Smoked BBQ Ribs and Rub for St. Louis Style Pork Ribs

Ready to eat ribs.

Brian's 67th birthday is Tuesday the 2nd of August and we celebrated his birthday by having him, at his request, smoke ribs for diner on Sunday. Our tradition is that you pick the diner menu or restaurant and we get on it and try to do what your heart desires for you!!

Brian wanted to smoke St. Louis style ribs. We have almost always made baby back ribs so this was a change. I spoke with our butcher Randy and he prepared them by cutting the rib tips off of three full slabs. I purchased them at the regular spare ribs price, had the tips removed and freezer wrapped for later use in two package portions. These will be great slow cooked in the crock pot or roasted over sauerkraut on a weeknight supper menu.

Seasoning for Ribs and Pork.

Next I prepared a rub or dry seasoning for the ribs:

1/2 C. coarse kosher salt
1/4 C. brown sugar
1 T. onion powder
1 T. garlic powder
1 T. lemon pepper
1 T. ground black pepper
3 T. paprika
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. cayenne pepper

Mix altogether and season meat generously about an hour before cooking. Store seasoning in an airtight container for use later.

Seasoned St. Louis Style Pork Ribs.

We cook our seasoned ribs over a pan of liquid and with wet wood chips in a smoker. The liquid can be water infused with any ripe fruit you have or beer or wine. The wood chips are also your choice. We have used numerous fruit woods as well as hickory chips. These were smoked for 8 hours over a low heat around 225-250 degrees. They were great!!

The birthday menu was BBQ ribs, Asian Slaw, baked beans, corn on the cob, cubed watermelon, as well as a Devil's Food layer cake with chocolate butter cream frosting and vanilla ice cream. We sang "Happy Birthday" and a good time was had by all.