A fool-proof way to make ribs! Every time, you’ll have juicy, meaty, tender St Louis-style ribs with that Dan-Good flavor and a perfect BBQ exterior. And while this cooking technique is rather well known, there are a few things I have learned over the years that I would like to share with you that will make yours more successful!
So for the method, this 3, 2, 1 method should really only be used with spare ribs. They are fattier and meater than “baby back ribs”, which you would wan to use a 2, 2, 1 method on. 3, 2 1, simply means you cook these 3 hours unwrapped, 2 hours wrapped, and 1 hour unwrapped and sauced. About 250 degrees is what I believe to be the best temperature.
To set up your ribs, trim them up and sprinkly each side with a heavy dose of spicy Dan-O’s Seasoning. You can find video for this online, I typically do not go as wild trimming them as competition folks will, but that’s up to you. For St. Louis spareribs ribs, you usually do not need to remove a membrane, but again that’s preference. Be careful taking too much fat off the bottom, as it may make your ribs fall apart later and this fat should render during the cooking process.
While cooking, you should spritz your ribs every hour or so. I like to use a 50/50 mix of apple juice and apple cider vinegar. This aids in creating the bark. When you wrap your ribs for the 2 hour portion, you need to add some liquid to braise them. You can add beer, more apple juice, beef broth, etc. I like to add a little hot sauce and bbq sauce to my spritzing liquid and use that!
I don’t quite go a whole hour after saucing and find that 45 minutes is usually enough. But, now you have some Dan-Good ribs, and the Dan-O’s is the only rub you need!
Serve 3, 2, 1 Spicy Smoked St. Louis Style Spareribs Ribs with chips, slaw, potato salad, or sides of choice. Enjoy!s
Ingredients
- 1 rack of St. Louis style spareribs
- Apple juice
- Apple cider vinegar
- Hickory wood chunks
- Spicy Dan-O’s Seasoning
- Mustard
- Hot sauce of choice
- BBQ sauce of choice
Preparation Instructions
- Trim ribs up to your liking by removing breast bone, rib tips, fat, and “flat-end” ribs. Save this meat for cooking on the side. Your goal is to make your ribs kind of rectangular and even so they cook easier. You can watch videos on this. Remove membrane if desired, but this is not necessary.
- Rub reach side of your ribs with yellow mustard, and add a heavy coating of spicy Dan-O’s Seasoning. Gently pat the Dan-O’s down onto the meat.
- Get your smoker started and preheated to 250 degrees. Place your ribs fat-side down over indirect heat to start cooking. Maintain 250 degree temp. While your ribs cook, mis together equal parts apple cider vinegar and apple juice.
- After one hour, spritz your ribs with the apple cider vinegar and apple juice, and do this once per hour. Turn your ribs 90 degrees each time you spritz them if you have room on your smoker.
- After 3 hours, carefully remove ribs from smoker and prepare to wrap. Lay out a large piece of foil and place ribs on. Pour on about a cup of your spritz, and add a bit of BBQ sauce, spicy Dan-O’s or hot sauce for added flavor. Tightly wrap your ribs in foil and return to the smoker for 2 hours.
- After 2 hours, carefully remove the foil from your ribs. Brush with your favorite spicy BBQ sauce 2-3 times in 15 minute intervals. After about 45 minutes, you can carefully remove your ribs from the smoker. Let rest for 20-30 minute before eating.
- Enjoy!
I’m doing my rubs in a roaster oven today. I haven’t cooked ribs in years and was actually looking up online recipes and came across this.