Sam's Place: Smoker

Smoked Ribs on the Grill:

The weather forecast on Saturday here in Western New York was calling for dangerous thunderstorms, but that wasn’t the case. The day turned out to be a beautiful day of sunshine with temperatures in the 80’s. So, it was time to try some smoked ribs on the grill.

After cleaning off the deck I took my propane tank for the gas grill and got it filled up. I wanted to make sure that I had enough propane for my first try at smoking ribs using the gas grill.

After reading so many great smoker recipes from Old Fat Guy Cooking on his Louisiana Pellet Grill. I just had to try to get some of that smoked flavor that he is always talking about. Click the link to see all of his amazing smoker recipes and much more. In my opinion, he is a master at this.

I picked up a nice rack of back ribs at the store, along with a bag of Applewood smoking chips. I decided to use the Southwestern rub similar to the one I used in this recipe, Grilled Southwestern Chicken Breasts. I changed it up a bit by adding some Cajun seasoning and ground black pepper.

Meat Rub Recipe:

1 Tbsp. chili powder

2 Tsp. ground cumin

1 Tsp. coriander

½ Tsp. onion powder

½ Tsp. garlic powder

½ Tsp. dried oregano

½ Tsp. paprika

1 Tsp. sea salt

½ Tsp. Cajun seasoning

½ Tsp. ground black pepper

After mixing and shaking the rub, I cut the back ribs in half and brushed them with olive oil. Then I hand rubbed the mixture onto both sides until it was all used up. I covered the ribs and set them in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

I wrapped up four packages of the Applewood chips in tin foil, a handful in each package, and poked holes in the top. I heated the grill on the high setting and placed the ribs directly on the rack for 2 minutes per side.

Then I moved the ribs to the upper rack of the grill, turned one side of the grill off and lowered the other side to just above the low setting. I place the packages of wood chips on the surface and closed the lid.

My goal was to try and maintain a 250-degree internal temperature of the grill. I was just guessing at this point; I don’t have a surface thermometer for my grill.

After one hour and 45 minutes, I had 150-degree internal temperature of the ribs. I needed to get to 180 degrees. At this point, I turned the second burner on to the same setting.

It took another 45 minutes to reach 180 degrees. After I turned the second burner on I had to put out a couple of fires using a spray bottle of water.

I removed the ribs and covered them to let them rest for about 15 minutes. The total cook time was 2-1/2 hours.

The outside of the ribs had a nice tasty crust, and the inside was juicy and tender with a nice smoked flavor from the Applewood chips.

The result: Sweet Smoked Baby Back Ribs

I was pretty happy with the outcome for my first attempt at smoking on the gas grill. I think I need to buy a surface thermometer for my grill to give me more control. I was experimenting here and everything was a guess to control the temperature of the grill.

As always thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed.