How to Barbecue Spare Ribs Using a Rib Rack

Use a rib rack to increase the number of ribs you can cook on your grill.

Cooking spare ribs on a barbecue grill gives them a crunchy crust and more flavor than baking them in the oven. Rib racks are readily available where barbecue supplies are sold. These devices hold the ribs in an upright position during cooking so you fit more ribs on your grill. The key to succulent ribs is to cook them over low heat. This cooks them through, without drying them out.

Things You'll Need

• 2 to 3 cups mesquite or hickory wood chips
• 2 disposable metal pans
• Aluminum foil
• Knife
• Dry rub seasoning
• Tongs
• Barbecue sauce (optional)
• Basting brush

Instructions

1. Soak the wood chips in water for one hour and drain.

2. Place the soaked chips into one of the two metal pans. Cover the pan with foil and poke several holes in the top. This creates a homemade smoker box.

3. Preheat the grill for low, indirect heat. Light only one side of the burners on a gas grill or arrange the coals in a charcoal grill on one half of the grill.

4. Set the homemade smoker box on the grill grates directly over the heat source.

5. Place the rib rack on the side of the grill not over the heat source.

6. Trim the ribs of extra fat and the membrane on the back. Leave the entire rack of spare ribs together to enable it to stand up in the rib rack.

7. Apply a dry rub seasoning mixture to the exterior of the ribs if desired.

8. Stand the ribs on end in the rib rack. Cut each rack of spare ribs in half if they are so long they prevent you from closing the lid of your grill.

9. Cook the spare ribs for 2 1/2 hours. Rearrange the ribs on the rib rack every 20 to 30 minutes and move the ribs closest to the heated side of the grill to the coldest part of the grill and those in the coldest section toward the heat.

10. Remove the ribs from the rack. At this point, they are fully cooked. Optionally cook them with barbecue sauce for more flavor. Turn on all the burners for a gas grill to medium heat or move the charcoals to cover the entire bottom of the grill. Brush with a basting brush barbecue sauce on the top of each of the racks of spare ribs and cook for three minutes. Turn the ribs, coat with more barbecue sauce and cook for another three minutes. Remove from the grill.

11. Let the ribs rest, wrapped in aluminum foil for 20 minutes, whether you added barbecue sauce to them or not. Serve the ribs immediately after resting.

References

• Double Danger: How to Smoke Pork Ribs
• Cooking for Engineers: Barbecue Pork Ribs
• Barbecue Institute: How to BBQ Ribs
• Barbecue'n On the Internet: Pork Ribs