1. Start by firing up your smoker. You are aiming to get a consistent 225 - 250 degrees for about 6 or 7 hours - (or 4-5 hours if you plan to finish in the oven - see step 7).
2. Trim your ribs. You want to remove any little bits that hang off anywhere and you definitely need to remove the silverskin on the concave part of the ribs. You are also aiming to have relatively consistent thickness end to end. Here is a good video on trimming baby back ribs.
3. Rub the ribs generously. You can use as much rub as will stick to the meat. It should be between 1/4 and 1/2 cup of rub.
4. Place the ribs on the rack of the smoker and leave them there in light smoke until they are a deep mahogany color and the meat is starting to pull back from the bones on all of the ribs. About 4 hours depending on temperature and the size of the rack and the weather.
5. Mix the honey, apple juice and cider vinegar. If you don't have apple juice, any other fruit juice will work or even soda, stock or beer is ok. You can add more or less cayenne depending on how spicy you like. 1/2 tsp should get you a mild but noticeable level of spice. If you like quite spicy use up to 2 tsp of cayenne, but be careful! Different brands of cayenne can have pretty different levels of heat.
6. Remove the ribs and place them on a large sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil, concave side down. Pour half the honey mixture over the rack and then flip it over. Pour the rest of the mixture over the reverse side. Some of the honey mixture will pool in the foil, that's good - you want a lot of moisture. Wrap tightly with the aluminum foil and then wrap with a second layer of foil. You don't want the honey mixture and the juices from the meat to escape. This is very important. If the liquid leaks out the meat can end up quite dry. Use additional foil as needed if it rips or anything.
7. Place the wrapped ribs back in the smoker (or in a 250 degree oven - at this point you don't need more smoke so whichever is more convenient) and continue to cook until the ribs are tender and threaten to break between the bones if you lift the rack with tongs from one end. This will be about 1 - 1/2 to 2 - 1/2 hours. It can be hard to tell how far along they are without opening the tinfoil, but avoid the temptation to open the tinfoil too often as it lets out moisture. If you do open the foil, you should see bones on the ribs near either end starting to come out of the meat on the concave side. This is a good indication that they are ready.
8. Let the ribs rest in the tinfoil for about 15 - 30 minutes. Then remove and reserve the liquid in the tinfoil. Cut the ribs between the bones. Depending on how burnt you will tolerate you may need to discard the bone on either end. It's easiest to cut if you place the rack on a cutting board concave side up so you can see the bones more easily. Dip each rib in the reserved liquid before serving.
