Three Ways to Cook Ribs

As a competitive barbecuer, I tested three ways to cook ribs to find out which method yielded the best results. See what I discovered.

You can use the 3-2-1 method, smoke hot and fast or hang your ribs in a drum cooker. For this test, I was looking for good bark and tender meat. Here’s what I discovered.

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How to Smoke Ribs Using the 3-2-1 Method

3-2-1 is a catchy way to remember how much time each step of the process takes.

With this method, you smoke the ribs at a low temperature around 225-250F degrees for 3 hours unwrapped, 2 hours wrapped and 1 hour unwrapped.

During the first 3 hours, the ribs cook low and slow and develop their mahogany color. This is the stage when the smoke starts to penetrate the meat, often creating a smoke ring.

After 3 hours, it’s time to wrap the ribs tightly in foil. This stage allows you to lock in moisture, and even add more in the form of juice, water or beer. This is where the tenderness is going to develop.

After two hours of tenderizing, you’ll need to get some pretty color back. When the ribs are in the pouch, the steam tends to dissolve some of the bark that you developed in the first 3 hours. To get it back, sauce your ribs and lay them back on the grate unwrapped for another hour.

You’ll know they’re ready when they are flexible when you go to pick them up. They should have a gentle bend or arch.

Recipe for the 3-2-1 Method

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How to Smoke Ribs Using the Hot and Fast Method

You may have heard the expression “hot and fast.” Some pitmasters swear by it and others consider it sacrilegious because they think barbecue should be slow and low. In my opinion, barbecue is not about the rules; it’s about the results.

I like to cook ribs hot and fast. Instead of taking 6 hours, like the 3-2-1 method, these ribs are ready in about 3 hours.

The method is actually the same, in that you cook unwrapped, wrapped and unwrapped again, but because you increase the grill temp to 300F, instead of smoking at 225F, the process is a lot quicker.

During the first phase, you’ll smoke the ribs for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Then, you’ll wrap them like you did before, using more liquid for more tenderness and less for a competition bite.

After about an hour, you’ll finish them with sauce to get that beautiful color back. It’ll only take 10-15 minutes for the sauce to set.

Recipe for the Hot and Fast Method

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How to Smoke Ribs by Hanging Them

With the first two results, you can use just about any type of grill or smoker. With the hanging method, you will need a drum smoker or vertical cooker.

What makes this method different is that you hang the ribs; instead of lying them flat on the grill grate. They cook vertically over the charcoal, and the air circulates like a vortex around the ribs – kind of like rotisserie.

For competitions, you’ll hang the ribs for 90 minutes, then wrap them for another hour or so in braising liquid.

If you’re just serving the ribs in your backyard, there is no wrapping or unwrapping needed. You just insert the hooks and let them hang. Two racks of ribs will take about 2 1/2 hours. For every rack of ribs you add, increase the cook time by about 30 minutes.

You’ll know they’re almost done when the meat pulls back to show about 1/2 inch of the bones. At this point, brush them with sauce and hang them again for about 30 minutes.

One thing to watch for when using this method is the placement of the hooks. In competitions, appearance is important. The area where the hook is pierced will leave a small spot on the meat.

Usually, when preparing competition ribs, cooks trim off the ribs on both ends to square up the slab. When I hang my ribs, I leave these small bones because it allows the hook to be placed further from the center ribs – the best ones for turn in.

Recipe for the Hanging Ribs Method

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Conclusion

All three of these methods work great in competitions and have delivered winning results. I tend to use the hot and fast or hanging methods most often, because I cook on drum smokers at 275-325F degrees.

If you prefer the low and slow process, stick with the 3-2-1 method. But most importantly master the tenderness.

Struggling with tenderness scores on competition ribs? Try this!