Smoked Pork Ribs

Easy to follow directions for Smoked Pork Ribs using a Traeger or other style pellet grill. St. Louis style pork spareribs come out tender and juicy when cooked low and slow with a homemade sweet and spicy dry rub and smothered with your favorite BBQ sauce.

 

Why these are the BEST Smoked Pork Ribs:

• The Rub: We are using a slightly sweet rub that pairs perfectly with the pork itself, letting the flavor of the smoke and meat shine in this recipe.
• Quick and easy: this is a great beginner smoker recipe since it is basically fool proof. The hardest part is pulling the ribs off at the right time to ensure they hold to the bone just enough. But all the information you need to know the right time is included below!
• Spritzing: thanks to spritzing the ribs during the cooking process we are keeping the meat tender and juicy throughout the cooking process.

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Pork Ribs: This recipe is for a St. Louis cut spare rib. This is the trimmed version of spare ribs, the excess meat has been removed leaving you with a nice wide piece of meat that cooks nice and evenly.
• Mustard: this is used to help the rub stick to the meat. You won’t taste the mustard, I promise you. Other options would be to rub canola or vegetable oil over the meat before adding the rub.
• Vinegar: this is used to spritz the ribs to help maintain moisture and build on the bark during the smoking process. Instead of vinegar you could substitute apple cider, or apple juice, just dilute with water and add to a spray bottle.
• Sweet Rub: I love using my homemade Texas Sweet Rub, but you can use any rub you prefer.
• Wood Chips: some classic options for pork include: hickory and oak. Mix in a sweet wood also with apple, pecan, cherry or maple for more flavoring.

How to Smoke Ribs (Step-By-Step)

Preheat Smoker/Grill

Follow the instructions for your particular grill or smoker to preheat to 225℉.

Prepare the Ribs

1. Trim the meat if needed, typically it comes trimmed. 
2. Remove the membrane from the back, simply peel up a corner with your fingers (the skin with a silver shine to it) and using your hands, peel the layer of membrane off the bones. 
3. Place the meat on a large baking sheet, meat side facing up. Brush the mustard over the meat. Then flip the ribs and brush mustard on the back side of the ribs also. 
4. Season: Evenly sprinkle the sweet rub over the back of the ribs, then carefully flip and do the same to the top of the ribs. Press the rub into the mustard to help ensure the rub stays on the meat. 

Smoke the Ribs

1. Smoke: Place the ribs on the grill so that the meat part is facing up, the bones are on the bottom. Smoke at 225℉ for 2 hours undisturbed.
2. Spritz: after 2 hours, spray the ribs with the apple cider vinegar (or diluted apple juice) every 30 minutes for the next hour.
3. Slather: Flip the ribs, so the meat side is down and bone side is up, spritz the ribs, then brush the BBQ sauce on the ribs, close the smoker and let this cook for 15 minutes. Then flip the ribs so that the meat side is up, spritz the ribs again and brush the remaining sauce on the top of the ribs, close the smoker and let this cook another 15 minutes.

Wrap & Rest

1. Wrap: Remove the ribs from the smoker and wrap tightly in aluminum foil. More information on how to do this is included below in the recipe card.
2. Continue Cooking: Place the ribs back on the smoker (or in an oven at 225℉, at this point we have the smoke flavor, we’re just braising the meat). Continue to cook the ribs at 225℉ for another 2 hours. 
3. Set Sauce: Remove the ribs from the foil and place the ribs back on the grill. Smoke for an additional 30-45 minutes until the ribs are done. (careful opening the foil, there will be a lot of liquid in there. Carefully remove the foil packets to a large baking sheet and open and remove the ribs there, this helps contain the liquid that will spill out).
4. Rest: once done cooking, test for done-ness (information below), remove the ribs from the smoker and place on a clean baking tray. Cover tightly with foil and let the ribs rest for at least 30 minutes before serving. 

Pro Tips

• Don’t open the lid: For the first two hours of smoke time keep the lid closed. This is the time that the meat will pick up all that smoked flavoring so we want to keep the lid closed so that process is undisturbed.
• Cut the ribs upside down: When getting ready to serve and it’s time to slice the ribs apart, flip them over so that you can easily see the bones. Make your cut in the middle of the meat between the bones giving each slice an equal amount of meat.
• 3-2-1: you may have heard of 3-2-1 Ribs, and this just refers to a simplified way to smoke ribs. 3 hours smoking, 2 hours wrapped, 1 hour unwrapped with sauce. As a beginner this is such an easy way to remember what you’re doing when smoking, especially if this is your first “longer” cook! You can absolutely adjust this recipe to do the same. I much prefer getting some sauce on the ribs while they cook wrapped.

How to Tell When Ribs are Done Cooking

• Cook To Temperature: always cook your meats to temperature. If you stick to the times, you may overcook your meat or undercook it. Each cut of meat is slightly different , with a different thickness. So you need to ensure you are checking the internal temperature of your meat during cooking.
• Meat will be pulled up, exposing the bones on the end of the ribs. 
• When you pick up the entire rack of ribs, one hand on each end, you will notice the meat start to crack in the center of the rack. 
• If you grab a bone and twist it will start to pull away from the meat. 
• Overcooked ribs will have bones falling out of the meat. We want the meat to still cling to the bone. 

What to serve with Smoked Ribs

There’s so many great classic BBQ side dishes. Some of our favorites to serve with these pork ribs are Texas BBQ Style Potato Salad, creamy Southern Coleslaw, and Mexican Grilled Corn (Elotes).

Temperature Guide

Smoke Pork Ribs at 225 degrees F until the ribs reach an internal temperature of 203 degrees F.

More Texas BBQ Recipes:

• Looking for something bigger? Try this Texas Smoked Pulled Pork.
• If you want a lighter meal, this Smoked Turkey Breast is perfect!
• This German Potato Salad is a great side dish option for these ribs.
• Or if you prefer a classic, thisTexas Style Potato Salad is creamy and flavorful.
• Step up your skills as a backyard Pitmaster with this Texas Style Brisket Recipe.

Photography done by @KJandCompany.co

Recipe first published March 19, 2021 updated February 15, 2023. Recipe is unchanged.