What happens when you combine pig candy and barbecued ribs? You get bacon ribs – the tastiest new trend for your summer backyard barbecue party.
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We all know that bacon makes everything better. You’ve probably smoked bacon-wrapped meatballs, bacon-wrapped fatties (sausage) and even bacon-wrapped asparagus. But have you wrapped the luxurious smoked pork belly around ribs? If not, you definitely should.
Ribs are already a pretty sexy BBQ dish. I mean who doesn’t love meat on a stick. When smoked slow and low, they’re juicy, meaty and finger-licking good.
Who knew ribs could get even better
One of the most popular methods for cooking ribs is the 3-2-1 method. After 3 hours of absorbing smoke, you wrap them in foil or butcher paper for 2 hours to lock in the moisture, and then you finish them with sauce for an hour.
Instead of using foil, this method uses a much tastier wrapper – bacon. When you wrap the ribs in bacon, they baste in bacon drippings.
As the bacon cooks, the fat melts into the pork ribs
You can use any type of pork ribs, but I recommend St. Louis Style. They’re trimmed from the spareribs, which is located near the belly of the pig – around the same area where the bacon comes from.
Start by cutting each bone off the rack. To do this, lay the ribs on their sides and look for the bone tips. Place your knife between the bones, and slice through the meat. Sometimes the bones are crooked, so take it slowly to make sure you stay between the bones.
Toss each bone in your favorite rub, and then wrap them with a bacon slice and more rub. There’s no need to secure the bacon with a toothpick. It will stay just fine.
While the 3-2-1 method takes 6 hours, this method only takes 3 because the surface area of the meat is smaller since we’re smoking individual bones.
Start by smoking the bacon ribs for 2 hours at 275F. The internal temp will be around 190F at this point and the bacon will start to become crispy and darker.
But wait there’s more
We can’t stop at just bacon. Oh no. We’ve got to turn this into maple brown sugar bacon. Also lovingly known as candied bacon or pig candy.
After 2 hours on the smoker, make a slurry of maple syrup and hot sauce and baste it onto the bacon ribs. Pat on a generous pile of brown sugar. Smoke for one more hour. If after 45 minutes or so all of the sugar doesn’t dissolve, spritz it with a little water to help it melt.
After you remove them from the grill, and they rest for a few minutes, the bacon will harden like a salty, sweet candy. And depending how much hot sauce you used, you’ll get the treat of a little extra heat.
Once you take a bite and crack through that crunchy coating, you’ll find a perfectly tender, smoky, meaty rib like none other you’ve had before.
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Maple Brown Sugar Bacon Ribs
Ingredients
- 1 slab St. Louis style pork ribs
- 12 slices bacon
- 2 tbsp barbecue rub
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 10 dashes hot sauce, optional
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
Instructions
- Remove the silverskin from the back of the ribs. Cut the slab into single bones.
- Sprinkle the ribs liberally with barbecue rub.
- Wrap each bone with a slice of bacon. Lightly dust with more rub.
- Smoke on a 275F-degree grill with maple wood chunks until the ribs reach an internal temperature of 190F degrees, about 2 hours.
- In a small bowl, combine the maple syrup and hot sauce. Brush onto the ribs. Sprinkle each rib with brown sugar. Continue smoking for 1 hour.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Good recipe but the skin is too tough this way. I followed the recipe exactly. Need a way to thicken the syrup mixture as it doesn’t stay on the ribs better instead of running off the ribs when you brush it and on. I might try this in foil to get that soft skin layer that I’d rather have.
What skin are you referring to?
Can I do this in oven?
Sure. You just won’t have the smokiness.
Ok going to try this with one exception. Going to smoke some latd while the ribs smoke. One the ribs are coated I will cook them for an hour more but then wrap in butcher paper with a light coat of lard wrap and cook for another hour.
I will update with how it turns out
Excellent – I used my Air Fryer, substituted 2 tblsp smoked maple turbanado sugar for the hot sauce, cooked on Air Fry setting in a fry basket set above a drip pan. Cooked 1st hr at 275 degrees, turned ribs over so bacon on bottom cooks, for another 45 minutes, then brushed with maple syrup mixed with 1 tsp maple flavoring and 1 Tblsp smoked turbinado maple sugar, brushed on ribs & air fryed, basting and turning, for another 45 minutes. Fantastic. Thank you Christine!
ONE NOTE: cover the ribs entirely with the bacon or the ribs overcooks & is tough.