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Lemon Pepper Baby Back Ribs

Wet Brined Baby Back Ribs with Lemon Pepper Seasoning
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time10 minutes
Active Time5 hours 57 minutes
Rest Time15 minutes
Total Time6 hours 22 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 Rack Baby Back Ribs

Lemon Pepper Seasoning

  • 1/2 cup Lemon zest
  • 2 tbsp Freshly cracked black peppercorns
  • 2 tsp Garlic powder
  • 2 tsp Onion powder

Brine

  • 1 Gallon Water
  • 1 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
  • 1 cup White Sugar

Instructions

Brining Ribs

  • I wet brined these ribs the day before. If you prefer not to, simply apply kosher salt the day before and dry brine overnight.
  • To brine, add a gallon of water to a container and add 1 cup of Diamond Crystal kosher salt and 1 cup of white sugar to the container.
    Then mix the soluble ingredients until they're well combined.
  • Submerge the ribs in this brine overnight.

Lemon Pepper Seasoning

  • I make my own lemon pepper seasoning but if you prefer to use a commercial lemon pepper seasoning, by all means.
  • Start by zesting 6-8 lemons until you have 1/2 of lemon zest. Then dehydrate this in a dehydrator or in your oven at the lowest temperature setting.
  • With a grinder or pestle and mortar, grind up black peppercorns until you have 2 tablespoons.
  • Combine the dehydrated lemon zest, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder in the specified quantities above.

Smoking the Ribs

  • Get your smoker to somewhere between 225 - 275F.
  • Remove membrane from the ribs.
  • Apply lemon pepper rub to the ribs and then place on your smoker.
    Add a chunk of pecan and cherry or your preferred hardwood. I also used a water pan so I added some water to the reservoir.
    Add new wood chunks every 45-60 minutes and replace water in water pan every 2 hours.
  • Wait for the bark to set or until you're happy with the exterior.
    Simply take your finger and dab the bark of the ribs. If the rub sticks to your finger, they need to go longer.
    For me, this took 3 hours and 37 minutes.
  • Wrap the ribs in either foil or butcher paper and return to the smoker.
  • I prefer to use the bend test to determine when the ribs are done (read above to see what I mean). That's usually between 195-203F internal.
    If you prefer fall off the bone ribs, go to around 212F internal.
  • Once they're done, rest for 15 minutes.
  • Once rested, flip the ribs over so that the meat side is down and then slice between the ribs and then enjoy!