My friends Ryan and Melissa have been promoting my site to all of their friends and have helped increase my readership. So in return, I decided to cook them dinner. I asked Ryan what he wanted and without hesitation he said ribs. This worked perfectly as I have been getting a lot of emails about how to cook ribs on a gas grill. I have smoked ribs many times and posted about them a couple of times, but I have always cooked them on the smoker. I love my charcoal/wood smoker (Old Bessie), but I also love my new gas grill (Weber). I know it’s not a creative name, but a grill by any other name is just a grill. So with the help of Weber, I am going to tackle ribs on a gas grill.
Cooking them over indirect heat is the key. Ribs shed a lot of grease when cooked, so if you cook them over direct heat they will definitely burn. Burned ribs are a no-no. Weber told me so.
The first step is to rinse the ribs. Once they are rinsed, remove the silver skin from the ribs and rinse again. The easiest way to remove the silver skin is to start from the center and using your finger or a butter knife
, gently lift the silver skin from the ribs.
Chris over at NibbleMeThis has a great video showing how to remove the silver skin from ribs. You can view it here. http://nibblemethis.blogspot.com/2009/04/bbq-pork-loin-back-ribs.html
Next pat the ribs dry using a paper towel or a lint free cotton towel. Linty ribs are also a no-no.
Now it is time to add the rub to the ribs. I usually mix all of the ingredients in a big resealable bowl. That way if I have any left over, I can store it in the same container. No need to do dishes. After I get the rub mixed together, I place some in a pizza shaker
and use that to apply the rub to the ribs. You can get them for $1-2 dollars at pretty much any kitchen store.
Start on the rib side and generously apply the rub to the ribs. Flip and cover the meat side of the ribs.
Let the ribs sit for 15 – 20 minutes to get up to room temperature and marinate in the rub. During this time, preheat your grill. You should only need one burner on. Get the temperature inside the grill to get to about 300-310 Degrees Fahrenheit. If your grill has vertical burners, turn on the burner farthest away from your gas tank. If your grill has horizontal burners, turn on the burner that is closest to the back of the grill.
Now this is also the time to start soaking some wood chips
. These will be placed in a smoker box
on the grill. The smoker box will be placed directly over the flames. Don’t worry if you don’t have a smoker box. I MacGyver’d one for $0.75. Get a disposable bread pan and fill it with the soaked wood chips.
Now, cover the pan with aluminum foil. Then using a knife, cut 10-15 holes in the foil. This will allow the smoke to escape from the box. A lot easier than purchasing a $15-25 smoker box.
I started with three racks of ribs and my modest gas grill was not large enough to hold 3 full racks of ribs. So I had to cut mine in half in order to fit them on the grill without them being directly over the flame. I know I shouldn’t have cut them, but I needed three racks and I didn’t want them to burn.
Place the ribs bone side up on the grill, away from the heat. Placing them bone side up will allow the juices to pool in the ribs and allows them to self baste. Let cook for an hour and a half. Then flip and cook for another hour to an hour and half. The ribs should take between 2.5 to 3 hours to cook. Mine took 3 as I had the grill stacked with ribs. If you have less meat on the grill it will cook a little faster.
You know the ribs are done when the bones are extending from the edge of the ribs, and when you pick them up from one end and they fold over on themselves. You can always do the chef test and try one. The meat should pull cleanly from the bone, but should not fall from the bone. There should be a little give.
When the ribs are done, serve them dry or wet. To sauce the ribs, remove them from the grill. Turn on the other burners to medium and let the grill preheat. Then baste the ribs, flip and grill them until the sauce sets on the ribs. Should take about 4-5 minutes with 2 flips. I usually sauce the meat side and then flip the ribs. I then sauce the bottom of the ribs and shut the lid. After 2 minutes, I flip the ribs and then sauce the meat side. I shut the lid and then wait 2 more minutes. I then remove them from the grill and serve them.
I served these with some grilled potatoes, coleslaw and spicy pickles.
I hate to admit it, but I ran out of prep time and purchased coleslaw. Wow, it was horrible. I won’t be doing that anymore. Sorry about that Ryan and Melissa. Besides that, the ribs were perfectly tender and full of flavor. The MacGyver smoke box worked perfectly. Hopefully Ryan and Melissa enjoyed it.
This goes to show you that if you are a real fan of Savory Reviews, you may get invited to a personal dinner at the source. Well, if you live around and/or are visiting the DC area.
The above post is directed toward cooking baby back ribs. If you have or want to cook St. Louis cut Spare ribs check out this post. How to Smoke Saint Louis Ribs on a Gas Grill.
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