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grilling Want to smoke ribs on gas grill(need help)

I have never smoked before and need some tips for smoking some ribs on my gas grill. I know the how to set up the wood chips but need some tips for rubs and cooking times or if I need to precook the ribs at all?
 
Precook, no.

Trim the ribs to St. Louis style spare. That's removing the membrane and trimming the tips off for square edges. Rub.

I've never smoked on a gas grill, but the following may still apply.

Temps:

225-240 = Apprx. 6 hours - 3 2 1 Method, 3 hours unfoiled, bone side down. 2 hours foiled bone side up. 1 hour foiled bone side down, sauce if wanted near end.

260-275 = Apprx. 5 hours. Some like the result better with the higher heat.

You still have to know when they are done from experience though, it's not all science.

They'll turn out much better if you buy a cheap charcoal grill and turn it into a water smoker with a cake pan. Pretty simple.
 
Precook, no.

Trim the ribs to St. Louis style spare. That's removing the membrane and trimming the tips off for square edges. Rub.

I've never smoked on a gas grill, but the following may still apply.

Temps:

225-240 = Apprx. 6 hours - 3 2 1 Method, 3 hours unfoiled, bone side down. 2 hours foiled bone side up. 1 hour foiled bone side down, sauce if wanted near end.

260-275 = Apprx. 5 hours. Some like the result better with the higher heat.

You still have to know when they are done from experience though, it's not all science.

They'll turn out much better if you buy a cheap charcoal grill and turn it into a water smoker with a cake pan. Pretty simple.


The Number Method of smoking is as follows: The first number, in this case, "3" is ribs bone side down, 3 hours. The second number, "2", is ribs in foil. The third number, "1", is generally regarded as one of two things. Either removing the foil and continue smoking the ribs for another hour and glaze or in some cases, removing the ribs still in foil from the smoker and allowed to rest for an hour.

I personally prefer a 3-1-1 method and the last hour resting. I find the method Dan advises okay and preferable by some but I don't want fall off the bone ribs. I prefer the meat to be slightly firmer and come off the bone as I bite into it.

No matter what anyone says, try for yourself and decide what you like best. Play around with it. BBQ is way too fun to take too serious. Relax, crack open a cold beer, turn the channel to the Cowboys, and play catch with your dog. Life is good!
 
Uh your 3-2-1 is the same as what I posted lol. Falling off the bone is too dry. I just posted what is a common method. I actually prefer the higher temp rib at 275. On a gas grill who knows?
 
Uh your 3-2-1 is the same as what I posted lol. Falling off the bone is too dry. I just posted what is a common method. I actually prefer the higher temp rib at 275. On a gas grill who knows?

hehehe...

: contemplates challenging THP to a gas rib throwdown :

: considers all sins committed this week :

: POOF! Gas rib thought vanishes :

At least I ain't going to hell for that one!
 
Tofu ribs you say?

;)

TB is right just experiment. You need to cook it to your liking, whether it's smoky, mildly smoked, sweet, firm, chewy, with glaze, with bark... and there are tons are variables which is why competing is so fierce. One championship rib may taste nothing like another.

Yeah it's all about relaxing with beer in hand so just do it!
 
I've been making them on my gas grill for years, and IMO they are better than any rib I've had at the rib-fest, but thats probably due to the rub(which I can post later if you want). However, after two hours on the grill(upper rack), I do one hour in the oven(300) in a covered baking dish with a cup of apple juice in the bottom. Then they go back on the grill for 15 minutes covered in your sauce of choice.

Also, I use a smoker box they sell at Home Depot for gas grills.
 
Look up Johnny Trigg who does ribs at 275. He doesn't give away many secrets but he smokes at 275 with dry rub, meat side up, and I believe only foils in the end, meat side down. He uses two layers of foil with more rub and butter (places ribs meat side down into the mixture and also adds it to the top), and when desired tenderness is reached, he removes and adds a glaze to the ribs that he cooks in a saucepan first, then slices. The whole process is 4-5 hours.

Post pics when you do this chillilover.
 
I suggest getting a smoker box for your grill. It is a stainless steel box that holds the wood chips and them you place that on the burned underneath the cooking rack.
 
I suggest getting a smoker box for your grill. It is a stainless steel box that holds the wood chips and them you place that on the burned underneath the cooking rack.
Didn't know they worked in the oven :rofl:
 
LMAO...With the method I described, I have effectivly turned my gass grill into a pretty good smoker. The only draw back is that it requires more attention to the temp and to the wood as the temp seems to want to climb and the wood needs replenishing more often. But, it works.
 
I suggest getting a smoker box for your grill. It is a stainless steel box that holds the wood chips and them you place that on the burned underneath the cooking rack.
Can you explain your method? If the smoker box is underneath the "cooking" rack, you are cooking direct. Do you mean that in the general sense, and cook indirect?
 
Lets see if I can put it into words, given my current state.....

I have a 3 burner grill. The wood chip box covers one whole burner. You place the box on the one burner and turn on only that burner, it needs to be on low to med setting otherwise you will just burn the wood instead of creating smoke. Then you place the meat over the reaming 2 burners that are unlit and thus cooking indirectly.

If ya was cooking directly that would be called grilling. :D :rofl:
 
Thanks for explaining, maybe that will help the OP. Well you can smoke over direct, like in a UDS, but some don't consider that a true smoke. Let's tease TB about that now ;)
 
I think you missed it he built a UDS. He's posted some good [strike]BBQ[/strike] grilling. I kid ;)
 
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