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If you don’t have a smoker at home, you can still make some amazing ’cue using our <a href="apartment-rib-rub">Apartment Rib Rub</a> on a rack of baby-backs. This recipe takes less than five hours start to finish and can be done entirely indoors.The flavor closely resembles traditional pit-smoked ribs due in part to our carefully crafted rub, which features charred onions and garlic, but mostly thanks to a liquid smoke–and-molasses glaze. Liquid smoke is made from real, high-quality woodsmoke that flows through an adsorption column, capturing the smoke in much the same way as food does when cooked in a smoker. The adsorbed compounds collect in a wash of water, which is then purified to eliminate tars, resins, and carcinogens. But the condensate maintains natural smoke properties that contribute to flavor and color during the cooking process. In this recipe, liquid hickory smoke reacts with the surface of the meat to give it both the appearance and the aroma of smoked meat. A touch of molasses rounds out the flavor and helps develop a luscious, sweet-and-smoky bark when you finish the meat in the oven. Low-and-slow sous vide cooking achieves a tender but firm texture without the time commitment or mess of outdoor smoking. Just set the water bath to [c 75] and let the ribs cook unattended for four hours. Then, after finishing the ribs in the oven for 5 minutes, you’ll have juicy, tenderized meat with a chewy bark that measures up in texture and flavor to any traditionally smoked version.