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Honey-Teriyaki Glazed Baby Back Ribs from Weber’s BBQ Bible

By Matilda Ngute
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Honey-Teriyaki Glazed Baby Back Ribs

This recipe is for all you gas barbecuers with smoker boxes. Smoking in a charcoal barbecue is always an option, but we like the ease of setting a barbecue to cook and smoke at a steady 135°C/275°F for a few hours without any fire tending necessary.

Serves 6-8

Five spice rub:
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
11/2 tablespoons sea salt
2 teaspoons Chinese five spice
3 racks meaty baby back ribs, each 1.1–1.3 kg/2 lb 8 oz–3 lb


Honey-Teriyaki Glaze:
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
3 tablespoons peeled, finely chopped fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon sesame seeds 225 g/8 oz honey
5 tablespoons salt-reduced soy sauce
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon chilli-garlic sauce, such as Sriracha
1 tablespoon cornflour, dissolved in 3 tablespoons cold water

In a small bowl, mix together all the rub ingredients. To remove the membrane from the racks, see Step 2 on page 186. Season the racks with the rub, being sure to put more of it on the meaty side of each rack and less on the bone side.

For the glaze, heat the sesame oil in a frying pan over a medium heat on the stove. Add the ginger, garlic and sesame seeds and cook, for 2–3 minutes, stirring often, until fragrant and slightly softened. Combine the honey, soy sauce, vinegar and chilli-garlic sauce in a jug and add to the pan.

Bring the sauce to a simmer, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to the boil. Stir the cornflour mixture briefly to recombine, then gradually add it to the pan while whisking constantly and boil for about 1 minute until thickened. Remove from the heat and reserve.

Before lighting the barbecue, drain the wood chips and add them to the smoker box. If you don’t have a built-in smoker box, set the box you are using on the cooking grate directly over a burner to one side of the barbecue.

Prepare the barbecue for indirect cooking over high heat (230°–290°C/ 450°–550°F). Brush the cooking grates clean. When smoke appears, lower the temperature to low heat (135°–150°C/ 275°–300°F). Lay the rib racks, bone side down, on the cooking grates over
roasting/indirect low heat. Close the lid and cook for 1½ hours, keeping the temperature at 135°–150°C/275°–300°F. >

Brush the racks lightly on both sides with the glaze. Turn them bone side up and continue cooking over roasting/indirect very low heat, with the lid closed, for 30 minutes. Continue to brush the racks with the glaze on both sides and to turn them every 30 minutes, rotating the position of the racks occasionally, until fully cooked. The total cooking time will be 2½–3½ hours.

The ribs are done if when you pick up a rack at one end with tongs and bend it, the meat near the middle begins to tear.

Remove the racks from the barbecue. With the bone side facing up so you can see the ribs clearly, cut between the bones into individual ribs to serve.

Serve warm.

Regulating heat:
You shouldn’t let any parts of these ribs cook over direct heat, even just a little. The flames below could blacken the ribs. If your barbecue is wide enough, light one burner on the far right and one on the far left, leaving plenty of room in the middle for the ribs to cook over indirect heat. If your barbecue is not that wide, light just one burner on one side. After each hour of cooking, swap the positions of the racks so they cook evenly.

This Honey-Teriyaki Glazed Baby Back Ribs recipe is from Weber’s BBQ Bible by Jamie Purviance. If you liked this recipe, you may also enjoy Tarragon-Mustard Prawn Skewers from Weber’s BBQ Bible!