Do you love incredibly tender pork ribs? If you do, then you’re about to get really excited! Smoking ribs will give you the most flavourful, tender and delicious ribs ever!

It doesn’t matter which way to choose, all barbecue pork ribs are done in a smoker (check last week’s post on this). If you don’t have a smoker, it’s not a problem. You can use a gas grill, a charcoal grill, or the oven. Now, for the smoker, you need to make sure you have enough fuel for this is a long cooking process. You also need a meat thermometer, aluminum foil (if you are choosing to wrap your ribs), a rib rub, and some barbecue sauce, again if you plan to use sauce on your ribs. A few hours before cooking, make sure to prep the smoker to hold a temperature around 225 F (110 C).

Make sure you buy a rack that is even in thickness to cook evenly. Trim the ribs (or ask us to do it for you), including removing the membrane. Next apply a delicious rub (your choice of sweet, spicy, or savoury), which will give your ribs a lot of flavour while cooking. By applying the rub closer to cooking time, you will get all the flavour without the texture of the meat being altered by the spices. Make sure you apply a thick enough layer to heavily coat the meat.

Next, place your ribs in the smoker. It is important to keep an even airflow all around the ribs; this is the reason why you should place them in the centre of the smoker. If you prefer to wrap your ribs in aluminum foil, you may want to consider the method most people use: the 3-2-1 method. Simply put, this means your ribs are in the smoker, unwrapped for 3 hours, they airtightly wrapped for 2 hours, and then unwrapped again for another hour. Just keep in mind that this method usually leaves the ribs very tender, to the point of being called fall-off-the-bone ribs. If you prefer the meat to stick to the bone, then we suggest you skip the wrapping step.

Finally, how do you want to serve your ribs? If tender, then they’re basically ready to be served. If crispy on the surface, take the ribs out from the smoker and place them over a high, direct heat for about 2 minutes. Avoid putting sauce if you want them crispy. Apply the sauce after. Let them rest before you carve them. Once rested, cut & serve.