Individually Smoked Pork Ribs

To me, the two things that make barbecue taste so good are the amazing crust that forms after a slow and low cook and the super tender meat that’s encased by that bark.

These individually smoked pork ribs offer the best of those two worlds with every single bone.

• St Louis Style Pork Ribs: Be sure to look for the St. Louis Style ribs. They’re cut from the spare ribs, so they may say spare on the package like these do. Full spare ribs are a lot larger. And baby back ribs are quite a bit smaller. If you use either of those cuts of pork ribs, you’ll need to adjust your cook time.
• Pork Rub: You’ll need 1.4 cup for every rack of ribs.
• Water: To keep the ribs moist, you’ll spray them throughout the cook. I like using water, but you can also use juice, beer or even wine.
• BBQ Sauce: The sauce is optional. If you like dry-rubbed ribs, skip it. But if you like your ribs to have a little shine and gloss, hit ’em with your favorite sauce right at the end.

Substitutions: I like using my pork rub as a base for all of my pork ribs recipes. Then, if I'm looking for variety, I add a tablespoon of an accent rub like Spiceology Taco Seasoning or Maui Wowee seasoning. 

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• Slicing Knife: My favorite knife for butchering meat and slicing through the ribs is my Cutco Butcher Knife. You can also use a chef’s knife or other large straight-edge knife.
• Cutting Board: Be sure to use a cutting board that is large enough for a full slab of ribs. The one pictured is the OXO Good Grips Cutting Board that is 21 inches long.
• Tongs
• Spray Bottle: You’re going to use the spray bottle throughout the cook to keep the ribs moist.
• Meat Thermometer: My favorite meat thermometer is the Thermapen One. It will give you an accurate read out in one second.
• Sauce Bowl: A simple metal bowl will do the trick. You just need something to hold the sauce.
• Basting Brush: I use the Thermoworks High-Temp Silicone Brush. It comes in 10 fun colors.
• Gas Grill Equipment: Gas Grill, Propane or Natural Gas, Foil, Cowboy Charcoal Apple Smoking Wood Chips
• Charcoal Grill Equipment: Charcoal Grill, Cowboy Charcoal Applewood Briquets, Charcoal Chimney, Lighter, Firestarter
• Pellet Grill Equipment: Pellet Grill, Cowboy Charcoal and Hickory or Apple Barbeque Pellets
• Ninja Foodi Grill Equipment: Ninja Foodi Grill with Grill Grate and Air Fryer Basket Installed

Pre-Slicing Ribs Before Smoking

The first step to prepping ribs – whether you leave them whole or smoke them individually – is to remove the silverskin on the back. This will help ensure you have a tender bite.

It can be a little tricky. Use a paper towel to get a grip on the silverskin, and then rip it off. If you’re lucky, you can pull it with one try. But some ribs come off in strips, and that’s just how it goes.

Place the ribs on the cutting board and using that large straight-edge knife, slice along the meat right in the middle of two bones. Continue working your way down the rack.

You will have one end with some skinnier bones and smaller pieces. My family loves that end. They actually fight over those ribs.

Let the meat rest while you get your grill setup.

How to Keep the Ribs Moist

As the ribs are cooking, it’s very important to spritz them with liquid every 20-30 minutes. This is going to help the meat retain its natural juiciness.

You can spritz with juice, ciders or beer, but honestly water works great, too.

Throughout the cook, open the lid and look at the ribs. If they appear a little dry, give them a really good spritz. It’s okay if the water puddles a bit on top. The ribs will soak it right up.

The other key to juicy ribs is cooking them at the right temperature and to the right temperature.

When developing this recipe, I cooked some individually smoked pork ribs at a grill temp of 225F degrees, and I found that they dried out a bit too much. Cooking them between 250-275F degrees was the sweet spot.

You’ll know they’re ready when the internal temperature of the meat reaches between 200-208F degrees.

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Once the wood chips start to smoke and the grill reaches 250-275F degrees, add the ribs over the part of the grill where the burners are turned off. Place the thicker pieces closer to the burner that’s on, since they’ll take longer to cook.

Cook them for 3 to 3 1/2 hours to an internal temperature of 200F degrees, spritzing with liquid every 20-30 minutes.

Once they reach the goal temp, brush them with sauce and let them smoke for 5-10 more minutes.

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For a ceramic cooker, that means adding the charcoal, lighting it, letting it ash over and then adding the deflector followed by the grill grate.

For charcoal grills without a deflector, fill a charcoal chimney with Cowboy Hardwood Hickory or Apple Briquets, add a firestarter under the chimney, and light it up. Once the coals ash over, dump them into one side of the grill, leaving an area of the grill without coals.

Adjust the vents, until the grill temp reaches 250-275F degrees. If your grill doesn’t have a built in thermometer, use a device like the Thermoworks Square DOT to measure your grill temp.

Place the thicker bones closer to the coals. Then, let the ribs smoke for 3-3 1/2 hours, spritzing regularly, until they reach an internal temperature of 200F degrees.

Brush them with sauce and let them continue cooking for 5-10 minutes.

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Once your grill temp is steady, add the seasoned ribs to the smoker. Every pellet grill has hotter spots, usually that’s right over where the fire pot is. Add the thicker ribs to this area of the grill and place the littler ones further from the fire pot.

Spritz the ribs throughout the cook. In about 2 1/2 hours, they should reach an internal temperature of 200F degrees. At this point, brush them with sauce and cook for 5-10 more minutes.

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Once the grill is pre-heated, add the ribs. You can fit 8-10 at a time. Close the lid and cook for 1 1/2 hours, spritzing occasionally with liquid.

Once the ribs reach an internal temperature of 200F degrees, baste them with BBQ sauce and cook for another 5 minutes.

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