Last updated on December 14th, 2021
What can I say. I love Dry rub smoked ribs. To be fair, I love dry rub smoked – pretty much anything – but ribs are probably one of my favorite things to make. This past summer, I treated myself to a Traeger wood pellet grill smoker and it’s an absolute monster of a cooker. I can’t wait to show off some of my creations, and hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
Tips & Tricks for making the best dry Rub Smoked Ribs
Ingredients:
- yellow mustard
- apple juice
- Worcestershire sauce
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- salt
- black pepper
- cayenne pepper
- dried oregano
- ground ginger
- pork ribs
These are your garden variety ingredients for making a basic rub and marinade. Even dry rubs have to have a sauce and I go with mustard, apple juice and Worcestershire sauce. You can also add in soy sauce, beer, and any other liquids that add in that salty / savory quality. The herbs are fairly basic as well. Just enough cayenne to kick things up a notch without getting to wild. But of course, if you like things a little wild, feel free to ADD a few more teaspoons to your rub. You’ll definitely feel the burn.
Preheat smoker to 225 degrees. Trim fat and membrane / silver from ribs. Combine mustard, apple juice and Worcestershire sauce in small bowl and mix well. Pour over ribs and slather into meat until thoroughly coated on both sides.
Combine all dry rub spice ingredients together and mix well. Sprinkle onto ribs and rub into meat until coated – on both sides.
Place directly onto rack of smoker and cook for 2 1/2 hours. At this point, it’s going to look somewhat pathetic and underdone – but that’s okay. .We’re just getting started!
Remove from smoker and place onto rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
Sprinkle with another 1/4 cup of apple juice and 1/3 cup of additional brown sugar.
Place baking sheet with ribs back out onto smoker rack, seal aluminum foil into a pouch tightly (like a large envelope) and continue cooking at 300 degrees for an additional 2 hours.
Optional step: Remove from foil and baking sheet; brush ribs with favorite bbq sauce and cook for another 60 minutes
Remove meat from smoker and allow to rest for at least one hour.
Frequently Asked Questions
I made this recipe in my Traeger wood pellet smoker. If you try this on a gas or charcoal grill, your results may be vastly different.
I didn’t and it came out just fine for me. However, if you want to, you can for about 12 hours in the fridge.
It’s an optional step towards the end – and it doesn’t wet the meat at all. As you can see from the images, it still cooks to that dry rub texture.
Related Recipes
Dry Rub Smoked Ribs
Ingredients
Marinade:
- 1/4 cup yellow mustard
- 1/4 cup apple juice
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
Dry rub spices:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion powder
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Ribs
- 1 rack baby back pork ribs
Additional ingredients:
- 1/4 cup apple juice
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat smoker to 225 degrees
- Trim fat and membrane / silver from ribs.
- Combine mustard, apple juice and Worcestershire sauce in small bowl and mix well.
- Pour over ribs and slather into meat until thoroughly coated on both sides.
- Combine all dry rub spice ingredients together and mix well.
- Sprinkle onto ribs and rub into meat until coated – on both sides.
- Place directly onto rack of smoker and cook for 2 1/2 hours.
- Remove from smoker and place onto rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
- Sprinkle with another 1/4 cup of apple juice and 1/3 cup of additional brown sugar.
- Place baking sheet with ribs back out onto smoker rack, seal in aluminum foil and continue cooking at 300 degrees for an additional 2 hours.
- Optional step: Brush ribs with favorite bbq sauce and cook for another 60 minutes.
- Remove meat from smoker and allow to rest for at least one hour.
