BBQ Pork St. Louis Style Spareribs
Next to a grill my second preferred cooking vessel has to be the smoker. There is something magical about a smoker slowly chugging away with wispy streams of smoke coming out of the smokestack and filling up the neighborhood with the wonderful smells of hickory, fruit wood, and slowly cooking meat. I have also noticed the only time my neighbors ever talk to me is when the smoker is chugging away in the driveway.
Today we are going to talk all about BBQ ribs. There are two major cuts of ribs, spare and baby back.
Spare ribs are cut from the belly and breast bone area and are usually 11-13 bones in length. They also contain the skirt and rib tips. Spare ribs are meatier and fattier than baby back ribs.
Baby back ribs (for some reason the annoying Chilis’ baby back ribs song always pops in my head when I hear this even though right now I have loud annoying music blasting in my ears) are cut from the top of the rib cage between the spine and the spare rib and below the loin muscle. The ribs are smaller and tender than spare ribs.
If you take a slab of spare ribs and trim off the breast bone and skirt you will have St. Louis style spare ribs. Make sure to save the scraps that are trimmed off because they work great in baked beans or tossed with a some rub and placed on the smoker for a couple hours as a cook’s snack.
Which rib cut, spare or baby back, makes a better rib for smoking? This is a matter of preference. I love the meatiness and fattiness of a good slab of St. Louis style spare ribs. If you prefer baby back ribs they will cook quicker than a slab of spare ribs so adjust for that.
It would not be a ribs post without the dreaded membrane discussion which is probably one of the most debated subjects in BBQ history only closely followed by brisket fat cap up or down. If you do not know the membrane is on the bone side of the ribs and a thin clear layer. Some people swear by removing it and others swear it causes no harm being there. Those for removal claim it allows for more smoke penetration and those against removal claim it is harmless.
If I have time I will remove it. Removing the membrane is easy and just take a pair of pliers and slowly pull it up. The membrane can be slippery and has caused me to yell a few choice words at a slab before it finally came off.
I like to use a combination of hickory and apple wood for smoking pork. Whatever wood you use always remember wispy barely visible smoke is perfect. If you have nuclear reactor style you could impart a very bitter taste to the meat because the smoke is not getting out of the chamber fast enough.
One final point and that is dry rub only or BBQ sauce. I prefer dry rub ribs with the BBQ sauce on the side and a little rub tossed on them at service. This way guests can add some BBQ sauce if they would like. Only apply sauce to the ribs about 30 minutes before you pull the ribs off the smoker so the sugars in the sauce do not burn.
For this recipe you will need:
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup papriaka (I used a Hungarian)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon pure ground chili (I used a mixture of ancho, guajillo, and chipotle peppers).
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- Cayenne pepper to taste (mix everything first and then add in the cayenne if needed)
- Yellow mustard
Combine all the dry ingredients and shake well to combine. Apply to the ribs a thin layer of mustard and then shake the rub all over the ribs.
Place the ribs on a 200-225 degree smoker and let them slow cook till they are done. With smoking there are general guidelines of how long an item will take however, these are not hard set in stone rules. For example, these ribs only took about five hours to finish where I have ribs that took over six hours to finish. The way I check to see if they are done is take a toothpick and stick it in the ribs. If the toothpick moves through with no resistance they are done.
Serve and enjoy!
did you get a bark on these bad boys or what - holy smokes thats a nice crust and that little pink stripe….I like my sauce on the side - why spoil such nice meat…..
dude. Paper towel vs membrane! try it! Instead of pliers just grab it with a papertowel.
Jeff, your pics are getting better and better. Makes me really want to invest in a DSLR. I’m dying for some good BBQ right about now!
My favorite! Unfortunately, never made my own. Yours look so delicious!
This looks great, but I’m going to have to hide it from my husband. Every time he sees ribs - in any context - he gets this Rib Craving and demands ribs every weekend. I like saucy ribs myself, but that’s because that’s the way we always had saucy ribs growing up and making an unholy mess was half the fun. If I didn’t have that memory I’d probably prefer the sauce on the side
This is awesome, I love spare ribs a lot but dont get to do much of baby rack. BBQ looks awesome good too!
