I am really enjoying smoking in my Pit Barrel Cooker, especially ribs. This was a small cook with only this one rack of St. Louis Style Ribs and a small pork loin going in. St. Louis Style Ribs are cut from the belly of a hog. The ribs are trimmed by cutting away the hard breastbone and chewy cartilage, otherwise known as connective tissue.With this dual cook I put the ribs on first since they would take longer than the small pork loin.
Last weekend my wife and I visited a Farmers Market over in Bossier City, Louisiana. Walking through the vendors with everything from hand carved wood, jellies, canned veggies, fresh veggies and more I spotted a vendor with BBQ rubs. The rub that caught my eye was a Memphis style rub. It had a fantastic aroma and the sample I tasted was perfect. I bought a tub and planned on trying it out on my next cook of ribs.
I trimmed some extra fat and removed the membrane from the back. Once again I used a Texas grown olive oil to prep the ribs for the rub. I used a generous portion of the Memphis Rub and waited about fifteen minutes for the smoker to get ready to cook. At two hours I pulled the rack to be glazed. I used Kraft’s Sweet Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce on both sides of the ribs. I put the ribs back on the smoker with the bones down this time on the grates.
Twenty minutes later I pulled the rack off the smoker and wrapped it in foil while I put some zucchini squash in the smoker. I used the same Texas olive oil on the zucchini that I had sliced in half with some roasted garlic seasoning.
When everything was ready for the table I sliced the ribs and had to eat one before I made it to the table with them. The three ribs on the thin end were a bit overcooked again but the rest of the rack was absolutely delicious. The Memphis Rub made a beautiful bark and a tasty BBQ kick of flavor.
Once again the Pit Barrel Cooker has produced a rack of ribs that I can be proud of. I should have started smoking ribs years ago.
Things I Learned
I still have to be more aware of the bottom bones on the ribs when I am hanging them in the cooker. If you get a flame up or the ribs are pretty long they will end up getting over cooked. These first few cooks have gone pretty good but I still need to pay a bit more attention to the details and make sure I get photos of the results.
St. Louis Style Ribs Cook Stats
- 1 Rack St. Louis Style Pork Ribs
- Memphis Rub from Farmers Market Bossier City
- Texas Olive Oil
- 2 HF Pecan Chips
- 2 HF Hickory Chips
- Meat On 10:55
- Pulled for Glazing 12:55
- Meat Off 1:15
- Kraft Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce Glaze
