The Black Peppercorn Exploring the joy of food!
There is no food that screams summer to me than a rack of smoked pork ribs. I want them to be coated with rub, smothered in sauce and smoked to perfection. Also, they need to be tender and juicy! Ribs, if cooked improperly, can result in tough meat that has to be ripped off the bone. If cooked the right way, ribs can be tender juicy and fall of the bone delicious! This method, often called 3-2-1, is easy and generally fool proof. It creates ribs that are so tender that you can pull the meat off the bone with your fingers.
3-2-1 Method
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This first stage is the stage where the ribs are smoked for 3 hours. Set the smoker is set for 225F to create a low and slow smoke. Make sure the ribs are generously coated with a good BBQ rub. Here is a recipe for my rub which is great on ribs! 3 hours of smoking is the recommended time for pork spare ribs. If you are smoking back ribs you may want to smoke them for just 2 hours. Any more and you may find it dries the ribs out a bit too much. I have used hickory, apple, cherry, alder and maple woods with this method of smoking ribs. My preference is hickory or apple although the ribs taste wonderful with any of those types of wood. Before I got a smoker I used my gas grill to simulate smoking. It can work somewhat but it does not generate near the level of smoke in the unit. Also sometimes it is difficult to get a gas grill to have a consistently low temperature like 225F. Directions for using a gas grill are below.
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The second stage is where the meat tenderizes. If you like your ribs to be fall off the bone tender then make sure you do this step. Wrap the ribs tightly in foil. This steams the ribs and the result is tender juicy ribs. Just before closing each rack of ribs in the foil, put a little bit of beer or apple juice in with the ribs. This helps the steaming process. Put the ribs, wrapped in foil, back in the smoker for 2 hours at 225F. My smoker can function as an oven and so, for this stage, I turn off the smoking element in my smoker and actually just bake them in the smoker at 225F for the 2 hours. Some people continue to smoke for these 2 hours as well. It is also possible to use an oven for this stage.
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This final stage is when you sauce the ribs. Make sure you use your favourite BBQ sauce and liberally coat the ribs on both sides. Then back in the smoker set for 225F for 1 final hour. Again, it is possible to use an oven for the last hour. Personally, I like to smoke them for the final hour. It creates a wonderfully smokey flavour in the BBQ sauce. The result is tender ribs that have a full on smokey flavour with so much seasoning in the rub and sauce. This 3-2-1 method is easy and guarantees that you will have ribs you will never forget!
Some great BBQ rub recipes
Some of my BBQ sauce recipes
For those interested in what smoker I have, it is a Bradley Electric Smoker with 4 racks. You can see the link to it at the Amazon store to the right. I highly recommend it. It is set-it-and-forget-it easy!
Peel off the membrane on the underside of the rack of ribs. Generously rub the BBQ rub on the the ribs before smoking. Let the rub penetrate in the meat for an hour or as long as you can before smoking it.
Step 1:
Smoke the ribs in a 225F smoker for 3 hours. If you do not have a smoker, there are directions below for simulating a smoker with your gas grill.
Step 2:
Wrap the ribs with foil and continue to cook at 225F for 2 hours.
Step 3:
Sauce the ribs with your favourite BBQ sauce and smoke at 225F for a final hour.
- 2 racks of pork ribs
- 1 cup of Steve’s BBQ rub
- ½ cup beer or apple juice
- 1½ cups BBQ sauce
- Peel the membrane off the back of each rack of ribs. Generously rub the BBQ spice rub all over the ribs.
- These are directions to smoke the ribs in a smoker.Set the smoker to 225F and use your wood of choice (I use hickory and apple most often). Place the ribs in the smoker and smoke for 3 hours if they are spareribs and 2 hours if they are back ribs.
- After the ribs have been in the smoker for 3 hours, take them out and wrap each rack with aluminum foil. Pour a ¼ cup of beer or apple juice with each rack of ribs. Fold over the foil and pinch all the edges to ensure that it is sealed well to allow steaming.
