The following statement is going to be blasphemy to some of you. The best way to cook baby back ribs is on a rotisserie*.
It does wonders for giving you ribs that have a crispy crust on the outside, and tender, juicy meat on the inside. I like to think of it as pork candy. Mmmm.
You can commence stoning me for culinary heresy any time you'd like - as long as I get you to try these ribs first.***
*Yes, I'm doing a lot of rotisserie recipes. I'm finding that those recipes actually get me some readers through Google search**. But that's not the reason for this recipe. It really does give you better baby back ribs than low and slow does.
**OK, you got me. I also get to play with my grill more. "The difference between a man and a boy is the cost of his toys."
***I also love barbecued ribs, cooked low and slow. That is, when they're spare ribs. I think baby backs come out better on the rotisserie - they're a little too lean to cook low and slow; the higher heat on the rotisserie crisps them up before the meat dries out.
📖 Recipe Card
Rotisserie Baby Back Ribs
- Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
- Yield: 1 slab of ribs 1x
Description
Baby back ribs seasoned with salt, herbes de Provence and smoked paprika, woven onto the spit and rotisserie-roasted until crispy outside and juicy inside.
Ingredients
- 1 slab baby back ribs
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
- 1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika (or sweet paprika)
Instructions
- Prep the ribs: Remove the membrane from the bone side of the ribs: loosen it by running a butter knife between the membrane and one of the end bones, then pull it off. Sprinkle each side of the rack with 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon herbes de Provence, and ½ teaspoon paprika. Let rest for at least 1 hour, or up to 48 hours (refrigerate if resting more than a couple of hours).
- Skewer the ribs: Every three bones, poke a hole through the middle of the meat between the bones with a paring knife. Weave the ribs onto the spit through the holes.
- Prepare the grill: Set up your grill for rotisserie cooking at indirect medium heat, about 325°F to 350°F, with a drip pan in the middle, under where the ribs will turn. (If your rub has sugar in it, use medium-low heat, about 300°F, so the sugar doesn't burn.)
- Cook the ribs: Put the spit on the grill, start it spinning, and cook with the lid closed until the ribs are nicely browned and the meat has pulled back from the end bones by ½ inch, about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours.
- Rest and serve: Remove the ribs from the spit, and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Cut into portions (I cut between every second bone), and serve.
Notes
Equipment: A grill with a rotisserie attachment (I use a Weber Summit 650 with an infrared rotisserie burner) and an aluminum foil drip pan. On my Weber Summit, I set the two outer burners and the infrared burner to medium. See my rotisserie basic technique for setup details.
Memphis style dry ribs: Use barbecue rub instead of the herbes de Provence and paprika, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook for 1 to 1 ½ hours.
Wet ribs: Make the Memphis style ribs, then brush the cooked ribs with your favorite barbecue sauce and cook for another 5 minutes, until the sauce browns into a sticky glaze. Watch closely - the sauce can go from glazed to burnt very quickly. Brush with more sauce, then rest before cutting. (Or see my Rotisserie BBQ Baby Back Ribs.)
Provençal ribs: Skip the paprika. After salting, rub the ribs with a very thin coating of Dijon mustard (about 1 teaspoon), then sprinkle on the herbes de Provence.
You can cook 1 or 2 slabs at a time, depending on the size of your spit. Two fit easily on my Weber Summit's spit.
Weaving the ribs onto the spit is the hard part - the thicker the spit, the harder it is. But it's not THAT hard, and the results are worth it.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Rest after seasoning: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Questions? Comments? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts:
Click here for my Rotisserie Spare Ribs with Dry Rub recipe.
Click here for my other rotisserie recipes.
Inspired by:
Steven Raichlen How To Grill
 Check out my cookbook, Rotisserie Grilling.
Everything you could ask about the rotisserie, It's a Kindle e-book, so you can download it and start reading immediately! |
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Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
On my grill, the infrared burner is not hot enough to hold a temp of 350*F all by itself, so I have to add in the extra burners to get enough heat. At least, I don't think it will - I'm going to have to try it.
Also, with ribs, I want a more even heat because of the long cooking time. The direct heat of the infrared burner set to high seems like it would burn the ribs before they cooked through. I check the ribs, and if they are getting too brown, I'll turn off the infrared burner and let them finish cooking with the heat from the other burners.
And...the heat from the infrared burner will heat the air inside the grill just like the other burners...It registers on my grill thermometer. It's better at heating the grill than my other burners, according to my thermometer.
Gourmetrotisserie says
I am so pleased I found this page. I have not tried your method yet as I have a question first. What is the need of turning on the burners beneath the ribs? Infrared cooking from my understanding is all one would need. Infrared burners will maintain a proper temp 250 to max 350. This temp never registers on the thermometer in the lid as it does not heat the air around it. I have been infrared rotissering for 8 years now and have never lit the burners below. Am I missing something? Thanks!!
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Thanks, Jim. I think you have the right idea - keep the heat down and cook the ribs longer.
I've updated my rotisserie ribs technique since I published this recipe; I lowered the heat to medium-high in my Rotisserie BBQ Ribs, and lowered it even more in my upcoming cookbook - I cook them at medium heat (325*F to 350*F) for about an hour and a half.
Unfortunately, I never came back and updated this recipe - I'll do that now; thank you for the reminder...
