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One of my most popular posts is “How to Smoke Ribs on a Gas Grill“. That recipe uses baby back ribs and is not timed for St. Louis Cut Spare Ribs. So, I decided to do a post on how to smoke St. Louis Spare Ribs on a gas grill. This method is a twist on competition ribs and the end product is amazing.  We start by smoking the ribs and then we wrap them to finish. They are a must try!
How to smoke Saint Louis Ribs on a Gas Grill
The first step is to turn your gas grill into a smoker. You do this by setting up your grill for indirect cooking, along with the addition of a smoke box. The nice people over at Charcoal Companion sent me a V shaped smoke box to try out.
The V-shaped box fits perfectly over Weber grills flavorizer bars. To use, turn on one of the burners. Then place the V-shaped smoker box directly over the flavorizer bar that is over the active burner. Then, add soaked wood chips and you are ready to cook. Â I used some charcoal companion apple wood chips for this cook.
Adjust the burner so that the grill is set to about 300 degrees. Â You can use the grill lid thermometer or use a remote ambient temperature thermometer to get an accurate temperature at grate level.
I used a Thermoworks Smoke thermometer with the new Smoke Gateway. Â The gateway connects your Themoworks Smoke to your wifi so that you can view the temperatures remotely on your phone. Â It connected quickly and performed flawlessly for me. Â If you have a smoke, I totally recommend adding the gateway. That way, you only need your phone to check your temperatures as you cook.
Trimming and seasoning the ribs
Once you have the grill set up, It is time to prepare the ribs. I purchased pre-trimmed St. Louis cut ribs at my local big box store. You can purchase full spare ribs and cut them down to St. Louis cut, but there is a lot of waste. Plus, I have found that it is easier to purchase St. Louis cut ribs rather than full spare ribs.
Lay out your ribs meat side down and peel off the silver skin that is over the bones. To do this, use a knife to peel up a corner. Â Then, using a paper towel, grab the corner and pull. The paper towel will give you the grip needed to pull off the silver skin. Â The top ribs below have the silver skin removed and the bottom rack still has the skin on them.
With the ribs still meat side down, coat with rub. Our favorite rub for these ribs is our Rib rub. Wait 10 minutes and then flip and rub the meat side.
Allow the rub to get absorbed for 10 more minutes and then place the ribs on the grill over the burners that are not turned on.
Smoking the ribs on a gas grill
Cook at 300 degrees for 2 hours. Â Keep the lid closed to keep the smoke in. Â Remember, if you are looking you are not cooking!
Wrapping the ribs
After the first two hours are over, it is time to wrap the ribs. Â Place a piece of heavy duty foil on a table. You can do this with a single piece of foil, but I like to double it up just in case a rib bone punctures the foil.
Sprinkle the foil with 2 tbs of brown sugar, 2 tbs of honey and 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes.
Place a rack of ribs meat side down on the foil. Â Then, sprinkle 2 tbs of brown sugar, 2 tbs of honey and 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes over the bone side of the ribs. Â Seal the foil and place back on the grill. Â Repeat for extra racks of ribs if you are cooking more than one.
Close the lid and cook for 1 hour or until the ribs are 202-204 degrees Fahrenheit. Â You can check this with a probe thermometer. Â I used my handy Thermapen MK4 to check the temperature.
Once the ribs are the right temperature, remove from the foil and place back onto the grill over indirect heat.
Glazing the ribs
Glaze the ribs with your favorite bbq sauce and close the lid for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the sauce to set.
Remove and serve the ribs.
These ribs are delicious and pull off the bone tender!
- 1 rack St. Louis cut Ribs
- 1/2 cup bbq rub
- 4 tbs brown sugar
- 4 tbs honey
- 1 tsp red pepper flake
- 1/2 cup bbq sauce
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The first step is to make your gas grill into a smoker. You do this by setting up your grill for indirect cooking along with the addition of a smoke box. The nice people over at Charcoal Companion sent me a V shaped smoke box to try out. The V-shaped box fits perfectly over Weber grills flavorizer bars. To use, turn on one of the burners. Then place the V-shaped smoker box directly over the flavorizer bar that is over the active burner. Then, add soaked wood chips and you are ready to cook. I used some charcoal companion apple wood chips for this cook.
-
Adjust the burner so that the grill is set to about 300 degrees. You can use the grill lid thermometer or use a remote ambient temperature thermometer to get an accurate temperature at grate level. I used a Thermoworks Smoke thermometer with the new Smoke Gateway. The gateway connects your Themoworks Smoke to your wifi so that you can view the temperatures remotely on your phone. It connected quickly and performed flawlessly for me. If you have a smoke, I totally recommend adding the gateway. That way you only need your phone to check your temperatures as you cook.
-
Once you have the grill set up, it is time to prepare the ribs. I purchased pre-trimmed St. Louis cut ribs at my local big box store. You can purchase full spare ribs and cut them down to St. Louis cut, but there is a lot of waste. Plus, I have found that it is easier to purchase St. Louis cut ribs than full spare ribs.
-
Lay out your ribs meat side down and peel off the silver skin that is over the bones. To do this, use a knife to peel up a corner. Then, using a paper towel, grab the corner and pull. The paper towel will give you the grip needed to pull off the silver skin.
-
With the ribs still meat side down, coat with rub. Our favorite rub for this is our Rib rub. Wait 10 minutes and then flip and rub the meat side. Allow the rub to get absorbed for 10 more minutes and then place on the grill over the burners that are not turned on.
-
Cook at 300 degrees for 2 hours. Keep the lid closed to keep the smoke in. Remember, if you are looking you are not cooking!
-
After the first two hours are over, it is time to wrap the ribs. Place a piece of heavy duty foil on a table. You can do this with a single piece of foil, but I like to double it up just in case a rib bone punctures the foil. Sprinkle the foil with 2 tbs of brown sugar, 2 tbs of honey and 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes. Place a rack of ribs meat side down on the foil. Then, sprinkle 2 tbs of brown sugar, 2 tbs of honey and 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes over the bone side of the ribs. Seal the foil and place back on the grill. Repeat for extra racks of ribs if you are cooking more than one.
-
Close the lid and cook for 1 hour or until the ribs are 202-204 degrees Fahrenheit. You can check this with a probe thermometer. I used my handy Thermapen MK4 to check the temperature.
-
Once the ribs are the right temperature, remove from the foil and place back onto the grill over indirect heat. Glaze the ribs with your favorite bbq sauce and close the lid for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the sauce to set.
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Remove and serve the ribs.
