Take Ribs Out of Packaging, Pat Dry with a Paper Towel
This recipe used Baby back ribs.
If you bought spare ribs and want to know how to trim, follow this guide.
If you don’t like the membrane, remove it OR just score it with a knife OR leave it on.
Super Simple Rib Rub
Apply to the front and back of the ribs:
- 1/2 Tablespoon Morton kosher salt
- 1/2 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
- 3/4 tsp freshly cracked black peppercorns
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
Get Your Weber Kettle to 225-250F
I used the Slow N’ Sear but if you don’t have one:
- Learn how to do the Minion method by reading this article.
- Learn how to do the Snake method by reading this article.
Add your favorite hardwood – I used Cherry and Pecan.
Add new wood every 45-60 minutes.
Scrunch Up Your Ribs When You Put them on the Smoker
This puts more meat on top of the bones, rather than the sides.
Simply push the sides of the ribs inwards:
If you’re someone who likes to probe the meat – the raised edges also make it easier to probe the meat, rather than probing a bone.
Wait for the Bark to Be Dark and Internal Temperature Above 170F
This is after 4 hours of smoking – we have a dark bark and they’re 176F internal.
Wrap to Speed Up the Cook Time
At a minimum, spritz the foil with some warm water.
If you like to wrap with liquids you can add:
- 1-2 tbsp Barbecue sauce
- 3-4 pats of Butter or margarine
- 1-2 tbsp White or dark brown sugar
- 1-2 tbsp Agave nectar
- 1-2 tbsp Maple syrup or honey
- 1/4 cup Apple juice or apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup Beer
- 1-2 tbsp dry rub
It’s up to you – personally I don’t like ribs this way and just use water or ACV.
Return Ribs to Smoker Wrapped
They will take 30-45 minutes wrapped @ 250F to reach tenderness.
Testing to See If Your Ribs are Done
I don’t like fall-off-the-bone ribs, If you’re like me follow these tests:
Take the ribs with a pair of tongs at about the 5th rib and allow them to bend.
When they’re done they’ll bend at a 45 degree angle.
I also tear near a bone.
If the bone pulls cleanly away from the meat, they’re likely done.
You can also probe between the bones and it slide in and out with no resistance.
These ribs were tender at 202F, typically they’ll finish at around 195-205F.
If you like fall off the bone ribs, cook them longer – internal temperature of 210F+ is around where they should be.
Rest the Ribs for 10-15 Minutes and Then Sauce
I prefer my ribs wet.
If you like the sauce tacky, return the sauced ribs back to the smoker for 10-15 minutes until they’re glazed on.
Once rested, slice between the bones and enjoy!
Smoked Pork Ribs on the Weber Kettle
Ingredients
- 1 rack Baby Back Ribs
Dry Rub
- 1/2 Tbsp Morton's Kosher salt
- 1/2 Tbsp Dark brown sugar
- 3/4 tsp Cracked peppercorns
- 3/4 tsp Garlic powder
Sauce
- 1/4 Cup Your favorite BBQ Sauce
Instructions
- Prepare your ribs by removing the membrane, small bones, flap, and scraggly pieces.
- Apply dry rub to bone side and meat side of the ribs.1/2 Tbsp Morton's Kosher salt, 1/2 Tbsp Dark brown sugar, 3/4 tsp Cracked peppercorns, 3/4 tsp Garlic powder
- Get your Weber Kettle to 250F for smoking.
- Once at 250F, place your ribs in the cool zone – opposite of your fire. Add a chunk of your favorite hardwood; I used a chunk of cherry for the first hour.
- Every hour or so, add another chunk of hardwood. The second hour I added a chunk of Pecan.
- Allow the ribs to come up to around 175F – 180F internal.
- Once they reach around this temperature, you can wrap with aluminum foil.
- You can use any number of ingredients in your aluminum foil wrap. I prefer to spritz with a small amount of water. Once wrapped, return to your weber kettle meat side down.
- When wrapped with aluminum foil, it will only take 30-45 minutes for the ribs to reach tenderness.
- After 30 minutes, use the bend test to see if the ribs are tender. Pick the ribs up at the 5th bone with a pair of tongs. When tender, the ribs should bend at a 45 degree angle. Combine this with the tear test to see if the meat pulls cleanly away from the bone. Ribs typically finish at around 195-205F internal.
- Allow the ribs to rest on the counter for 10-15 minutes or until the internal temperature is between 145 – 165F. During this time, put your barbecue sauce on your ribs. You can also "paint" the sauce on with a basting brush.1/4 Cup Your favorite BBQ Sauce
- Once rested, slice between the bones and enjoy!
8 comments
Jon M
Thanks for this recipe and instructions! I’ve had my kettle for about two years now and had never smoked on it up to this point. I always wanted to make some ribs and I’m glad I found this post as they were pretty dang good for a first time. Cheers!
Dylan Clay
Happy to help Jon!
Rafael
Dylan,
Thank you for this recipe/process. It has been a minute since I smoked ribs, but now my wife is asking me to smoke ribs. Did you allow your charcoal to gray-over before throwing the ribs on the grill? How long did it take for your ribs to get to 202 degrees?
Dylan Clay
Hey Rafael!
I personally light the charcoal on one end before I put the meat on the Weber Kettle. Typically I’ll allow the temperature to build inside the cooker with the vents completely open so that we’re maximizing airflow. When the temperature in the smoker is at around 200F I’ll start making my vent adjustments (pictured above) so that the smoker runs at around 250F.
Once the kettle is cruising at 250F I put the ribs on the smoker and add my wood chunks.
I listed a few of the different methods people use above for smoking on the kettle but they’re all based on the same concept – you’re initially lighting a few briquettes (around 10-12) and then you’re orienting the lit charcoal so that it passively self-ignites the unlit charcoal in the smoker; Essentially you’re creating a fuse with a lit and unlit end that will take 5-8 hours to ash out. For more information on this (With pictures), be sure to check out my Minion Method article.
In terms of timing, it can really vary – I’m not big on internal temperatures being a guide to tenderness because I’ve had ribs be tender at 195F as well as 205F+. For baby backs it takes around 4-6 hours at 250F; Spare ribs typically take 5-6 hours. For this recipe, it took around 5 hours and 30 minutes for the baby backs to reach tenderness.
Hope the above helps!
-Dylan
Peter B
Very detailed article, hard to find such informative recipes online like this. Great job!
Dylan Clay
Thanks Peter! Happy to help.
Art
Always been pretty tempted to smoke some ribs on my Weber. This will help me out a ton. Thank you!
Dylan Clay
Happy to help Art!