Another BBQ Rib Experiment

It was Independence Day and time to BBQ...as if I ever needed an excuse.

Make no mistake, I along with most true devotees to BBQ arguably prefer spare ribs.


Never tried cooking these before. My local grocer had these St. Louis cut spare ribs on sale the other day so I decided this would be my chosen July 4 BBQ conquest for this year. Go figure, using a St.Louis cut to make Memphis style ribs.

This cut is favored by many including the Cook’s Illustrated folks. Their video shows what we have been doing for many years here at the country bunker in Valpo. Why type in a recipe when I can link to their most excellent video?


St. Louis ribs are simply spare ribs with the tips removed. We have avoided these in the past because the tips are fantastic if you don’t mind gnawing around some gristle to get after some real sweet meat. I sure don’t. But curiosity won out and I wanted to follow the CI recipe with only one minor tweak or two.

These ribs appeared to be cut a bit short for me but what the hell. They look a lot like the stubby ribs that are served in Chinese restaurants as appetizers.


I took a tip from the CI video and tried another new technique. Instead of my usual yellow mustard and vinegar mop sauce we tried their apple juice and cider vinegar approach.

What I did not do was soak the wood, according to the CI video. This is a debatable topic. Since I prefer hickory chunks (sassafras is best if you can find it) the need to soak makes no sense. Chips are OK but burn out too fast, soaking or not. Since I avoid using them I got no pig in the fight.

In the past I have BBQ’d pork butt for up to nine hours until I discovered that three hours will do if the roast gets covered in foil and finished off in a 250 degree oven for three hours more. The video I linked to added this dimension to spare ribs but without the foil so I tried it. Damn, if it didn’t work like magic.


They were moist and meaty due to using water in the grill and oven pans, which I have never done before. The apple juice/cider vinegar mop sauce may not have added much flavor so I will attribute using it made the meat more tender. It was.



When BBQing I like to bake potatoes in the same cooker at the same time. They seem to absorb some heat keeping the meat from drying out. The smoky flavor adds a nice touch to the potatoes and cooking them for a long time makes a complete meal much easier.

One departure from true Memphis style is that I do baste the ribs during the last few minutes. In Memphis, the sauce is served on the side. Day in and day out my choice of sauce is Sweet Baby Ray’s Hot & Spicy. Bullseye is a close second. While I often make my own sauce these two store bought brands are excellent and not only take a bit of work off my cooktop, it saves scrubbing a pot as well. Monday it was Ray's.

If you have never BBQ’d Memphis style ribs before give it a try. I prefer it over Chicago or Kansas City style. Use spare ribs or the St.Louis cut for best results. The St.Louis cut worked just fine for us.