3 hours uncovered → 2 hours wrapped with brown sugar and jelly → 1 hour uncovered.
Makes: 2 racks of St. Louis-style spare ribs
Smoker temperature: 225°F
Ingredients
- 2 racks St. Louis-style pork ribs
- 2–3 tbsp yellow mustard or avocado oil, for the binder
- Your favorite BBQ rub, enough to generously coat both racks
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup grape jelly, apple jelly, or your preferred jelly
- ½ cup BBQ sauce, for the final hour
- ¼ cup apple juice or water, optional
1. Prepare the ribs
Remove the ribs from their packaging and pat them dry.
Turn the ribs meat-side down. Using a paper towel, grab the membrane on the back side and pull it off in one piece. If it is difficult to grab, loosen a corner with a butter knife first.
Trim off any loose pieces of fat or meat.
Lightly coat the ribs with mustard or avocado oil. This is just a binder; you won't taste the mustard after smoking.
Generously coat both sides with BBQ rub. Let the ribs sit for about 20–30 minutes while the smoker comes to temperature.
2. Smoke uncovered — 3 hours
Set your Blackstone smoker to 225°F.
Place the ribs on the smoker bone-side down.
Smoke uncovered for 3 hours.
Try to maintain 225°F as consistently as possible. You can spritz the ribs with apple juice every 45–60 minutes if you want, but it isn't necessary. Opening the smoker repeatedly will extend the cooking time.
At the end of three hours, you should have a good dark bark developing and the meat beginning to pull back from the bones.
3. Wrap — 2 hours
Lay out two large sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil for each rack.
For each rack, put approximately:
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup jelly
- A small splash of apple juice or water, if desired
Place the ribs meat-side down onto the brown sugar and jelly.
Add another layer of brown sugar and jelly over the back of the ribs.
Wrap the foil tightly around the ribs so that the juices stay inside.
Return the ribs to the smoker at 225°F.
Cook wrapped for 2 hours.
The brown sugar and jelly will melt together with the pork juices, creating a sweet, sticky braising liquid around the ribs.
4. Unwrap and finish — 1 hour
Carefully open the foil. Watch for very hot steam and liquid.
Remove the ribs from the foil and place them back on the smoker bone-side down.
Brush generously with BBQ sauce.
Smoke uncovered for 1 hour at 225°F.
For the last 15–20 minutes, you can add another thin layer of sauce to build a glossy, sticky finish.
5. Check for doneness
Don't rely solely on the clock. You're looking for ribs that are tender but still hold together when you pick them up.
A good target is roughly 195–205°F internal temperature, but tenderness matters more than the exact number.
The bones should have pulled back somewhat from the ends, and a toothpick should slide between the bones with little resistance.
6. Rest and serve
Remove the ribs from the smoker and let them rest for 10–15 minutes.
Slice between the bones and serve.
The basic formula:
225°F → 3 hours uncovered
→ 2 hours wrapped + brown sugar + jelly
→ 1 hour uncovered + BBQ sauce
→ Rest 10–15 minutes
For a large family, I'd actually do 3–2–1 with two racks at once and keep the seasoning relatively simple. The brown sugar + jelly wrap provides a lot of the flavor, so you don't need an extremely complicated rub.