Smoked St. Louis Style Ribs

A few weeks ago, I was bested by a rack of St. Louis style ribs.  Ok, in all honesty, I was bested by myself and my lack of keeping my grill it's cleanest.  That's right, another 2 minutes to flare up action and this time, the gunk on the bottom of the grill was thick enough that everything caught fire.  (I am holding my head in shame, by the way) I put it all out before it could start anything outside of the grill on fire, but needless to say, it was so intense, it completely ruined dinner.  Lesson here kids, it's so very important to keep your grill clean!!!  The next morning Chris and I spent over an hour cleaning and scraping and everything else needed to get the grill back up in working condition.  Had I taken that time over the weekend before, I would not have wasted a whole rack of perfectly smoked ribs. (UGH!!  That hurt, trust me!!)

But for those of you that truly know me, you know I'm not going to let food get the best of me.  So, the next chance I got, I bought some more St Louis style ribs (at half price again, thank you!!) and gave it another try.  And I am so glad that I did!  These ribs were perfectly cooked and tasted fantastic!  Now, I did something funky when I opened up the smoker and by the time I got the ribs situated, I noticed my smoke had died down.  What does that mean exactly?  Well, it means that I did not have smoke at the most important time of cooking (the first hour), so I did not get that wonderful pink smoke ring on the meat.  But that is ok...the ribs were still smokey and wonderful.  I may not have perfected smoking just yet, but I'll keep practicing, TRUST ME!!

Oh.. and a little shout out to Chris at Nibble Me This for this recipe.  If it were not for his guidance, I definitely would not have had such a wonderful outcome!  Thanks Chris!

Smoked St. Louis Style Ribs
Inspired and greatly influenced by Chris at Nibble Me This
Printable Recipe 
Ingredients:
1 rack St Louis style ribs (trimmed - check out this video for tips)
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons paprika
1/2 Tablespoon pepper
1/2 Tablespoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 Tablespoons honey
3 Tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup barbecue sauce

Directions:
Mix 2 tablespoons brown sugar, paprika, pepper, garlic salt, cayenne, oregano, onion powder, sage, and chili powder together in a small bowl until well combined.  Rub mixture over ribs and let rest for 1 hour.

Preheat smoker to 225-250 degrees F.  (I used apple wood chips, but you can use whatever you type of chip you want.)  Place the ribs (bone side down) in the smoker and let smoke for 3 hours.  Don't touch that door to check on them, let them just smoke uninterrupted.

Mix together the honey, butter, and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar.  Remove the ribs from the smoker and place on aluminum foil (meat side down).  Pour the butter mixture over the ribs and tightly wrap them in the foil.  Place back in the smoker and let smoke another hour.

Remove ribs from foil and reserve 2-3 tablespoons of the drippings.  Mix with barbecue sauce and brush on the ribs.  Finish ribs in the smoker or on the grill - this will take about 20-30 minutes.  Enjoy!

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