Sticky Ribs on a Gas Grill
By America's Test KitchenPublished on July 26, 2011
Yield
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Buy St. Louis–style racks, which are more manageable than untrimmed pork ribs. We prefer our sauce recipe (see related recipe), but store-bought works, too (Bull’s-Eye is our favorite). If you're not keen on tending a grill for 4 hours, our ribs will still taste good even if they spend the last 2 hours of cooking in your oven; see optional step 6.
Instructions
- Combine paprika, sugar, pepper, salt, and cayenne in small bowl. Massage spice rub into both sides of rib racks.
- Soak wood chips in bowl of water for 15 minutes; place in small disposable aluminum pan. Place pan directly on primary burner of gas grill, turn all burners to high, and preheat with lid down until chips are smoking heavily, about 15 minutes. Turn primary burner to medium and shut off other burners, adjusting temperature of primary burner as needed to maintain average temperature of 275 degrees. Position ribs over cool part of grill.
- Place sheet of aluminum foil directly on top of ribs (see photo 2) and cover grill. Barbecue 3 hours, turning and rotating ribs after each hour.
- Brush ribs liberally on both sides with sauce, wrap tightly with foil (see photo 3), and barbecue until very tender, about 1 hour longer.
- Transfer ribs (still in foil) to cutting board and rest 30 minutes. Unwrap ribs and brush with additional barbecue sauce. Slice ribs between bones and serve with remaining sauce.
- To Finish in the Oven: In step 3, after two hours, wrap ribs tightly in foil, place on baking sheet, and bake in 250-degree oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven, brush both sides with barbecue sauce, rewrap with foil, and bake until very tender, about 1 hour longer. Proceed as directed in step 5.
Yield
Serves 4 to 6Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Sticky pork ribs are aptly named: Slathered in a sauce so thick, sweet, and sticky, you need a case of wet naps to get your hands clean after eating them. But these slow-smoked ribs can take all day to prepare. We knew we could come up with a faster method for sticky ribs—one that would produce the same fall-off-the-bone, tender, smoky meat of the long-cooked traditional recipe. We quickly learned that spareribs, which are well marbled with fat, produce moist, tender ribs, but some racks are so big they barely fit on the grill. We turned to a more manageable cut, referred to as “St. Louis” ribs, which is a narrower, rectangular rack that offers all the taste of whole spareribs without any of the trouble. A spice rub added flavor and encouraged a savory crust on the meat. We barbecued the ribs, covered with foil, over indirect heat for 4 hours—the foil traps some of the steam over the meat, so that it cooks up tender, not dry. Using wood chips on the grill imparts the meat with great smoky flavor. For sticky, saucy ribs, we brushed the ribs all over with barbecue sauce during the last hour of cooking, then wrapped them in foil and cooked them until they were tender and falling off the bone.
Before You Begin
Buy St. Louis–style racks, which are more manageable than untrimmed pork ribs. We prefer our sauce recipe (see related recipe), but store-bought works, too (Bull’s-Eye is our favorite). If you're not keen on tending a grill for 4 hours, our ribs will still taste good even if they spend the last 2 hours of cooking in your oven; see optional step 6.
Instructions
- Combine paprika, sugar, pepper, salt, and cayenne in small bowl. Massage spice rub into both sides of rib racks.
- Soak wood chips in bowl of water for 15 minutes; place in small disposable aluminum pan. Place pan directly on primary burner of gas grill, turn all burners to high, and preheat with lid down until chips are smoking heavily, about 15 minutes. Turn primary burner to medium and shut off other burners, adjusting temperature of primary burner as needed to maintain average temperature of 275 degrees. Position ribs over cool part of grill.
- Place sheet of aluminum foil directly on top of ribs (see photo 2) and cover grill. Barbecue 3 hours, turning and rotating ribs after each hour.
- Brush ribs liberally on both sides with sauce, wrap tightly with foil (see photo 3), and barbecue until very tender, about 1 hour longer.
- Transfer ribs (still in foil) to cutting board and rest 30 minutes. Unwrap ribs and brush with additional barbecue sauce. Slice ribs between bones and serve with remaining sauce.
- To Finish in the Oven: In step 3, after two hours, wrap ribs tightly in foil, place on baking sheet, and bake in 250-degree oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven, brush both sides with barbecue sauce, rewrap with foil, and bake until very tender, about 1 hour longer. Proceed as directed in step 5.
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