- If your smoker can function as an oven (like Bradley smokers) place the ribs wrapped in foil back in the smoker for another 2 hours. It is also possible to use an oven for this stage. Have it set for 225F and bake them for 2 hours.
- After these 2 hours, remove the ribs carefully from the foil. Generously coat the ribs in your favourite BBQ sauce. Put them back in the smoker set for 225F for 1 final hour. It is also possible to use the oven for this stage.
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these sound soooo good! i love ribs in the summertime + these sound right up my alley. love the 3-2-1 method – such a smart idea!
This post does sound like an easy way to get tender and tasty ribs. I may have to step into my hubby’s world of smoking things and suggest he try your version. It does look like a winner!
These sound amazing! Great step by step guide. I’d love to try these out, we’ll see how I do.
So ready for rib season. Great tips!
Simple straight forward breakdown of how to make great ribs. I must say that I’m jealous of your smoker, though one of these days I will have a backyard with multiple grilling devices for whatever mood I’m in.
Glad to see the Old Speckled in one of the images. cheers!
Great rack! And thanks for explaining the method – I have next to no experience with with barbecuing!
Smokers and Grills are not my methods of cooking… but I wish I could do it after seeing these beautiful ribs. My son loves ribs and asked for them as his birthday dinner last year. He would flip for these.
Looks great. I’m assuming those are spare ribs, not baby backs? I’ve always found that the 3-2-1 method results in ribs that are overcooked to my taste. I like them to have a little pull to them. I’ve modified mine down to a 3-1.5-and then however much longer it needs final stage. But it is a great starting point and seems to work out fine on your smoker by the pics. Thanks for sharing. Good to see more blogs with grilling and smoking. Keep up the good work.
Thanks!! yeah, everyone has different preferences on so many aspects of cooking eh. People can follow the recipe and then tweak as they see fit. You are right, these are spareribs. Like I mentioned in the directions, I think that with baby back ribs it is better to cut out an hour of the cooking. I go 2-2-1. I know others that go 3-1-1. My wife and kids prefer no pull at all. I like a bit.
WOW! I could smell these babies smoking right off the computer screen! My husband would be very, very envious of your smoker so I’m going to have to hide this post of yours. You ribs are amazing and your process shows that you really do love to smoke!
mjskit recently posted..Kabocha Squash and Fennel Soup
Looks awesome, thanks for the recipes, I am going to try it out next weekend. Thanks.
Old Speckled Hen…..mmmmmmm
one for the ribs, and one for the belly. The English make a lovely pint!
Steve, This recipe is AMAZING! I’ve just featured it (and your BBQ Rub and your BBQ Sauce) as the Daily Nosh on the VirtualWineBar.com. I paired it with some Sangria while the Ribs smoke and a bottle of McManis Cabernet Sauvignon at the table. Keep up the wonderful grilling!
Cheers!
VirtualWineBar.com recently posted..Daily Nosh ~ Smoked BBQ Baby Back Ribs
Smokes is still out – there’s time. I never new the trick to getting them ‘fall off the bone’ tender. Thanks.
Katie recently posted..Oriental Barbecued Pork Tenderloin
The bradley is pre-heating, the ribs are soaking up the rub (your recipe). It’s 11:30 am. Havin’ a couple of brews as I go! What a great way to spend a Sunday!
Thanks for your clear and concise instructions!
Can’t wait to lay into these puppies!
I did this recipe a while ago and it was pretty decent. doing another batch right now and hoping i can get them a little more tender. Great recipe and thanks for sharing
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Liam recently posted..Liam
Great recipe Steve, but room for tweaking as you say. My tweak is to salt cure the ribs and omit the rub. Pack ribs in dry salt, kosher preferred, for 45 min to an hour, then rinse salt off completely, pat dry and continue with Steve’s 3-2-1.
Some minor changes: (1) cut the rack into 4 rib section, cure the front 2 large sections one hour and the smaller one’s 45 min. (2) I do the tenderizing in an oven in a covered pan rather than in foil in the smoker. This reduces the salinity somewhat as salty liquid comes out of the meat.
I will give a try….fall off ribs is backyard…but I will certainly try your method…thx for posting..m