Ribs

I love to use my smoker, I think its a pretty cool machine. With this rib recipe, you can use a smoker if you have one, or you can also bake these in the oven, Either way, you end up with tender, fall-off-the-bone ribs. Get a good rub for the rack and a tasty BBQ sauce, and you're good to go! I really like to use cherry wood in my smoker. It seems to give almost everything I've smoked a really good smoky taste. I even like apple wood for pork. For this rack of ribs, I used apple, cherry, and some hickory briquettes the Manfriend found for me. 

I really prefer to rub the meat down the night before and let it sit in the fridge over night, however, you can put in on the day of cooking and its still really good. Just make sure if you are preparing the rack the night before, you really wrap it up well so it doesn't leak in the fridge. I use my own rib rub, I'll post the ingredients for that as well. 

The finished rack. Looks delish!

To start, I cover both sides of the rack with my Spicy Brown Sugar Rub. Work it into the meat fairly well, and as more as needed. You really want a nice thick layer of rub on the meat. If you're doing this the night before, cover in foil and plastic wrap. If you are doing this the day of, after you finish getting the rub on, go start the smoker. 

After the first layer of rub, I added more on after this picture

I actually like to take 3-4 sheets of heavy duty foil and pull up the sides to make an almost boat around the rack. I like to keep the rib in it's own juices during smoking.

 

About 1 hour into smoking

You can use any cut of rib you like, today I just had a standard pork spare rib rack (it was on sale). Use your preference, they are all good!

At around the 2 hour mark, I started adding these nifty little hickory briquettes to the smoker. I added about 7 every hour for the next 2 hours. 

These are pretty cool! Big thanks to the Manfriend

The ribs will really start to look good, and smell wonderful!! You'll start to see the meat pulling back from the bone and this is a good sign! 

Can you say yum?!?

When my ribs start to look like this, I take a large sheet of foil and I tent it over the top. You may like your ribs to get a little darker, but this is how I like mine to look.

About 4.5 hours after I put my ribs in, I like to start adding my BBQ sauce. I've made my own before, and also have used store bought. It's really up to you. I pull them off of the smoker right around hour 5. Get some of your favorite sides, and you're good to go!

Spicy Brown Sugar Rub:

2 cups light brown sugar

2 tablespoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion salt

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (adjust to your liking)

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon black pepper

Ribs:

1-2 racks of your choice ribs

rub of your choice

BBQ sauce

smoker between 300-325 degrees