Posted By: CDN
Smoked Boneless Riblets - 09/10/11 10:43 AM
Smoked ribs and football on Saturdays are simply a match made in heaven. I love to be at a tailgate party and smell the grills and the smokers wafting that sweet smoky aroma up into the crisp fall air. Here's a twist on smoked ribs that takes a little less time as it does to do racks of ribs, and it makes a perfect finger food for your tailgate party!
What you'll need:
Boneless pork ribs (country style ribs)
Old WoodFire Grill KK's 10 BBQ Rub
Honey
BBQ Sauce
Wood chunks or sticks, such as pecan, hickory, apple or cherry
Start off by building a low heat fire in your grill or smoker, around 250-275 degrees. I usually do these on my Weber Kettle, utilizing my rib cooking technique outlined here http://www.oldwoodfiregrill.com/?page_id=567. But I was cooking a bunch of these ribs for my family and my wood supplier as well, so I elected to cook them on my offset smoker. I used pecan wood for my fire, and I would strongly recommend pecan, hickory, apple or cherry, or a combo of these woods for pork. Another great mixture would be 3:1 pecan or hickory and oak. Once you get the fire started, coat the boneless ribs thoroughly with Old WoodFire Grill KK's 10 BBQ Rub.
Once the temps have stabilized on the cooker at around 250, put the ribs on. You need to maintain between 225 and 275 degrees for your cooking temp. Cook the ribs for about 2.5 to 3 hours, turning about every 45 minutes. The best way to test them for doneness is to take a knife and fork and cut into one. It should be clear juicy and starting to turn white, with a hint of pink around the edges, which is the smoke ring. When they are close to being done, glaze the ribs with honey on both sides.
Let them cook with the glaze on for about 20 to 30 minutes, then bring them in and cut into bite size chunks.
Notice the nice smoke ring in that second photo! Now, put the chopped riblets in a bowl of your favorite BBQ sauce and stir them up to get them fully coated. Serve these at your next tailgate party, and you just may have visitors from the opposing team over at your camp! Don't let them get too friendly though!