Mmm. The rub sounds soooo good. Love these ribs Jeff!
My husband love his smoker and I love when he cooks on it cause that means all I have to worry about is sides! Your method is almost identical to ours, right down to the rub. My lunch salad is not so appetizing anymore, lol.
Great post. I think I’ll have to pick up some ribs now!
Our local grocery store was running a special this week. Buy 1 rack get 2 free. Needless to say we have several racks of ribs in our freezer right now. I better dust off my smoker.
Always good to add another pork lover to my favorites list.
Those look awesome, food and photo-wise. That crust has me envious, what with my faux-smoker (grill+chips lol). brb coming to Indiana
These sound like fun! I can only imagine how yummy they are!
Too funny….I’ve asked for a smoker for a Mother’s Day present. Let’s see what happens! I do a dry rub and then cook them on the high warming shelf on the grill for about 4 hours or so, with a pan of water inside to circulate a little moisture. I then baste with a little bbq sauce and flip every 1/2 hour. Because it’s high up, the sauce never burns, but seeps in nicely! I’m pretty sure I’m the only woman in town who “mans” the grill..LOL!
Those look fantastic. I’m for a dry rub, no sauce.
Those are some serious looking ribs. And for my taste, I much prefer the dry rub!
I get that annoying song in my head too. I love ribs, but I have never made them on the grill myself. Looks so good, and reminds me of summer!
I have the feeling that I could talk to you about ribs/grilling and smoking all day. Over a plate of ribs of course
yummm. droool. nick and i LOVE ribs. these look so good
WOW those sound so good!!! I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ribs!!!!
Lovely ribs!!! A perfect one for a romantic dinner, ya?
That is exactly how I like my ribs, nice and dry like that. With beer, of course.
I will have to get my husband a smoker one day.
This rub sounds fantastic.. It looks even better. I have to get my husband to use the smoker more often. Gorgeous photos. I am wanting ribs like now.
I’m so glad you posted this. My two sons had ribs for the first time at a friend’s house and now they want me to make them at home!
Hopefully I can attempt to make these one day!
Thanks for posting and the rub looks fantastic!
I used to have ribs a lot when I was growing up - my parents would BBQ chicken and ribs. I wish I had a grill - I have a nice balcony at my apartment but sadly we’re not allowed grills!
Holy smokes! this looks freaking good…I so wish I had a smoker and grill! I’ll bet all your neighbors are jealous and salivating over the glorious smell!
just curios…but do you prefer dry or wet rub?
i want my…baby back baby back baby back. .. yep, i blame you for that little ditty being stuck in my head now.
thanks for the ribs 101 tutorial–they look amazing.
Those look sooooooo good. I envy people who can do this kind of thing in the comfort of their own homes. (Insert my standard whine here about living in an apartment and not having a yard and being barred from grilling on the balcony by the condo board yadayadayadayda…)
So when can I come over?
I could definitely go for some of these tonight. Mind busting out that smoker in my driveway? Your neighbors sound like mine. They only talk when there is food involved or the fire departments goes to a neighbors house. You did a beautiful job on these ribs, Jeff. Chilis has nothing on you. You might want to come up with a catchy theme song for your next smoking session. The neighbors will love it
Thanks for the awesome rib education - these look mouth-wateringly good!
I could eat those. They looks so good. Better than in a restaurant.
Hey can I come over? Do you have leftovers!? I already ate dinner and now I am hungry again dangit!
BTW…you have a magical smoker??
This is why I bought a smoker! Now if only the weather would cooperate so I could actually use it.
I can see the smoke ring…a fine example of real barbecue….kudos.
I needed that rib education. You ‘da man w/ these ribs. They look awesome.
It’s nice to see someone other than a bbq guy do ribs right. Smoked is so much better than the steamed/baked ribs!
Yum, those look delicious. I think having a smoker must be the second best way to attract other people. A cute comes first.
I didn’t know the with/without membrane was such a heavily debated topic Anyways, DivaQBBQ showed me how remove the membrane by just slipping a finger under it and pulling it off.
Okay, now I’m craving ribs!
Have you ever read the book Peace, Love & Barbecue by champion barbecuer Mike Mills? You would love it