Ever wanted to know how to cook pork ribs on the barbecue from scratch?

Cooking pork ribs on the bbq is usually fraught with trouble; tough, overcooked, undercooked.. the list goes on – but it’s easier than you think. Here’s how I cook pork ribs on the bbq from scratch.

Three way to bbq pork ribs:

• Bake them wrapped in foil in the oven then finish them on the BBQ – here is my oven baked ribs recipe
• Slow cook them on a rotisserie bbq
• Cook them on a kettle bbq with a lid

Cooking pork ribs on the BBQ in 60-90 minutes.

There are also different types of ribs, just to clarify this method won’t work with beef ribs (they need much longer and slower cooking). This recipe is specifically for baby back pork ribs or even pork spare ribs.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when cooking pork ribs on the bbq from scratch.

• Use the best quality charcoal you can find – I use Big K charcoal – but you need good quality charcoal to burn for a couple of hours. Secondly, use more than you think. Nothing worse than running out of heat halfway through cooking!

Rubs and Sauces:

• use a dry rub before cooking
• brush with bbq sauce just before the end
• If you brush with bbq sauce before cooking they tend to burn due to the high sugar content; so save that delicious bbq sauce for the very end.

Cooking pork ribs on the bbq from scratch – this is your running order:

• Remove skin from underside of ribs
• Add dry rub to ribs – before cooking
• Slow cook in kettle bbq (with a lid)
• Brush ribs with BBQ sauce – just before end of cooking

Dry rub ingredients:

• 2 tbsp garlic granules
• Cracked black pepper
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp oregano
• 1 tbsp cayenne pepper (or paprika if you don’t want them hot)
• 1 tsp ground cumin

BBQ Sauce (for brushing at the end)

• here’s the link to my special bbq sauce

Here’s my recipe for BBQ pork ribs

Ingredients:

• Rack of ribs (as many as you want)
• Dry rub
• BBQ Sauce

Method:

• Make your dry rub and bbq sauce.
• Massage the dry rub into the rack of ribs
• Light the bbq; 1. use plenty of coal; it’s got to last a couple of hours you’re cooking your ribs over indirect heat (that means you light your bbq, once the coals are ashen, push the coals to the middle of the grate) and place your ribs around the edge – so they are not over the coals.
• Close the lid with the vents open; once your BBQ reaches about 200c keep an eye on the vents – closing them a little if it gets too hot and opening them if the temperature starts to drop.
• Turn the ribs half way through – try not to open the lid too often as you’ll lose heat.
• After about 60 minutes they should be about done – stick a fork inbetween the ribs to test – it should be tender but not soft.
• Brush with bbq sauce and close the lid for another 10 minutes or just until the sauce gets sticky.
• Remove from the bbq, place on a chopping board and leave to rest for five minutes before diving in!

Cooking pork ribs on the BBQ from scratch

11th August 2020

Servings: 4

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 90 min

Total: 2 hr

Difficulty: easy

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How to cook pork ribs on the BBQ from scratch

By: Theo

Ingredients

• Rack of ribs (as many as you want)
• Dry rub
• BBQ Sauce
• Kettle BBQ + Charcoal!

Directions

• Step 1 Make your dry rub and bbq sauce (see link above)
• Step 2 Massage the dry rub into the rack of ribs
• Step 3 Light the bbq
• Step 4 1. use plenty of coal
• Step 5 it’s got to last a couple of hours you’re cooking your ribs over indirect heat (that means you light your bbq, once the coals are ashen, push the coals to the middle of the grate) and place your ribs around the edge – so they are not over the coals.
• Step 6 Close the lid with the vents open
• Step 7 once your BBQ reaches about 200c keep an eye on the vents – closing them a little if it gets too hot and opening them if the temperature starts to drop. 
• Step 8 Turn the ribs half way through – try not to open the lid too often as you’ll lose heat.
• Step 9 After about 60 minutes they should be about done – stick a fork inbetween the ribs to test – it should be tender but not soft. 
• Step 10 Brush with bbq sauce and close the lid for another 10 minutes or just until the sauce gets sticky. 
• Step 11 Remove from the bbq, place on a chopping board and leave to rest for five minutes before diving in!