Smoked Ribs Recipes

Anyone have any good smoked rib recipes or tips and tricks? This Sunday I’m having my dad over to the house and im going to make him some smoked ribs for a fathers day lunch.

Normally I do a method of a store bought rub on the ribs and smoke them at about 275 for the first 2 hours on apple or cherry wood. Than ill wrap them in foil with butter, brown sugar, honey, and smoke them for another hour or 2. The last hour or so ill unwrap them and put barbecue sauce on them to finish them. My cooking time verys because my old vertical smoker is hard to keep and even temp but I’ve found out this method does a pretty good job.

I do a twist on your method. I agree, it does a pretty good job.

After rubbing the ribs with spices, I put them in the fridge overnight.

I smoke for 2 hours at 250 or so with the ribs on a pan and I brush down with apple juice at 30 minute intervals, leaving plenty of juice in the pan.

I then take them out of the smoker, brush them with more apple juice, and wrap them in foil packages (2 layers) that are sealed completely. They then go in the over at 275 for 2-3 hours depending on size and number of ribs being cooked.

I’ve found the oven is just a lot easier because of the perfect temp control vs trying to cook in the smoker. Since the smoker isn’t adding any benefit to this part of the process, I just cut it out of the equation, I’d rather sit back and drink beer.

Then I take them back out of the oven, unwrap gently, and put them back on the grill and gently finish char them off, while applying sauce. This is just a flavor finish and takes 10 minutes tops.

Grouse

I may have to try your oven trick this Sunday. I’ve used my oven to finish off brisket but don’t know why i haven’t done it on my ribs.

Grouse do you use mustard on your ribs before you put spices on?

I normally use the 3-2-1 method.
I slather mustard on them the night before and than use whatever favorite rub I have at the time. Then placed in a non-metallic container and in the fridge over night.
3 hours on the smoker that was preheated to about 225
2 hours wrapped in foil and placed in a cooler that has been lined with towels to hold the heat.
1 hour back on the smoker.
I’ll add my sauce about the last 15 minutes.

KP wrote:

Grouse do you use mustard on your ribs before you put spices on?

I’ve done a dijon mustard with rubbed spices, I’ve done straight spices dry style, I’ve done various vinegar-based solutions and spices, and I’ve done 2 soda pops and spices. It’s all good with the smoker + oven method IMO.

Personally, it seems to me the “liquid” used doesn’t contribute a whole lot to the flavor.

IMO, the biggest contributor seems to be getting good meat to start with. The best results I’ve had started with ribs from Big Steer meats in St. Paul where I’ve asked them to save me the best slabs they encounter for the next couple of days.

I thought I was going to get thrown out of a large chain grocery store when I spent 40 minutes extensively feeling the racks of ribs in the cooler and asking the meat guy what apparently was considered to be too many questions about his views on firmness, size, and fat content.

BTW for the smoker guys out there, I’m sure all-in-the-smoker cooking works. It’s just that my “smoker” is a Weber kettle grill, so I don’t have the pinpoint temp control and capacity that guys with huge dedicated smokers or electric units do. That’s why I like the oven for the cooking stage, it’s just so damn easy.

Grouse

Remove membrane on back and load up with rub. For a single batch, I like a mix of about 2-3 tbls brown sugar, 2-3 tbls paprika, 2 tbls kosher salt, 1 tbls chili powder then 1/2 to 1 tsp each of garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, dried thyme, cumin, and cayenne. See what it looks/tastes like after than then add/adjust and will save any extra in an empty spice container. Load up the ribs and put them in foil, meat side down, wrapped and in the fridge overnight.

I like a little chew on my ribs, not fall off the bone, so I don’t cook as long. On the smoke at 250 for about 2 1/2 – 3 hours. Will add a little sauce at the end if I feel like it, many times I skip it. Rest for 15-20 minutes in foil, good to go for me.

thats a pretty standard method. i do two other methods and rotate. i do a pineapple/cilantro/mint marinade and smoke and the last hour apply a pineapple glaze that get rave reviews.

i also have a recipe for a rub that consists of tumeric, ground cloves, cardamon, gran garlic, kosher salt, cayanne pepper and lemon pepper that is pretty much out of this world. if you care for it,i’ll give you the recipe.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

It’s just that my “smoker” is a Weber kettle grill, so I don’t have the pinpoint temp control and capacity that guys with huge dedicated smokers or electric units do. That’s why I like the oven for the cooking stage, it’s just so damn easy.

Grouse

I have a cheap Brinkman vertical smoker and its tough to keep an even temp with. I’ve done a few modifications to it like add air vents and wrap a insulated blanket around it but its still hard for me. Soon ill have to upgrade to something nicer but for now it does the trick.

