Smoked Pork Ribs

Ingredients

• St. Louis Cut or Baby Back Ribs
• Vegetable Oil (exclude if the ribs are sweating).

NOTE-WE VARY SEASONINGS WITH EVERY CLASS. CLASS STUDENTS USE THE SEASONING & SAUCE COMBOS FROM THE CLASS.

• Smoking Guns Hot
• Meat Church Honey Hog
• Cimarron Doc’s Sweet Rib Rub
• Blues Hog Original BBQ Sauce
• Blues Hog Tennessee Red BBQ Sauce
• Apple juice
• Brown Sugar
• Honey or Agave
• Parkay Liquid Margarine

Directions

Cooking temperature 250 to 275.

Approximate cooking time: 4 to 5 hours for St. Louis, 3 to 3.5 hours for Baby Backs

Start the ribs one to two hours before you expect to serve

Preparation

Remove the membrane from the backside of the slab.

This is best accomplished by taking a knife and just slide it under the membrane to lift a piece that can be grab by your fingers.  Use a paper towel to hold onto the membrane.

Remove any excess fat from the front and back.

(Remove the riblet if you have spare ribs.)

Rub vegetable oil on the entire slab (this helps to “glue” your rub to the meat).

Apply a light coat of the a medium layers of Smoking Guns Hot followed by Meat Church Honey Hog a 3rd layer of Cimarron Doc Sweet Rib Rub

Cooking

1. Start your fire and stabilize the temperature at 250 to 275.
2. Add a few chunks of hickory, oak or apple to the charcoal (no soft woods!). On a gas grill Hickory pellets or chips (read this article for gas grilling). You can use smoke generators such as GrillKickers, BBQr’s Pellet Pot and Amazing Pellet Tube.
3. Wait for the wood to catch fire (see our article on “Good Smoke Bad Smoke”).
4. Place the ribs in the cooker right from the fridge or cooler with the bone side down.
5. Close the lid and leave it closed.
6. Smoking of the ribs will take place in the very early stages of cooking.
7. At 2 hours, remove the ribs or when you get a nice mahogany color, place on two sheets of heavy duty foil, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of apple juice, a coat of Parkay and 2 tablespoons of honey or agave on top. Note: at this point you have the option to put them in the oven to finish cooking if you want to save propane or charcoal.
8. Wrap the ribs in the foil and put back on the cooker.
9. At 3.5 hours (for St. Louis, 2.5 hrs. for Baby Backs), check the thinner racks of ribs for tenderness (each will cook at a different rate). If there’s “pull back” from the bone and check the temperature in the middle of the rib.  St. Louis cut will be done around 206 to 208 degrees (also bend into a sideways “L” when picked up with tongs). remove the ribs, open the foil and apply a 50/50 coat of Blues Hog Original BBQ Sauce and Tennessee Red to the topside and place back on the smoker uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes to set the sauce. After the sauce is set you have a choice to slice them up and serve or  close up the foil and place the ribs in a cooler to keep warm.
10. Fill the air space in the cooler with newspaper so the ribs retain heat.
11. If you are cooking multiple ribs (and cooking at different rates) keep taking ribs off as they are done and place in the cooler.
12. Sitting in the cooler will make the ribs nice and tender and will return juices to the meat.
13. The ribs will stay hot for a long time while in the cooler.

That’s it! Have a feast!

Lard have mercy!