Competition Style Baby Back Ribs

May 31, 2025

This method is my best recreation of Heath Riles method that he used to win the world championship of BBQ at Memphis in May 2025.

Competition Style Ribs.

Ingredients

2 racks St. Louis or baby back ribs

4 tbsp yellow mustard

2-3 tbsp bbq rub

1 cup bourbon peach bbq sauce (See recipe in my substack)

1 stick butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup apple juice

1/2 bottle bourbon whiskey glaze or bbq sauce of choice.

Preheat the smoker to 275°F remove the ribs from packaging, pat dry with a paper towel and remove the membrane from the back. Trim off any excess fat or bone fragments then layout on the cutting board bone side up.
Lightly brush a layer of yellow mustard onto the bone side of the ribs, then seasoned with an even layer of barbecue rub. Let the rubs set for one to three minutes, then flip over and repeat process on the other side.
Place the ribs bone side down on the smoker and cook for two hours
Prepare the butter bath by combining all the ingredients in a bowl and microwaving for one to two minutes just until the butter has melted and whisking together until we combined.
After two hours of cooking, remove the ribs from the smoker and place on a two large sheets of aluminum foil that are approximately 10 inches longer than the rack of ribs. The rib should be bone side up.
Pour about 3/4 cup of the butter bath down on the foil and on top of the ribs then wrap up tightly with both pieces of foil and placed back on the smoker. Repeat the same process for the second rack of ribs.
Cook the wrapped ribs for about one hour just until the bones start to expose the meat is tender. Use a toothpick or a temperature probe to check for doneness.
Let the ribs rest, uncovered for 15 minutes, then base them with the peach barbecue sauce and place back on the smoker for 15 minutes just until the sauce has adhered to the meat.
Slice the rib bones individually, serve