How To Smoke Ribs The Right Way: A 321 Alternative. (2024)

Great! You bought a smoker. Now you are googling how to smoke ribs. You stumble upon one of the thousands of recipes for 3 2 1 Ribs. You follow the recipe step by step and make an “ok” rack of smoked ribs where the meat “falls off the bone”. Congratulations. You just overcooked another rack of ribs like everyone else, including myself when I first started.

If you’ve ever gone to a BBQ competition and had the Pitmasters ribs, you will quickly notice something: The ribs are individually cut and the meat actually stays on the bone until you bite it off with your teeth. Now remember your 3-2-1 ribs and how gravity removed the meat from the bones for you. That’s not what you want. AmazingRibs.com BBQ legend Meathead feels quite strongly about 321 ribs as well.

I’ve also taken inspiration from Aaron Franklin with the method he uses for smoked ribs. His Masterclass training program goes over ribs in great detail.

Ribs are one of our favorite meats to smoke and you’ll see why after trying this recipe.

What Are 321 Ribs, and Why Aren’t They Ideal?

The 3-2-1 method makes you smoke the ribs for 3 hours, then wrap the ribs in foil and cook for 2 hours followed by one hour of cooking unwrapped and coated in BBQ sauce. It’s simple but not the best way to smoke ribs.The 321 method simply requires you to cook your pork ribs too long, especially during the second step in foil for 2 hours.

We take issue with several aspects of the 321 ribs recipe:

1. The time the smoked ribs cook in foil is too long
2. The time spent cooking the ribs out of the foil is too long
3. The goal shouldn’t be pork ribs with “fall off the bone” meat

How Long Does it Take to Smoke Ribs?

Baby back ribs will typically take 4.5 to 5 hours of total cooking time at 225 degrees F. We recommend about 3 hours of time smoking outside of the foil, then about 1 to 1.5 hours in foil, and finished unfoiled for about 20 minutes. This is enough time for the ribs to be thoroughly cooked and take on a smoky flavor. Spare ribs (try my spare rib recipe here) will take a bit longer like 5-6 hours and cooked at a slightly higher temp like 230F-250F.

We go over smoking times for ribs in more detail for each rib type and personal preference of rib textures here.

Ever wonder what the difference is between baby back and spare ribs? Learn about it here.

How To Tell When Ribs Are Done

I find the easiest way to tell if the baby back ribs are done during the first smoke stage is to do the “bounce test” with the smoked ribs, where you pick them up with tongs and lightly bounce them. If the meat starts to crack by the bone, the ribs are done smoking. You can start the foil portion of the cook.

Smoked Ribs Temperature

When the smoking portion of the rib cook is complete, the ribs will be around 180F-190F. That sounds very high but this is normal when smoking ribs. Since we are cooking at a low temperature of 225F and spritzing the ribs to keep the moisture level high, the ribs will not taste overdone. As you can see below, pork is done around 145F, but smoked ribs are ready closer to 185F.

I strongly recommend you get yourself a good smoker/grill thermometer like the Signals from Thermoworks so you can make sure your smoker is staying around 225F. You would be surprised what the actual smoke box temperature is compared to the built-in thermometer.

Smoking Ribs on a Charcoal Grill or Smoker

The best tip I can give when using a charcoal-based smoker is to utilize the Two-Zone method. Keep your charcoal on one side of the grill and place your ribs on the other side creating an indirect cook. Placing your ribs directly above the charcoal will cook them quickly. We do not want a fast cook here. We want a slow cook to allow the smoke flavors to settle in. The picture below demonstrates this well. I’m actually using the SNS Deluxe system below in the picture. Works great for ribs on a Kettle.

Also, don’t put too many wood chunks on at a time. Start with one larger chunk to start, and maybe add one or two more after. You don’t want too much wood on these charcoal burners.

If you’re not sure what type of wood to use forsmoking ribs, check out our article onsmokingwood.You can use stronger woods likehickoryormesquiteas well asfruit woodslike cherry orpecan(yes, it’s considered afruit woodwhen it comes tosmoking.) You can even use multiple types of wood together for a blend offlavors.

Smoking Ribs on a Pellet Grill

Pellet grills are extremely forgiving and simple to use, though there are a couple of important things to point out.

1. Make sure you are confident on the actual temperature your pellet grill is putting out. When I do pellet grill tests, I use aftermarket digital thermometers to confirm what the actual temps are in the cook chamber. You would be surprised how far off the factory thermometer is from the real temperature in the cook chamber.
2. Add a bowl of water in the cook chamber. It keeps humidity up which helps the smoke stick to the rib meat. Little things like this pay off. The picture below shows my water tray and the ribs on the top rack further away from the cooking grates.

How to Smoke Ribs (The Right Way)

My recipe below works great with any type of smoker be it a pellet, charcoal, offset or even an electric. This recipe was created for baby back ribs. If you are doing spare ribs, then I recommend smoking a bit longer. Usually 3 hours of smoke at 240F and then another 1.5-2 hours wrapped in foil at 225F works for spare ribs.

Smoked Ribs Ingredients:

• 2 Racks of Baby Back Ribs
• 6 TBSP Melted Honey (Get Real Honey from a Local Honey Farm)
• 4 TBSP Melted Butter
• Dry Rib Rub (Try our homemade rib rub recipe)
• BBQ Sauce: Make our Jack Daniels Sauce or Traditional BBQ Sauce

Gear for Smoking Ribs:

Time:

• Prep Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
• Smoking/Cooking Time: 4 hours
• Resting Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 6 hours 30 minutes

Instructions:

• Rinse the ribs in cold water and pad dry.
• Trim any excess fat or connective tissue. Only leave what you want to eat.

• On the bone side of the ribs, remove the membrane. A quick trick is using a piece of paper towel to help grip the membrane. Once you get a good grip of the membrane, simply pull until it is completely removed.

• Once the ribs are prepped, I apply my favorite rub generously. Make sure to cover all the sides and edges of the ribs.

• Cover the ribs and keep in the fridge for 2 hours or more.
• Remove the ribs from the fridge and allow to warm slightly on the counter.
• Fire up the smoker to 225F. I use Pecan or Cherry, when smoking ribs.
• Once the smoker is at proper temp, place the ribs on the grill meat side up.

• Now you can pretty much wait for the three hours to pass or some fanatics prefer to spritz their ribs every 30-45 minutes with a 50/50 mixture of apple cider vinegar and water. I personally quit doing this, because I never noticed a difference.
• After three hours, remove the ribs and place each rack meat side up on a large piece of heavy-duty tin foil.
• Brush melted butter over the tops of the ribs then followed by the the melted honey.You can spritz the ribs for extra moisture.
• Flip the racks around so the bone side is facing up. Repeat the previous step with melted butter and melted honey.
• Leave the racks bone side up and wrap the ribs tightly. Place back on the smoker bone side up for 45-60 minutes. Keep the temp at 225F. Optional: If you want the ribs more tender or closer to falling off the bone, cook in the foil for 1.5-2 hours. Remember, you want to be careful wrapping the ribs to make sure they do not lose any of the juices, so be gentle when putting them back on the smoker and when removing them.
• Remove the ribs from the foil and place back on the grill.
• Brush the ribs with your favorite barbecue sauce. Cook for approximately 30-45 more minutes at 225F.
• Check for doneness by using your grill tongs and pickup up the ribs and give them a slight bounce. If the meat starts to slightly split, the ribs are done.
• Remove from the smoker and cover in foil. Let rest for 10 minutes.
• Be a professional and take a sharp knife (I use a Henkel Serrated Bread Knife) and cut each rib individually. You’ll notice how the ribs don’t fall apart as you cut. Also look for that beautiful pink smoke ring.

• Serve and enjoy. You just got a lot closer to competition ribs.

Wrapping It Up

I hope you agree with our take on smoking ribs and see why we have moved away from the 321 method. I know this is a debatable topic, so feel free to state your comment below.

If you’re looking for some nice BBQ sides to go with these ribs, consider our following recipes. Smoked Mac and Cheese or Smoked Au Gratin Potatoes.

Leftovers? Learn how to reheat these babies the safe and tasty way.

FAQs:

Question: Is 250F good forsmoking ribs?

Answer: We prefersmokingour ribs at 225°F, but 250°F is a perfectly fine option. There’s a lot of discourse over which is better, and it comes down to preference.Smoking ribsat 250°F means they will be done a little faster, butsmokingat 225°F means your ribs will take on a little moresmokeflavor.

Question: What is the 2-2-1 rule for ribs?

Answer: The 221 method is very similar to the 321 method, only yousmokethe ribs unwrapped for two hours to start rather than three beforewrappingthem infoilwith someliquid. Some people say this is a better method forbaby back ribssince they don’t need to cook as long asside ribs.

Question: Is 3-2-1 or 2-2-1 better for ribs?

Answer: In our opinion, both methods will not give you ribperfection. In both cases, the ribs spend entirely too long wrapped up infoilresulting in overcooked ribs. The problem with the 321 method is not how much time the ribs are smoked at the beginning, it’s how long they are infoilfor. Thewrappingof ribs is not likewrappingbrisket or pork butt because ribs are a smaller cut of meat that are not nearly thick as brisket or pork butt.

Question: What is the 2-1-1 method for ribs?

Answer: 211 Ribs is simply 2 hours of smoke unwrapped, 1 hour wrapped and 1 hour unwrapped again but sauced. This cuts down the time ribs spend before being wrapped and while wrapped on thesmoker. This method is more suited tobaby back ribsrather than largerspare ribs. We still prefer the extended three hours of time spent soaking up the woodsmoke, but this method at least will result intenderbut not overcookedbaby back ribs.