Dateline: May 20, 2020 Ribs With Rub-A-Dub-Dub

I had ordered a single rack of St. Louis style ribs from FreshDirect, and that is what arrived.  A rack that was maybe as large as a baby back order.  No worries, I was going to rub and smoke today.

The Rub

1 T Hungarian Paprika

1 t chipotle chili powder

1 t ancho chili powder

1 t Galena Street rub from Penzey's

1 t salt

1 T brown sugar

2 t onion powder

2 t garlic powder

1 t black pepper

1 t mustard powder

1 t lemon pepper

Mix together well, especially to blend in the brown sugar.  Hold to the side

The Ribs

Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs.  Rub the rack all over with worcestershire sauce both front and back.  Coat and rub in the rub on both sides and set aside while you start up the smoker.  By the time the smoker is up to temp, the ribs will have developed a wetness to them as the meat absorbs the spices.

Set up your initial temperature to be between 225° and 250° F.  When the smoker is up to temp, add the ribs and close the lid.  Leave it alone for a couple of hours.  Keep in mind the old adage:  If you are looking, you are not cooking.  Monitor the temp to be sure that the smoker doesn't go wacky and shoot up to 300° F.  After about 4.5 hours, flip the orientation of the ribs.  Meaning move the right side to the left, or if you are using a rib rack, top to bottom.  

At about 6 hours, use an instant read thermometer to check that 1) the temp is around 185 - 200° F, along with 2) the bone ends are starting to poke through, 3) when you grab 2 adjacent bones and pull in opposite directions, the meat tears, 4) holding the rack in the center using tongs, it flops in half, threatening to tear in half.  Any 2 of the 4 can indicate cook time is done.

Remove from the smoker and cut into individual ribs.

Sit down and eat!

Check out the smoke ring....corn was smoked too!A

The ribs had a nice chew to them.  The end ribs were a little more done, and had a pleasant crispiness to their edges.  The rub had a wonderful, well, to me, smokey-sweetness to it that was addictive.  I ate more of them than I really needed to!  Followed up with a lovely salad and tonight was a little slice of heaven on earth!

Beet, feta, onion, red bell pepper, tomatoes, and lettuce salad