Jim Beletti says
Mike - you inspired me to try these. They were "good", though not "great". I feel I can improve upon them with the right rub and the right grill heat. I was at around 325 degrees, before I added the ribs. I added them, then fired up the smoker box burner. Kept it all at medium since the only rub I had, had brown sugar in it. Temp rose to 385-400 and held the entire time. I even turned off the smoker box burner after it stopped smoking. Cooked for about 1 hour. A bit too done on the outside maybe. Inside was cooked and was hot, but fat/connective tissue you have been rendered better. I'm thinking 15 minutes longer at a lower heat and a better rub. Thanks. My pics on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3575695041676.153436.1552091014&type=3
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
@South Carolina Rib Man:
Absolutely!
See my Rotisserie baby back BBQ ribs for more detailed instructions, but you have the general idea.
South Carolina Rib Man says
Will this work well on a 22" Weber kettle? Split a chimney of coals between the two sides and spin till done.
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
@gourmetronic:
You're welcome!
gourmetronik says
I just got a brand new grill. Very modest but yet it has a rotisserie attachment and a rear propane rôtisserie burner. I stumbled upon your site (from Google Search 😉 )and used your technique to cook ribs (Memphis rub and finished with a blackberry preserve barbecue sauce), and they came out simply perfect! I used to steam the ribs first and then grill them, but I'm never gonna do that. Thanks for sharing and exprimenting so we don't have to!
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
@Jim:
You're welcome. Thank you for the detailed update?
Jim says
Hi Mike, I did some rotisserie babybacks last weekend for the first time. I bought a stainless steel rack from a restaurant supply store that fits in the drippings pan and cooked the potatoes on it so they get flavored but not soaked with grease. Also, I checked the ribs after 20 minutes and turned my Webber 310 down to medium for the remainder of the cooking time, 55 minutes and a 10 minute rest. I did a Texas style rub, cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, onion powder, paprika, salt and brown sugar. The rub would have burned had I not reduced the heat. I slathered the ribs with sauce the last 10 minutes. They came out perfect, just like you said, crunchy outside, tender and moist inside.. It was Saturday evening at 6 pm when I got a hankering for ribs and by 8 pm we were eating. Thanks for the ribcicle shortcut.
Jeff Turner says
Thanks, Mike. Great suggestions. I'll give them a try and report back.
Jeff Turner
Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
@Jeff Turner:
I'm sorry to hear about the flare up! I think you have the right potential culprits - sugar in the rub, or a flare up in the pan.
When I do ribs with a rub that includes sugar, I cut the heat back a bit, to medium-high heat. But even then, unless you put a huge amount of rub on, it shouldn't be so blackened that it's inedible - burned rub gives you more of a "cajun blackened redfish" effect. 600*F is rather high for a rub with sugar in it - next time, I'd say try medium to medium-high.
(Like I did in my Rotisserie BBQ Baby Back ribs recipe- check it out.)
For charred beyond edibility, my money is on a fire in the pan. The outside burners on the 400 are much closer than on the 600, which puts them under the drip pan, I think. Maybe some dripping fat got a flame to jump from the burner into the pan, starting a grease fire. Next time, add a cup of water to the pan, or however much it takes to get a layer of water on the entire bottom of the pan. I think that will minimize flareups. Or, use the rotisserie pan potatoes recipe on this site - it helps soak up some of the fat and keep it from flaming up.
Good luck, and let me know how it goes!
Mike
Jeff Turner says
What a great and helpful website! I just purchased a Weber Summit 470 with 4 burners, infrared rotisserie, smoker box and searing station. Great rig, but almost no info on how to use it. Your site fills that purpose.
I first tried your rotisserie cornish hen recipe. Did two birds and they were WONDERFUL. Just attempted your rotisserie baby back recipe, but that was a disaster. Set the grill just as you advised, with only outside burners and infrared on high. Also had smoker on low.
Ribs fit nicely over 9x12 drip pan and spun evenly. I avoided peeking until after 40 minutes and discovered the ribs were charred beyond edibility. The drippings were also charred.
I did notice that the temperature in the box stayed above 600 which concerned me, but I believe that was true also for the cornish hens.
Used a rub (no sauce) that contains some sugar, but all the ones I looked at do as well. I suspect I had a flare up in the drip pan, but not sure why.
Could it be that the drip pan was too close to the side burners, or was there something(s) else that I likely did wrong?
I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and help with this.
Thanks, again, for your great website!
Jeff Turner
Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas
MikeV says
MikeV's response:
You've got the right idea: Burners 1 and 4 on high, along with the rotisserie burner (also on high). Keep the lid closed while cooking.
Also, when lighting the rotisserie burner, remember: keep the knob pushed in for 20-30 seconds, until you can see the whole infrared burner glowing red - it needs to get really hot to start pulling gas through the gas line. I didn't know about the "keep the know pushed in" part when I first did the recipe, and the infrared burner wouldn't stay on. It's in the manual, but you have to read carefully to catch that part.
Good luck!
PS: Thank you, Colin, for helping me see where the recipes aren't very clear. Because of this question, I've updated the recipe (and my other rotisserie recipes) to explain this better. In general, unless I say otherwise, cook with the outer burners and rotisserie burner on high, and keep the lid closed while cooking.
MikeV says
Email question from reader colin:
Just found your site and am excited to try the recipes.
I have the Weber silver summit with four main burners, a rotisserie burner and a smoke box burner and want to start using the rotisserie. So for this recipe would I have burner 1 and 4 on along with the rotisserie burner? And what temp (high/med etc) would I have them on? Would I cook the ribs with the lid open or closed? Thanks for your help, I really like your site so far!