Also 100% agree on the quality of the meat. I once did a comparison of a cheap baby back ribs I got at the grocery store for 8 bucks vs. a rack of baby backs I got at the butcher shop and prepared them the same way. I couldn’t get people to touch the cheap store bought ones and also the cheap ones cooked extremely faster.

@kp Probably don’t really have to change your technique. Looks like you’ve got a good one there and it’s tested.

Only thing I do different from time to time is a finishing step on a regular grill on direct heat. A little time on the hot rack gives it some caramelization that goes over well. We’re only talking a couple minutes then serve.

After that it’s just doing different flavor profiles. Memphis dry rub(my favorite), add some sauce in your third phase(KC sweet or Carolina vinegar), maybe doing a Thai thing with dried chilis in your rub, the sky is the limit.

Grouse – I won’t begrudge you using an oven for a time when the smoke isn’t doing too much. After using the classic weber kettle for years I finally upgraded. The number one reason was to get a steady temp and not have to stand there babysitting all day.

Now I can leave things in my grill and walk away for many hours at a time. With that freedom I smoke a lot more days/year.

Now if you would have said boiling the meat, well

So much depends on your type of cooker, I run a 500 gallon reverse flow wood fired beast. The ideal heat zone on my pit is 275-325 so that’s what temp I cook at and it takes about 3 hours to cook a rack or ribs to the point that when you pick up one end with thongs, the meat starts to crack between the bones, but not so far as actually falling off the bone. I’m told, and I believe, the main reason for the reduced cooking time on these pits is because of the massive amount of airflow through them. Similar to how a convection oven cooks faster than a normal oven.

When I fire the pit up, I’m usually not cooking a butt and a rack of ribs, we are usually talking 20 plus racks and hundreds of pounds of butts/briskets. With that in mind, I fly by the KISS method. I hate opening the pit to wrap stuff, the only cuts I wrap are butts/briskets in butcher paper after 4-5 hours and put them back on for 2-3 hours.

I use a tri-level approach for all my rubs. 1st layer is the seasoning salt. 2nd layer is the flavor layer, my rib flavor layer is brown sugar, paprika, chili powder, granulated garlic, onion powder and fine ground black pepper. 3rd layer is the coarse ground, for ribs I do coarse salt and coarse raw cane sugar. I’ve had good luck with this method.

If they are ribs that have been packaged in a solution (most grocery stores) then I forego the 1st layer which is seasoning salt, those already have enough salt in them!

Above all else have fun and enjoy the time with your dad!

one thing i’ve started doing is leaving the membrane on. i feel like it helps retain moisture. and they come off even easier afterwards with a pair of tongs.

hnd wrote:

one thing i’ve started doing is leaving the membrane on. i feel like it helps retain moisture. and they come off even easier afterwards with a pair of tongs.

Agreed.

I have the barrel type smoker with the offset firebox.
I remove the membrane and apply the rub and really work in in and then wrap tightly in plastic wrap. I do this at least 24 hours in advance. I spray them with 3 parts apple juice to 1 part apple cider vinegar.
I prefer dry rub ribs, no sauce. I do however brush on spicy bloody Mary mix 3 or 4 times during the last hour sometimes.
I keep the temp between 250 and 300, for 6 to 7 hours, this is for 3 full racks. I never wrap in foil. They end up with with a nice bark.

Like others have said I think falling off the bone is overcooked. Places like Famous Dave’s are like that and then just covered in sauce for flavor.

I’m getting hungry!

KP wrote:

Anyone have any good smoked rib recipes or tips and tricks? This Sunday I’m having my dad over to the house and im going to make him some smoked ribs for a fathers day lunch.

KP, trying amazingribs.com as they have a lot of recipes and tricks regardless of the type of smoker that you have or use.

patk wrote:

Now if you would have said boiling the meat, well

I think we can all agree that that would be an unclean thing, and an abomination before God and Ken Davis.

I have an aunt that is always telling everyone how great her boiled ribs are. I call her method the Norwegian Fish Boil method and told her they tasted like leftover lutefisk with BBQ sauce. She challenged me to a rib off. To say I mopped the floor with her is putting it mildly, but then the bar wasn’t too high, we are talking about Norwegian Fish Boil ribs here…

Grouse

This is great info and even better timing! I have a Baby shower BBQ smoke-off next weekend. 8 of us bring our smokers and ribs and have a competition on who can smoke the best ribs for the party! Thanks for the tips! I’ve learned the biggest key to a good smoke is to limit your beer consumption…

I also use the 3-2-1 method, pretty foolproof. I have to smoke something soon!

Dusty Gesinger wrote:

I also use the 3-2-1 method, pretty foolproof. I have to smoke something soon!

That can be just as bad as drinking too much!

