BBQ pork ribs on the grill

Votes: 1

Time: 3 hours plus marinating time
Complexity: easily
Servings: 4 - 6

For this recipe, it's best to use pork ribs cut from the brisket; they're fattier and more sinewy, making them incredibly juicy when smoked properly. Smoke your ribs on the grill American-style, choosing one of two marinades—Memphis or Cajun—and two barbecue sauces to brush on while grilling. Kansas City Sauce is a more traditional tomato-based barbecue sauce with a sweet and tart flavor. Coffee BBQ Sauce combines the subtle heat of peppers, tomato sweetness, and a hint of coffee. If you prefer your ribs dry, you can skip the brushing and serve the sauce at the table.

The recipes use measuring containers with the following volumes:
1 glass (st.) - 250 ml.
3/4 cup (st.) - 180 ml.
2/3 cup (st.) - 160 ml.
1/2 cup (st.) - 125 ml.
1/3 cup (st.) - 80 ml.
1/4 cup (st.) - 60 ml.
1 tablespoon (tbsp) - 15 ml.
1 teaspoon (tsp) - 5 ml.
1/5 teaspoon (tsp) - 1 ml.

Ingredients for the recipe:

Memphis Shake Marinade

1/4 cup sweet paprika
3 tbsp. l. brown sugar
2 tbsp. l. dried oregano
2 tablespoons granulated garlic
1 tbsp ground ancho pepper
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon celery salt
2 pork ribs (about 1.3 kg each)
Additionally: 3 cups of wood chips, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes

Cajun Dry Marinade

1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp. l. dried oregano
2 tbsp. l. dried parsley
2 tablespoons granulated garlic
2 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp. sweet paprika
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp. ground black pepper
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3 bay leaves, crushed

Kansas City BBQ Sauce

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 heaping tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp paprika
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp ground allspice
A pinch of ground cloves
2 tbsp. ketchup
2 tbsp of water
0.5 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp coarse salt
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp mustard powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 bay leaf

Coffee barbecue sauce

3 dried guajillo peppers
3 dried poblano peppers
Half a medium onion, cut into longitudinal half rings
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 tbsp. l. corn oil
1 tbsp. tomato puree
1 cup strong black coffee
1/4 tbsp. sugar turbinado
1 tbsp coarse salt and a little more
1 teaspoon dried oregano
A pinch of ground cloves
A pinch of ground cumin
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Ingredient Substitution Suggestions

We recommend

Cooking the dish according to the recipe:

Remove the membranes from the inside of the ribs and rub with 1/2 cup of Memphis Shake dry marinade or Cajun spice mix of your choice. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours. Soak the wood chips in water for 30 minutes.

Memphis Shake Marinade.

In a small bowl, whisk together the paprika, brown sugar, oregano, garlic, ancho powder, salt, and celery salt. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 2 months. Clean your grinder occasionally to prevent odor transfer, fill the grinder with dry rice, and pulse.
Exit: 3/4 cup

Cajun Dry Marinade.

In a bowl, combine brown sugar, oregano, parsley, garlic, onion powder, paprika, thyme, black pepper, salt, celery salt, white pepper, cayenne pepper, and bay leaf. Grind the seasoning in an electric food processor until finely ground. Store the dry marinade in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 2 months.
Exit: 1 tbsp.
Prepare your outdoor grill for indirect, moderate heat. Place a drip pan half-filled with water under the grill grate on the cooler side. Open the grill's bottom vents.

Place the ribs on the grate over a drip pan of water (use a rib rack if you have one). Sprinkle 1 cup of soaked wood chips over the coals (drain the water) and close the grill lid. The vents should be positioned directly above the ribs.
Add 1 cup of charcoal to the fire about every hour to maintain a moderate temperature (120-135°C is the ideal smoking temperature). After 3 hours, the meat should easily fall off the bone and be browned. Brush the ribs with 2 cups of Kansas City or coffee barbecue sauce and transfer them to the direct heat zone. Grill until lightly glazed.
Cut the finished ribs and serve with barbecue sauce.

Kansas City BBQ Sauce

In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, tomato paste, chili powder, paprika, red pepper flakes, allspice, and cloves. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes until golden brown. Add the ketchup, water, vinegar, molasses, brown sugar, salt, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, black pepper, and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf from the finished sauce.
Exit: about 1 l.

Coffee barbecue sauce

Split the peppers and remove the stems and seeds. Toast them in a dry frying pan over medium-high heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer the peppers to a heatproof bowl, cover with very hot water, and let them sit for 30 minutes to soften. Then remove them and chop coarsely. Don't discard the liquid.

While the peppers are soaking, in the same dry skillet, fry the onion and garlic over medium heat for 8 minutes. The onion should be crispy and the garlic skins should be soft. Let cool and squeeze the garlic out of the skins into a blender. Add the onion and peppers. Blend the vegetables to a paste, adding more of the pepper soaking water (about 3/4 cup) if necessary.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pepper and onion mixture and cook, stirring, for about 4 minutes, until the sauce thickens and becomes fragrant. Add the tomato puree, coffee, sugar, 1 tablespoon of salt, oregano, cloves, and cumin. Simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, until slightly thickened.
Then stir in the vinegar and add salt to taste.
Exit: 1 l.