BBQ spare ribs are by far the most popular thing I cook on a grill. I never tire of seeing folks getting every shred of meat off the bone and licking their fingers clean of all traces of sauce.
And who can blame 'em? When smoked to tender perfection with a just-right rub or barbecue sauce - maaaan, the juicy, well-marbled meat of BBQ spare ribs is incredible. It just doesn't get any better than that.
I'll level with you, though. I'm still learning and trying new things when it comes to preparing spare ribs. Naturally, some experiments work while others don't. Still, there are a few tried and true methods for making ribs that will never steer you wrong. For me, it's the 3-2-1 method.
It's a very simple formula for preparing spare ribs that we've discussed here before. You cook your ribs:
- 3 hours on the grill
- 2 hours wrapped in foil (in the oven or on the grill)
- 1 hour back on the grill (not wrapped in foil)
Of course, this is not the only way to make great ribs. In fact, I only started using this method a few years ago. I used to smoke my ribs for about 6 hours or so on the smoker, spraying them with an apple cider/vegetable oil blend every 45 minutes during the last 4 hours. If need be, I'd sauce them right before serving.
If I should ever be able to afford a smoker that can hold enough ribs and meat so that I don't have to prepare them in shifts, then I'll go back to using the aforementioned technique. It's more convenient than the 3-2-1 method and yields ribs that are just as good, at least in my opinion.
However, if you find yourself having to prepare a large quantity of ribs - more than you can cook at once - then the 3-2-1 method is ideal. It frees-up your grill for 2 hours at a time to prepare other meats or foods. Plus, foiling your ribs (aka the "Texas Crutch") virtually guarantees they'll be moist and tender.
Here's my recipe for Smoked BBQ Spare Ribs.
Smoked BBQ Spare Ribs Recipe
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 6 hours
Total Time: 7 hours
What You'll Need:
- 1 slab of pork spare ribs
- BBQ rub (recipe below)
- 1/2 cup of cooking oil or mustard
- Apple wood chunks
- Hickory wood chunks
- Charcoal
- Barbecue thermometer
- BBQ sauce (optional)
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons granulated white sugar
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Combine ingredients for BBQ rub in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
Clean your ribs and remove the fell or membrane on the bone side of the ribs (see my cooking pork ribs page for instructions). Rub ribs with cooking oil or mustard and apply a generous, even coat of the BBQ rub on both sides.
Cover your ribs and allow them to come close to room temperature.
Next, get your charcoal started and set-up your grill. You will be cooking with low, indirect heat. If you have a dedicated smoker, this will be a breeze. If not, you need to set-up your grill for the "Zone Method". That means putting your charcoal on one side of your grill and putting your ribs on the side without coals.
If you're not using a dedicated smoker, it's also a good idea to put a drip pan filled with hot water below the ribs. This serves 2 purposes: 1) it catches the drippings from the rendering fat as the ribs smoke, which prevents any possible flare-ups. 2) It creates moist heat, like a meat sauna, which will help tenderize your ribs and prevent them from drying out.
You want your grill to get to 225F - 240F (you'll need a barbecue thermometer for this). Once you've reached that temperature, place a chunk of hickory and a chunk of apple wood directly on the coals. Put your ribs on the grill or in your smoker and close the top.
You will need to add 2 wood chunks approximately every 30 minutes and about 12 charcoal briquettes every 45 minutes. You control the temperature inside your grill/smoker by adjusting the intake dampers at the bottom. Leave the damper on your smoker's chimney or in the hood of your grill completely open to allow air flow.
After 3 hours, you're halfway to BBQ spare ribs heaven! Take your ribs and wrap them in two layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Be careful not to puncture the foil with any pointy edges of bone or meat. If you like, you can put about 1/4 cup of apple juice at the bottom of the foil. This, however, is optional.
You should now cook the ribs for another 2 hours at 225F. If you can maintain this temperature on your grill, great. If not, put the ribs in the oven at this temperature.
After two hours have passed, remove your ribs from the foil and put them back on the grill for 45 minutes to an hour. If you want, you can sauce them in the last 15-20 minutes, but DO NOT leave them unattended. You've just spent hours making these heavenly BBQ spare ribs - you don't want to accidently burn them.
Once your ribs are done, take them off the grill and let them rest for 10 minutes. This allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat so that it will be even juicier. After that, slice and enjoy!
If you have any questions or comments about this recipe for BBQ spare ribs or anything else on my site, please leave a comment below. Thanks!
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