Joined:
Mar 2026
Posts:
271
EE: 100% (1)
OH, USA
Posted: 5/24/2026 1:14:20 AM EDT
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Store had St. Louis Ribs on sale for $2.50/LB. $11 for a whole rack of already spares already squared away into St Louis ribs is a solid deal so I had to get a rack for dinner. Smoked the ribs on a 22” Weber Kettle. Get the smoker going… I used a Smoke’n’Sizzle with Meat Church lump charcoal and hickory smoking chips. Set vents to achieve 250F grate temperature, and go prep the meat while temps stabilize for 20-30 min. Personally, I use a Venom temp controller because it’s drop dead simple and installs with zero permanent kettle modification. Trim off the skirt and the thin flappy end to square up the rack. These make yummy snacks later. Then remove the membrane completely or just crosshatch it and score it with your knife … after dozens of racks of ribs, it really doesn’t matter either way which you do.  For a binder on pork ribs (and pork shoulders), I like to use 50:50 yellow mustard and a classic Louisiana style hot sauce. I used Crystal here.  Use your favorite gucci rub if you want. I’d rather not spend a bunch of money keeping 87 rubs in the pantry and want to keep it light so I can really taste the meat and smoke. My go to is SPG in the classic BBQ ratio (2pt coarse pepper, 1pt kosher salt, 0.5pt garlic) … then I also added a teaspoon of red cayenne powder too. Flip over and apply binder and rub to topside too.   Now prepping the meat probably took less than 10 minutes and the pit still needs ~15 more minutes to stabilize. So to kill time get a work mug and add a slice of orange, a couple cherries, teaspoon of brown sugar (or simple syrup) and a few dashes of orange bitters. Muddle that together before tossing in a large chunk of ice and a double-pour of bourbon. Yes, I use Dixie cups to make my ice … Dixie cups make a satisfying shape, aren't pretentious, and after removing ice the disposable 3oz Dixie cup is perfect for measuring a double.  Ok, once the pit is ready, toss those ribs and snacks on the pit. My Smoke’n’Sizzle has a built in tray under the meat to catch drips and hold water in the cook chamber … so I also added 1QT of hot water. Close the lid and go do something else for ~3 hours. Make more drinks. Mow the lawn. Shitpost.  Look at this BBQ pit temp stability. Nice. Also look at the lid-top temp gauge… it’s always like 60-150F higher than actual cooking temp. This is exactly why your pit (whatever it is) needs a temp probe AT THE GRATE. Lid thermometers are dumb and never to be trusted because heat rises.   Near the 3 hour mark, I got some foil (butcher paper works too) and sprinkled on some brown sugar, Lawry’s salt, maple syrup, about 2/3 stick of butter, and squirted on some of my BBQ sauce. Other good additions could be your BBQ rub, honey, and smoked tallow or lard.  Open the pit. Lookin good. Put the snacks directly over the coals to get some direct heat. Lay the ribs on the foil meat side down and wrap up the ribs tightly. Put the ribs back on the smoker and take the snacks off. Close the lid and resume smoking. I ate the snacks and made another drink.    Now you want to let them go wrapped like this in the pit until about 190F +/- 3F. This will usually take about 1.5-2 hours for spares and St Louis ribs. Seriously, look at this stability… it’s drizzling and windy out and the Venom is keeping it rock solid while I was literally taking a nap.  So starting around the 90min mark I poke my thermapen probe right through the foil to start check for 190F. These ribs took about the full 2 hours to hit 191F. When they hit the target wrapped temp, open them up and you should see some pull back from the bones on the meat. It should probe almost perfectly tender between all the bones.  It’s looking good so I’ll mop some sauce on the bottom and then flip them over and mop on some sauce on top too to tack up for the next 30-60 minutes.  I start checking them after ~30min and when it hits 200-203F I’ll slide them over to the flame side and close the lid for a few minutes of direct heat to put a bit of char on the bottom side. Then it’s time to move them to the cutting board and rest for 5-10min.  Perfect bite: Clean pretty and saucy top with a bit of char flavor from the bottom. Ultra tender meat that bites comes clean off the bone without falling off the bone. *chefskiss* 
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Did some the other weekend. Snake method. Turned out great. Attached File Attached File |