These are the best ribs we’ve ever made at home. Seriously, they are that delicious! We’ve made ribs hundreds of times, but none have been this amazing.
Root Beer Glaze
Let’s talk root beer for a minute. I’ve never been a huge fan. Jim loves root beer and tries to keep a few bottles in the fridge at all time. I recently tried some of the root beer that Jim got at Starbucks and really liked the spice it had, so when he suggested a root beer glaze / sauce for some barbecued ribs I was totally on board. The root beer glaze is totally different from any barbecue sauce that we’ve made before. It’s a bit sweeter, with some spice notes. It also has a touch of sriracha, so there’s a bit of heat too.
The Ribs
Big racks of spare ribs are typically our go-to rib cut. However, we saw some beautiful St. Louis-style spareribs at the grocery store and decided to go with them this time. St. Louis-style ribs are just spareribs that have been trimmed a bit look more uniform. You don’t have as many of the small bones and cartilage as you see in traditional spareribs. These beauties cooked a little more quickly because of the size, which is always a good thing.
Barbecue Time
Jim cleaned up the ribs and removed the skin from the back. Then he coated them with his homemade rib rub and let them sit for about an hour before throwing them on the smoker. We use a mixture of oak (75%) and hickory (25%) for smoking, and try to keep the temp in the 250 to 300 degree range. Any lower than that and things get too smoky. They cooked in about 3.5 hours.
- 2 racks of St. Louis-style ribs
- 1 C Sweet and Smoky BBQ Rub
- 1/2 C Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 C Water
- 12 Oz Root Beer
- 1/8 C Turbinado Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Ketchup
- 1 Tsp Sriracha
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 1/2 Tsp Ground Black Pepper
- Peel away the skin on the back of the ribs
- Season both sides of the ribs liberally with the rib rub (recipe below)
- Cook in smoker for 3.5 hours at 250-300 degrees F
- Combine water and apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle and spray ribs every hour while cooking
- While ribs are cooking, combine root beer, turbinado sugar, ketchup, sriracha, salt and pepper in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes until slightly thickened, stirring frequently.
- Sauce the ribs about 30 minutes before cooking time is up.
- Slice ribs into 2 bone sections and serve.
- Sweet and Smoky BBQ Rub recipe is at http://savedbythekale.com/sweet-smoky-bbq-rub-recipe/
Your Turn
We love barbecue in the Lastinger household. What’s your favorite style of bbq? Have any amazing sauce or rub recipes you want to share? Jim is always available for barbecue questions, so feel free to ask in the comments.
