Ribs are one of the first things many BBQ owners want to cook up on a new grill/smoker. Well, in the pellet smoker community, 3-2-1 ribs have become increasingly popular. It’s three hours in the smoker, then cooking them wrapped with liquid added for two hours and finally one last hour on the grates unwrapped covered in BBQ sauce, and they’re fantastic!
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Step 1: This recipe involves removing the membrane on the back of the ribs, so that’s the first step to follow. However, you’ll also want to start your smoker going set to 180 degrees.
Step 2: Lift up the rack of ribs, and place your hand under the middle of the rack with the membrane side facing up toward you.
Step 3: Then, using a piece of paper towel for traction, grab the edge of the membrane, and force your hand/paper towel underneath the membrane.
Step 4: Lay the rack down back on your work surface and continue to work the paper towel under the membrane on the ribs to lift it off.
Step 5: It can take a bit of effort to get started, but eventually, you’ll get going. Continue to lift up the membrane towards you and off the rack of ribs.
Step 6: Then just follow the membrane down the rack of ribs to remove it and you’re done!
Step 7: Now its time to season the ribs, first, start with a binder for the rub which is made up of Apple Juice, Mustard, and Worcestershire sauce.
Step 8: Then thoroughly mix all those ingredients together until you have a nice consistent binder.
Step 9: Get your brush, and generously apply the binder to both sides of the rack of ribs.
Step 10: Next, you’ll want to apply your BBQ rub of choice generously over both sides of the rack of ribs.
Step 11: Here is the rack of ribs generously coated in BBQ rub, they are now ready for going on the smoker.
Step 12: Certain Traeger models and other brands of pellet grills/smokers have additional smoke settings such as ‘Super Smoke’ that you may also want to turn on. Make sure to place the ribs on the grates bone side down. With the smoker at 180 degrees leave them for three hours.
Step 13: After around three hours the ribs have developed some nice color, taken on some smoke flavor and they are now ready for the next stage, wrapping.
Step 14: You’ll want a large piece of good quality foil, at least six inches longer than the ribs themselves, and several times the width to provide enough foil for wrapping.
Step 15: Next, lay down some brown sugar where the ribs are going to be placed in the center of the foil.
Step 16: Then place the ribs on the sugar, and place some more brown sugar over the top.
Step 17: Next, you’re going to want to add some honey over the top of the ribs.
Step 18: Now its time for the wrapping and this is important, don’t scrunch the foil. Lift up both sides together so they are even and carefully fold them together to make the pouch.
Step 19: Folding the edge over just a couple of times is going to make it easier to open the fold for a later step.
Step 20: At the end of the wrap, do a couple of neat fold-overs to seal the end of the wrap.
Step 21: At the other end, you going to want to lift it and then open it out into a funnel.
Step 22: Then pour in some apple juice, which will add additional flavor, and steam cook the ribs as they go back on your grill/smoker. Obviously, you’ll want to fold over the end a couple of times to seal the apple juice in there.
Step 23: Now its time to place the ribs wrapped up back on the grill (meat side down) for another two hours. However, this time you’ll want to increase the temp to 225 degrees.
Step 24: After two hours, you’ll want to carefully open up the foil to apply your chosen BBQ sauce over the ribs. Then lift them out of the foil and place them sauce side down on the grates.
Step 25: Then apply more BBQ sauce to the meat side up of the ribs.
Step 26: Make sure to use your brush to carefully cover the ribs with sauce without flicking it everywhere. Leave the grill to cook the ribs at 225 degrees for another 30 to 60 minutes and then they’ll be done.
Step 27: To cut the ribs up, the easiest way to do it is to place them meat side down. That way you can see all of the bones to be able to place your knife between them.
Step 28: While the ribs will be well-cooked you’ll still want a nice sharp nice to give you a nice clean cut between each of the ribs you’re going to serve.
Step 29: And there you have it, the 3-2-1 ribs recipe is popular for a reason, its simple to follow/remember as it gets a low of flavor into the ribs while keeping them nice and moist.
Hi, I’m Chris Scott. I started PelHeat.com back in 2007 and I have a background in pellet manufacturing. PelHeat.com is an educational resource on BBQ pellets, pellet grills & smokers. Check out our Pellet Grill & Smoker Database.
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