Whole Spare ribs

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Rmartinez2

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Feb 13, 2019
88
57
Hey friends!

Tonight i picked up some hickory pellets and decided i wanted to do some pork ribs. I found some decent spare ribs and i was about to start trimming them down and remove the breast plate and all that... i said why dont i do this old school and leave it all on.

now my question here is.... will the 3 - 2 - 1 method still work here or should i modify it to add more time or should i stop playing games and trim them up? I'm gonna go start making my rub so let me know what you all think.
 
I always leave them whole! So much good meat and little treats for the cook when you leave it all there.
I would tell you to run your fire around 250-275 and they will be done at about 5.5hrs. When they start cracking on the top of you pick them up they are done at bite through. If you let them go a bit longer they will really bend in the middle and sart to even break. These will be more like fall off the bone.
Have fun and take lots of pics.
These are 3 racks of spares that I did yesterday. Sooo good. The ribs on the top rack were some beef ribs I did.
Oh and I don’t wrap them or do anything to them. Just dry rub and wait!
A40DA37C-2EC3-4C52-9729-C093D600AE23.jpeg
08ADAF1D-E149-476A-8467-790CD276C31B.jpeg
 
You may need extra time if that meat is really thick. Follow what ever method, 3-2-1 or 6 hours straight, but verify doneness with the probe or bend test...JJ
 
Thanks guys I'll probably put them on tomorrow at around 8 or 9 am my time and they should be done right around when the UFC prelims start. Wish me luck this will be my longest cook so far.

Thank u guys again for the tips. Jbell those look aaaamazing!!!
 
Man I used to do all that stuff but once I made my own rub, I just put it on there and let it ride.
You are using a pellet smoker right??
I would crank it to 250-275 and just not touch them for 5-5.5 hrs. You’ll be golden. Spare ribs have quite a bit of fat so they will be moist unless you just burn the mess out of them somehow.
Let me know if you want my rub recipe. I don’t mind sharing.
 
Man I used to do all that stuff but once I made my own rub, I just put it on there and let it ride.
You are using a pellet smoker right??
I would crank it to 250-275 and just not touch them for 5-5.5 hrs. You’ll be golden.

Yup it's a pellet smoker. I'ma try that. I'm thinking of doing 3 slabs. I wanna do one super light on salt pepper garlic then use a brown sugar based rub I made (I'm also new at making rub but I figure gotta start somewhere I stared with a good base of brown sugar and new Mex chili powder then from there I added just teaspoons of different stuff till it tested like something I would like but my girls would love. I'll be doing another a little more "normal" on SPG then lightly with the rub. The third...I currently have no clue.

I want to do one where I just wrap after I get the right color (my sister uses this method and it works insanely well for her) I want to do another as I've seen most ppl do and use some squeeze butter with brown sugar. Then I want to do one no wrap just leave almon all the way through.
 
2B26EDEA-65B3-4315-8A4C-27866C7F85AD.png
Here I’ll give you my rub recipe. It is great on spare ribs, pork butts and just about any other food you want to put it on. My kids eat all the food I put it on but it doesn’t have a little kick to it.
Let me know how you like it.
Oh and I don’t put it on brisket although you could. Only salt and black pepper for me!
I will say to be careful on how much sugar you put in your rub cause it can burn and then it won’t be good at all.

Good luck and just have fun with it. Spare ribs are pretty forgiving so just be patient and let them cook at least 5 hrs.
 
View attachment 389360 Here I’ll give you my rub recipe. It is great on spare ribs, pork butts and just about any other food you want to put it on. My kids eat all the food I put it on but it doesn’t have a little kick to it.
Let me know how you like it.
Oh and I don’t put it on brisket although you could. Only salt and black pepper for me!
I will say to be careful on how much sugar you put in your rub cause it can burn and then it won’t be good at all.

Good luck and just have fun with it. Spare ribs are pretty forgiving so just be patient and let them cook at least 5 hrs.

I appreciate this. Thank you.
 
View attachment 389360 Here I’ll give you my rub recipe. It is great on spare ribs, pork butts and just about any other food you want to put it on. My kids eat all the food I put it on but it doesn’t have a little kick to it.
Let me know how you like it.
Oh and I don’t put it on brisket although you could. Only salt and black pepper for me!
I will say to be careful on how much sugar you put in your rub cause it can burn and then it won’t be good at all.

