How to Smoke Ribs on Gas Grill

Want to produce smoky barbecue ribs but don’t want to spend the money on a specialized smoker?

We’ll teach you how to smoke ribs on a regular gas barbecue in this recipe.

I used a cheap tube smoker, but don’t worry if you can’t find one, I’ll offer you some simple DIY alternatives.

How to smoke ribs when you only have a gas grill

If you want to make the greatest bbq rubs, you should always cook them on a specialized smoker.

However, if all you have is a gas barbecue, you can still make pretty tasty ribs.

Using a two-zone cooking configuration is the most crucial step in preparing a gas grill for smoking.

Our smoking on a gas grill tutorial will lead you through the details, but the fundamental concept is to create a hot zone on one side and a cold zone on the other where your food will sit.

This shields your ribs from direct heat while grilling.

You may use any of our pork rib recipes once the grill is ready.

We’ll be cooking a rack of baby back ribs using the 3-2-1 technique, which is the most forgiving way to cook fall-off-the-bone ribs.

I suggest a smoker with 12 tubes. These tubes provide a consistent 5-6 hours of smoke and may be used with any wood pellets of your choosing.

Once the pellets start burning off, this hexagon tube remains set and won’t slide over your grill top, and they’re very simple to clean out.

If you can’t find a smoke tube, wrap some wood chips in aluminum foil and poke a few holes in it.

What type of pork ribs to buy to smoke

Baby back ribs and spare ribs are the two most common types of pork ribs seen in stores. St Louis Style ribs are just spare ribs cut into a more rectangular form, generally for competition.

I used Baby Back Ribs for this dish, but you can’t go wrong with any type. The wrap time may need to be adjusted depending on the size of the ribs you use.

For example, if you have very little baby back ribs, you might wrap them for only one hour if you want a firmer texture.

BBQ Ribs on the gas grill

1. Setup your gas grill for smoking

When smoking on a gas barbecue, make sure there is enough propane in the tank. Long cooks utilize less than a quarter of a tank, but keeping a full-sized tank on hand is usually a smart idea.

Turn on the far left burner of your grill and turn it to medium heat. Insert the digital thermometer now and shut the lid. Keep an eye on your temperature until it reaches 225F 250F.

Allow your grill to preheat and reach the correct temperature. Turn the dial down if you fast exceed your intended temperature. If you are still at 180F after 20 minutes, bump up your dial-up. If you’re having trouble getting your grill to 225F 250F, try turning on extra burners if you have them.

This may seem difficult at first, but with a little practice using your grill, you’ll know precisely where your burners need to be to cook at your chosen temperature.

2. Prepare your ribs for smoking

You may prepare the ribs while the grill reaches grilling temperature.

Remove the membrane from a rack of baby back ribs and pat dry. The ribs might be trimmed competition style, but as this is a casual home meal, not much trimming is required. Simply remove any irregular pieces of meat or fat flaps and you’re ready to go.

Allow the ribs to come to room temperature until the grill is hot and the smoke is ready.

3. Add the smoke with a pellet tube

It’s time to add the smoking element after the grill temperature has stabilized in the cooking range.

Fill the tube smoker with your preferred pellets. I like a mixture of hardwood and fruitwood pellets or a readymade competitive blend, but there are several wood combinations that may be used for ribs.

Light the pellets at the open end with a torch or fire starter and let them burn for approximately five minutes at full flame.

After five minutes, extinguish the live flame and place the smoker tube on the grill’s hot side. This is the side with the burners turned on.

The tube should be emitting a constant stream of rolling smoke. It should last around six hours. This recipe requires a certain amount of smoke.

4. Season the ribs and put on the grill

It’s time to season the ribs with a dry rub now that the temperature has stabilized and the smoke has begun to roll. Christie Vanovers Pork Rub cooperation with Spiceology was utilized. The bigger granules stay on the top of the meat longer, blending with the fat and smoke as it gently renders into the flesh during the cooking process.

Season both sides of the ribs, working your free hand into the flesh. Place the rack, bone side down, in the cool zone of the grill after thoroughly coating it with dry rub. The one to the left of the lighted burners and smoking tube.

Once the ribs are in place, it’s a simple 3-2-1 cook: three hours unwrapped, two hours covered in foil, and one hour unwrapped.

5. Smoke ribs for three hours

This initial stage of cooking enables the meat to absorb the smoke taste, while the rub helps generate the classic mahogany color and bark that we obtain when smoking meat.

I don’t bother spritzing the ribs for the first three hours since this enables the smoke, fat, and dry rub to mix and fully set into the flesh.

The smoke from the tube should be the thickest at the start, making it ideal for the first puff.

The surface of the ribs will be deeper in color and sticky to the touch at the conclusion of the first three hours. The fat has begun to render, and the smoke and rub tastes have combined.

6. Wrap ribs for two hours

Remove the ribs from the smoker after three hours and arrange bone side down on two pieces of foil. We double layer so the bones don’t protrude through the foil.

Coat the ribs equally with a sweet sauce of your choosing, I used Franks Stingin Honey Garlic sauce for this recipe. The honey tacks up beautifully on the ribs, while the garlic and soy offer further depth of flavor and umami.

Wrap the ribs in foil and place three pats of quality butter on top of the sauced ribs, about 1 tablespoon for each pat (I use Kerrygold).

Return the foiled ribs to the indirect side of the grill and cook for two hours, stirring occasionally.

7.Uncover and sauce ribs for one hour

sauce mixture.Remove the ribs from the grill and discard the aluminum foil after two hours. The ribs should be exceptionally moist since they were virtually cooked in their own juices and butter in the foil container.

Using the foil as a tray, turn the ribs meat side up and apply another thin layer of the dry rub, followed by additional sauce to taste.

This last layer of sauce will glaze on the meat, becoming sticky and tacky in the greatest manner possible. I like a nice dry-rubbed Memphis-style rib, but there’s something special about sticky ribs with a great glaze on top. It’s finger-lickin’ delicious!

For the last layer of sauce, I used Tiger Sauce. It complements the first layer of Franks Stinging Honey Garlic incredibly well, delivering a deeper fire while complementing with a delicate sweetness. It contains just enough sugar to caramelize into a wonderful glaze.

After the ribs have been uniformly sauced, return them to the grill, uncovered, for the last hour.

8. Remove and serve

Transfer the ribs to a chopping board without shredding the meat or tearing the bark. Rather of using metal tongs, use heat-resistant silicone gloves.

Allow the ribs to rest for about 10 minutes before cutting between the bones, serving, and enjoying!