How to Make Smoked St. Louis-Style Ribs

By Food & Wine
Updated May 01, 2017
Photo © Ryan Robert Miller
A Texas master reveals how to make tender, crusty, smoky ribs using an ordinary grill and a bag of wood chips.
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Make Ribs Like a Pro

Photo © Ryan Robert Miller
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For barbecue pros, the perfect ribs combine smoky, ultra-tender meat and a thin crust, a.k.a. “bark,” that shatters when you bite into it. “That contrast is what you’re after,” explains Tim Rattray, chef at The Granary in San Antonio. Here, Rattray tells how to make pit master–style ribs on an ordinary charcoal grill (no smoker needed). He starts with racks of St. Louis–cut ribs—spareribs trimmed to a uniform size—massaging them with a sweet and spicy dry rub that includes cinnamon and coffee. “The spices are like bass notes for the meat, amplifying its flavor,” he says. Then he smokes the ribs over oak chips, wraps them in foil to keep them juicy while they cook through, and smokes them once more.

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Make the Spice Mix

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Whisk brown sugar, pepper, chile powder, cinnamon, cumin, coffee and salt.

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Get the Smoke Going

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Sprinkle oak chips over hot coals on one side of the grill for indirect cooking.

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Apply the Rub

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Season the ribs with salt, then sprinkle with the spice mix and rub it into the meat.

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Smoke the Ribs

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Set the seasoned ribs on the grill opposite the heat. Cover and cook at 250° for 2 hours.

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Steam the Ribs

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Wrap the ribs in foil and cook them for another 2 hours for supertender, juicy meat.

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Perfect the Crust

Photo © Ryan Robert Miller
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Unwrap the ribs and cook for 1 hour more, until they’re crusty all over.

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