If you are like me, you love ribs in any way, shape, or form! As far as difficulty level, cooking spare ribs sits somewhere between smoking a Boston Butt and Brisket. Typically smoking spare ribs will take you 6 hours, which isn’t bad when considering the length of time other cuts of meat take. What if I told you that cooking spare ribs hot and fast will get you great results in half the time? Believe me? Well after reading this post I hope to make you a convert. Now sit back, grab yourself a cold Shiner Bock, and enjoy this post for Big Green Egg Hot and Fast Spare Ribs.
Big Green Egg Hot and Fast Spare Ribs
For this cook, I had 2 racks of Snake River Farms Kurobuta spare ribs on hand. Don’t worry if you do not have these on hand as other than prep, the recipe is the same for any spare ribs you have.
As for prep, you want to trim your spare ribs St. Louis Style removing the membrane on the rib side, the flap meat, and any excess fat.
Next, you will add a light mustard slather to your ribs on both sides as a binder for the rub to follow.
I made these ribs “Texas Style” which uses a mix of salt, pepper, and paprika for the rub. The ribs will cook hot and fast so adding sugar to the rub will burn and leave an acrid taste. You can get sweetness on to the ribs with a glaze or sauce at the end.
Once your ribs are prepped, setup your Big Green Egg (or whichever grill you own) for indirect cooking using 3 lumps of smoking wood for flavor. As this is “Texas Style” I used Post Oak Chunks for this cook. And since this is a “hot and fast” cook, I preheated the Big Green Egg to 350°. Trust me… this will work!
Once the temperature is stable and the smoke runs clean, it’s time to place your ribs inside. I do not use a rib rack as it messes with the bark on my ribs. You can use a rib rack if you want, although in my experience it does more harm than good.
Leave the ribs alone for the first hour then start spritzing them (or mopping them) every 30 minutes until they are done. For my spritz I use 1 cup of apple juice, 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar, a few dashes of hot sauce, and a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce.
Right around the 3 hour mark, start picking your ribs up with a set of tongs halfway through the rack. If the ribs bend, and you see a crack form in the meat between the ribs, they are done. Seeing the bones stick out is a good sign to know they are done as well.
Pull the ribs and rest them a few minutes before slicing and serving. You can sauce them or glaze them for the final 30 minutes of the cook as well. For me, I wanted true “Texas Style” and left them with seasoning and smoke flavor only. So good!
If you like this recipe and want to see more of my rib recipes here you go:
Hot and Fast Texas Style Spare Ribs
Ingredients
- 1 rack of spare ribs
- 1 Tbs mustard
- 1 Tbs kosher salt
- 1 Tbs cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
Instructions
- Clean and trim the ribs to a St. Louis cut removing the membrane on the bone side
- Setup your Big Green Egg for indirect cooking with 3 chunks of wood
- Preheat the Big Green Egg to 350°
- When the temp is stable and smoke clean put ribs inside
- Let smoke for the first hour undisturbed
- After that mop or spray the ribs every 30 minutes until done
- At the 3 hour mark check to see if the ribs pass the bend test and you see the bones sticking out
- Once done pull the ribs, slice, and serve
I followed your recipe for my Thanksgiving turkey on my Big Green Egg as my friends and family designated me to the task. The turkey came out fabulous and was loved by all. Thank you. Now I’m going to follow your spare rib directions times 2 for Super Bowl. I know it will be stupendous thanks to you and my Egg
Deborah… thanks for the kind words. I am glad the recipe worked out for you! I trust the rib recipe will do the same 🙂
I look your recipes up everytime I light the big green egg. I don’t even bother looking at anyone else’s. I love your ribs. I use your way for Texas Style and baby backs. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise with us…
Kind words Tim. Thank you 🙏
First of all, thank you! Your recipes and instructions have never failed me and you’re my go to for just about everything I grill or smoke. I was skeptical (and a bit nervous) but tried this 3 hour cook yesterday with a couple racks of St. Louis spare ribs and they turned out great! One quick question I had was once the ribs come off what is the best way to keep them moist post cook? I was lucky and everyone couldn’t stop eating them fresh off the egg, but the second rack I had some left over and noticed they were getting pretty dried out. Thank you!
First, thanks for the kind words. Second, I’d suggest keeping the second rack wrapped and held in a cooler until slicing and serving.
Way too overdone after just 2 1/2 hours at this temp.
I’m sorry you had this experience. I should stress the importance of cooking to temp and not so much on cooking to time. Thanks for the valuable feedback!
Typically a big fan of BBQbuddha recipes. Not this time.
Try at your own risk. Sounded like a great idea, ribs in 3 hours, what’s not to like.
Followed recipe and instructions. Even kept temperature down around 300. Ruined 2 racks of ribs. Dry, burnt and straight in the trash. Very disappointed.
Thanks for the feedback Doug! Sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you. Next time you’re in my neck of the woods I’ll cook you up a couple racks to make up for the experience!