in fridge for two hours.

After two hours, remove the ribs and coat them liberally with the maple syrup. Replace in fridge from two more hours.

After two more hours, remove from fridge, resprinkle with hour rub and let them sit at room temp 30 minutes to 60 minutes before you place them on the smoker.

Ribs placed on the smoker.

The Cook

Prepare your smoker for an indirect cook and get the temperature up to 225 degrees.

Spread the chips on the hot coals.

Place your ribs on the smoker and cook for two hours at 225.

After two hours, remove your ribs from the grill and place them into a tent made from heavy duty large-size foil. Add 1/4 cup apply juice and 1/8 cup maple syrup and close the top of the foil tent (aka, Texas crutch).

Cook the ribs for two more hours in the foil tent. This will make the ribs tender and moist.

Two hours into the cook at 225, the ribs are progressing nicely. Now it's time for the foil wrap with apple juice and maple syrup.

After two hours, remove the ribs from the foil and place them back on the grill. Recoat the ribs with maply syrup on the meat side. Raise the temperature to 250 and cook for one more hour (after this hour, they will have been cooking for five hours total).

After five hours, test the ribs for doneness. Depending on the size/meatiness of your ribs, they may need extra time. 

For the ribs in these photos, I did need an extra 30 minutes of cook time. For the final half hour I raised the temp to 275. After five and a half hours, they were done. 

When your ribs are done, remove and serve!

After five-and-a-half hours, these ribs are done. Start checking for doneness around the five hour mark.