Good luck and just have fun with it. Spare ribs are pretty forgiving so just be patient and let them cook at least 5 hrs.
No sugar inda rub eh?
 
Yup it's a pellet smoker. I'ma try that. I'm thinking of doing 3 slabs. I wanna do one super light on salt pepper garlic then use a brown sugar based rub I made (I'm also new at making rub but I figure gotta start somewhere I stared with a good base of brown sugar and new Mex chili powder then from there I added just teaspoons of different stuff till it tested like something I would like but my girls would love. I'll be doing another a little more "normal" on SPG then lightly with the rub. The third...I currently have no clue.

I want to do one where I just wrap after I get the right color (my sister uses this method and it works insanely well for her) I want to do another as I've seen most ppl do and use some squeeze butter with brown sugar. Then I want to do one no wrap just leave almon all the way through.

Good luck with your cook today... Just remember, the lower the temps, the more Smoke your Pellet Grill will produce.. The Higher the temps, the less Smoke your Grill will produce. Going 250*-275* straight trough on a authentic stick burner is no problem... Doing that on a Pellet Grill, will work also, but with a lighter Smoke Profile... Give jbellard’s cooking tip a try of cooking at 250*-275* degrees for 5-5.5 hrs and post back the results. With every cook You learn something, so take notes... I’m not going to post what I would do different, that’s not why I posted ... Jbellard, Thumbs Up on the Rub recipe with no Sugar... Good luck with Your cook and I hope everyone has a safe, relaxing bbq weekend..

PB Austin XL in SoCal and Always... Semper Fi
 
Last edited:
Good luck with your cook today... Just remember, the lower the temps, the more Smoke your Pellet Grill will produce.. The Higher the temps, the less Smoke your Grill will produce. Going 250*-275* straight trough on a authentic stick burner is no problem... Doing that on a Pellet Grill, will work also, but with a lighter Smoke Profile... Give jbellard’s cooking tip a try of cooking at 250*-275* degrees for 5-5.5 hrs and post back the results. With every cook You learn something, so take notes... I’m not going to post what I would do different, that’s not why I posting... Jbellard, Thumbs Up on the Rub recipe with no Sugar... Good luck with Your cook and I hope everyone has a safe, relaxing bbq weekend..

PB Austin XL in SoCal and Always... Semper Fi

Thanks everyone they went on about 10 mins ago as we deliberated whether 3 racks was overkill or not. We settled on 2 and have 2 for next weekend's fights (hopefully freezing them is not an issue). I'm actually going at 225 which I probably should have checked with you all first but I figured I have all day anyway so shouldn't be an issue right? I also played around a bit with the pellets and did mainly hickory but I mixed in a few cups of apple/cherry/maple blend. I doubt it'll come thru as it's around 8 cups of hickory to 1cup of the blend
 
This should help...JJ

 
Alright guys I pulled them at 3 hrs and wrapped as they were looking a bit dry and the color was pretty dark. I left them wrapped for aabout 1hr and 50 mins and when I checked on them they looked like they were close to falling apart. One of them I was able to maneuver without fail and the other I had to be very careful as the little bones toward the end were pretty much not attached. At the end I used jack Daniels original and put a very light coat on. On the others my lady did a Chipotle sauce that's tomato based. I put them on a rack and stuck em back in for about 15 mins and that was it.

A few thoughts in retrospect...

If I'm going to wrap I probably should have done it at 2 hours then maybe wrapped for 1 hour and check for doneness. With the way I did it I may have been ok checking for doneness at the 1 hour mark.

I feel it's possible that the upper rack on the grill may be the better place but not many fit there, at the 3 hr mark the back of these seemed almost burned when using the main rack, IMO.

the rub I used is good but I will reduce the NM chili as the girls picked it up quick and said no thanks. Luckily the second rub is more brown sugar and paprika than actual heat and they seem to be quite fine with those.

In terms of the grill, this is my longest cook and I will attest that the preheat is the key. I cooked at 225 and the grill stayed within a low of 215 and a high of 235. I was super pleased with this as I heard many ppl getting insane swings after 4 or 5 hours. I'm convinced that preheat to 350 and letting it sit there for 20 to 30 mins is key. Then go up or down to the desired temp and just be patient while it gets there.

Thank u again everyone for all the help, advice, and good vibes.
IMG_20190302_141140.jpg
IMG_20190302_140422.jpg
IMG_20190302_141140.jpg
IMG_20190302_140409.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: RCAlan and wimpy69
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Hot Threads

Clicky