GlennRengo wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>KP wrote:</div>
Anyone have any good smoked rib recipes or tips and tricks? This Sunday I’m having my dad over to the house and im going to make him some smoked ribs for a fathers day lunch.

KP, trying amazingribs.com as they have a lot of recipes and tricks regardless of the type of smoker that you have or use.

X2

Just to clarify,
3-2-1 method is for spare ribs
2-2-1 method is for loin / baby back ribs

Personally I prefer the pressure cooker method to really tender ribs that melt in your mouth!
Skin on / skin off, spritz here, wrap there, under pressure who cares?

I use the 3-2-1 method for both.

Dusty Gesinger wrote:

I use the 3-2-1 method for both.

Yep, me too.

Get a green egg it will change your life.

Google 3-2-1 Ribs. Simple and great every time.

used to do the 321, 221 methods until we went to a few comps. you dont’ have the time to take 6 hours. some of the best ribs i’ve ever tasted were cooked at 250-300 degrees. smaller baby backs i’ve seen done in 3 hours. my bigger ribs are generally done in 5 hours, my smaller are done at 4. saves on fuel, time and i couldn’t tell a 6 hr rib from a 4 hr rib now.

I smoked a couple racks on a weber kettle yesterday. My process is all about the prep. My BBQ motto is, if it needs sauce it wasn’t done right. I like dry BBQ, dry smoked ribs, shoulder, or brisket.

Wet brine to taste then dry rub. The brine is usually salt, brown sugar, water, some fruit juice of choice (usually apple), apple cider vinegar, garlic, thyme, paprika, cayenne, and a bit of habenero for kick. Let it soak 12 hours or so.

Next, lightly dry rub using a similar mixture, without the liquids and light on the salt.

I have no idea what measurements go into the brines or rubs. I build them to taste each time, usually based on the wife’s requested flavors.

Set up the Weber kettle by covering the charcoal rack with tin foil. Leaving an air gap open just under your coals. I build a triangular coal box on one side using fire bricks. The fire bricks add mass for temp stability and keep the direct heat off the meat.

Stack the unlit coals in the box with some wood chips of choice mixed in. Light a few coals in a chimney then put the lit coals on top of the unlit stack of coals. This allows for really long controlled burns. I can run six hours without opening the lid using this method.

I also use a Maverick wireless thermometer. One probe on the grill surface and one in the meat.

Yesterday’s baby backs ran two hours at a steady 250F before it started climbing. After four hours the grill surface had crept up to 266F. By then the ribs were done.
Peeling off the bone with a little force. No messy sauce required. Mmmm. Now I wish I brought leftovers for lunch.

Also, when picking out meat, make sure it is not pre-“tenderized”. Check the labels carefully. That means pre-brined. Adding brine or rub to pre-brined meats will make them salty. Also, they will not take your brine. The point of brining is salt levels will equalize. If the brine has a higher salt content than the meat then the brine will be sucked into the meat, pulling with it the liquids and flavors. So a pre-brined meat already has a higher sodium level making it require either more salt in your brine or you brine will not add to the flavor.

As pointed out, not all ribs are the same. Some have much more meat on them. I picked up a three pack Saturday and two racks were awesome, the third rack was 50% bone. The meat had been ripped off to make the packs weigh the same. Sometimes you never know what is in there until you open it.

Well yesterdays Ribs turned out great and the old man loved them. He couldn’t believe how good they were and that made me feel better because I thought they could of been better.

I did a brine over night with a mixture of apple juice, apple vinegar, salt, pepper, and brown sugar. After the brine I rubbed mustard on them and used different rubs because I had 2 racks of ribs. One rub was this back forty rub I got from fleet farm and the other was a 3 little pigs BBQ rub I found.

I smoked them for 3 hours at 225 and then did the “Texas clutch” for 2 hours at the same temp. Inside the wrap I first put honey on the ribs than easy squeeze butter followed up by brown sugar on top. I also poured some apple juice in as well.

The last hour I brought the temp up a bit and finished them off. My dad liked both the rubs but my girlfriend and I both thought the 3 little pigs rub was the best.

Yesterday was just a great day to spend sometime with my dad because we don’t get to do it very often. So that was much more important than these ribs.

GlennRengo wrote:

KP, trying amazingribs.com as they have a lot of recipes and tricks regardless of the type of smoker that you have or use.

Thanks for the link Glenn. I’ll be reading these pages for a week now. Good stuff.

all great info above.

few things I do differently

I have the bag rolls for my vac master, and vacuum seal them with my rub and a little olive oil over night.

set out a couple hours before starting so they are at ambient temperature before going in smoker.

if your going to juice them (adding sauce), avoid sauces that are not vinager based. vinegar tends to add a bitter taste.

a great alternative to a sweeter taste is rendering in a cherry wine instead of brown sugar