Patience is a virtue that is particularly critical when you're smoking a rack of pork or beef ribs. Low temperatures and long cooking times are synonymous with the type of ribs praised as "fall-off-the-bone" tender. The backyard or commercial chef might utilize any variety of marinades, dry rubs or cooking woods to prepare his ribs. All of these items are of secondary importance to the proven smoking technique known as "low and slow."
Step 1
Massage a dry rub into the ribs approximately 12 hours prior to smoking. Wrap the ribs in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Dry rubs vary according to individual taste, but spices consistent to most include salt, pepper, cumin, paprika and brown sugar.
Step 2
Pour charcoal briquets in your smoker's firebox. Light the charcoal, allowing it to burn down to a white-hot smoulder. While the coals are burning, pour your hickory junks in a plastic bucket. Fill the bucket with water and allow the chunks to soak for at least 30 minutes.
Step 3
Remove the ribs from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Open the lid of the smoker's main cooking chamber. Place the ribs in the center of the smoker's cooking grate, meat-side up. Close the lid.
Step 4
Open the firebox door, and cover the charcoal with a layer of soaked hickory chunks.
Step 5
Adjust the vents on your smoker until the temperature gauge reads approximately 225 degrees Fahrenheit. One vent is normally found on the end or side of the firebox. Another is found on the smoker's chimney. These are wide open when you light the coals, but must be closed by 50 percent once the smoker reaches its optimal temperature.
Step 6
Smoke the ribs approximately 1 1/2 hours for each pound of meat. A rack of ribs is referred to in the restaurant world as a "3 1/2 Down." This term signifies that a rack typically weighs 3 1/2 lbs. when it is raw. A standard rack of ribs requires 5 1/2 to 6 hours of cooking time at 225 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 7
Open the door of the smoker and flip the ribs every two hours. Keep the door closed at all other times. Opening the door for even a moment adds 15 minutes to total cooking time.
Tips and Warnings
- Wrap the ribs in heavy-duty aluminum foil during the last hour of cooking. This practice is frowned upon in barbecue competitions -- it is known as "The Texas Crutch" -- but it results in ribs that are extraordinarily tender.
Things You'll Need
- 1 rack of ribs
- Dry rub
- Plastic wrap
- Smoker
- Charcoal briquettes
- Plastic bucket
- Hickory chunks
