3-2-1 Baby Back Ribs with Sticky Japanese BBQ Sauce – Culinary Seasons

The 3-2-1 method is generally used for pork spare ribs because it is a tougher rib than the baby back ribs. This day, I was running the smoker for different rib recipes and I thought I would do Bachan’s Original Sticky Rib Sauce as a marinade and glaze on the baby back ribs, plus cook using a 3-2-1 smoking method. The family was loving these Baby Back Ribs! (This Sticky Japanese BBQ sauce recipe would do well on the spareribs as well.)

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I can hear it now…..

I know that there will be rib fanatics that will rake me over the coals (pun intended) for using baby back ribs for a 3-2-1 method instead of using spareribs. Or for having these ribs fall off the bone tender but hey, to each his own, I have never been a fan of ribs that I have to gnaw the meat off the bone.

I do have a spare rib recipe on the site, as well, that uses the 3-2-1 method. The spare ribs recipe came out delicious using the same method, they weren’t fall off the bone but were good texture to have some pull of the meat when eating.

Plus, there are recipes around the world that utilize different cooking methods for ribs Dare I say, simmering ribs with aromatics for a length of time. Then frying them to get a nice tender rib with a crispy crunch, tossed with something other than barbecue sauce. Oh, I can hear it now…the gasps sucking the air from the rooms of the barbecue diehards for my rib blasphemy. Haha!

Bachan’s Japanese Barbecue Sauce

If you haven’t tried Bachan’s Japanese Barbecue Sauce they offer several flavors in their sauce line. I have seen a lot of praise about this bbq sauce and I thought I would give it a try. I first used this sauce on the pork tenderloin recipe served with the Asian Chopped Salad with Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette recipe. The salty sweetness of the barbecue sauce and with the char from the grill added nice crunchy exterior to the pork tenderloin for the salad.

This may not be the cheapest barbecue sauce in the condiment aisle of your grocery store but it is definitely a flavor punch that pairs well with pork. I will be trying the barbecue sauce on other applications to see what it brings to the table, maybe doing a spicy version with their Bachan’s as a backbone for the sauce with a garlic, ginger and chili bite. Sounds like some chicken thigh skewers are in order!

Explore their website and discover the family history of the business and see why they called it Bachan’s.

3-2-1 Method, what is it?

As I stated previously, the 3-2-1 method is most recommended for spare ribs because of the tougher nature of the rib vs the baby back ribs. Utilizing this low and slow cooking method breaks down the tougher meat over a long cooking period.

The process of the 3-2-1 method is smoking the ribs at a low temperature 225°-275° for 3 hours to start with, this imparts a good smoke flavor into the ribs. Ribs can be over smoked, the meat on the bones is not as thick as a brisket or pork butt and can take on too much smoke flavor.

The second step is to wrap the ribs after the 3 hour initial smoke. This wrap allows the moisture to stay within the foil and allows the meat to tenderize during the two hour wrap. Continuing with the low smoking temperature for the remainder of the cooking process.

After the two hour wrap, the ribs are removed from the foil and put back on the smoker. Brushing your choice of bbq sauce to glaze the ribs in the final hour of smoke.

Bachan’s Original Sticky Ribs recipe can be found here. Their recipe instructions cook the ribs in the oven with a different temperature and process. I chose to do on the smoker and use the 3-2-1 cooking method in this recipe process.

**This recipe made with the baby back ribs will probably take less time in the 3-2-1 recipe because they are not as tough as the spareribs. I think instead of 2 hours they were about 1 3/4 hours and about 30-45 minutes instead of the last hour.