It’s no secret that we’re in love with smoking on the Big Green Egg. And with our handy ThermoWorks gear, (i.e. DOT and Thermapen Mk4 both in screamin’ Green) smoking and grilling to temperature has gotten a whole lot more accurate.
So when I spotted a post on ThermoWorks blog about competition style BBQ ribs, I just had to put our BGE to work reproducing those delicious BBQ pork ribs.
We sourced our pork ribs from two vendors: our local Kroger grocery store (for back loin ribs) and a butcher shop, Matador Meats, in Plano (for St Louis cut ribs).
I applied our cajun-style dry spice rub to the ribs and refrigerated until we were ready for meat to hit the grill.
Here’s a reprint of my Cajun/Blackening Spice recipe:
- 2-3 tablespoons paprika
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes, ground cayenne, or a dash of ghost pepper
- 1-2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1/2 to 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon basil (optional)
- 1 teaspoon cumin (optional)
- 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar
We primed our BGE to cook low and slow at no more than dome temp of 250F, using oak chips and lump. We had at least 3 temperature probes monitoring meat temperatures during the 8 hour smoke. When the the temps hit 165F, we pulled them from the BGE for the wrap portion of the cook.
Our go-to sauce is Trader Joe’s Organic Sriracha & Roasted Garlic BBQ Sauce, and we slathered this on the ribs in their foil wrap, before returning them to the BGE for the final march to 200F.
The result: tender, pull-apart sweet-spicy pork ribs that easily fell off the bone.