Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Help with St. LOius style ribs

I have these ribs that I want to smoke on Sunday. I usually do about 3 hrs. Then wrap and sauce them for about another 30 to 40 minutes. They never seem to turn out quite right, what am I doing wrong?

Oh and I'm doing them on a BGE at 225

Cook them a while longer(1-2hrs at least). Spritz them with apple juice every 45min or so.

Do you use any rub? Best way to add flavor. I also agree to cook them longer. St Louis style usually take longer. 4 hours minimum. Bend test is a good judge of doneness

I did some a couple months ago. Used close to the same temp, but probably took 6hours. Sprayed with apple juice every 30 minutes and never wrapped in foil. Put bbq sauce on last 15-30 minutes. Texture was pretty damn good. Wasn’t super keen on the pre seasoning. Still a work in progress. Best of luck.

Forget that 321 junk.

Yep, I just go 4.5-5 hrs. Never wrap. I like dry rub, but can sauce if you want near last 30 min.

Everybody does it different, so just go with whatever you prefer. I actually like St. Louis ribs better than babybacks. Usually, I'll prep mine by putting my rub on at least several hours prior to cooking. I typically cook two at a time, and usually smoke one for about two hours, then wrap in foil after adding butter, brown sugar, and honey. I'll then cook it at least 2-3 more hours that way. The second rib I just leave on the smoker, maybe sprinkling some more rub on. I cook at 250. Then again, sometimes I'l wrap both of them.

Just remember, there is not a "best" way, as everybody has different tastes, and no two smokers or grills are going to cook alike. The key is to experiment and see what works best for you.

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HS 58

I usually rub them and let them sit in the fridge overnight. Sounds like I need to cook them longer, thanks gentlemen.

3 1/2 hours at 225 is not enough time.
Smoke until rack bends easily and is probe tender.

As several have said before you need to cook them longer. Usually about 5 hours for me when I cut them down to St. Louis style. If you cook them as a whole slab like pictured they will take a bit longer to break down the connective tissue in the tips. I smoke the tips until they about fall apart and use it for "bean meat" for future cooks.

So those are not ST Louis cut. Those are reg spareribs. You have to trim them.

Then 225 on a BGE is too low. 275 is an excellent baseline temp, indirect. You can go up or down from there.

Personally I do 4 hrs with 1 chunck of hardwood smoking wood.

1hr glaze if I glaze.

I used to do 321, but now just do about 5 to 5 1/2 hrs without wrapping. Much better, usually sauce half the ribs and leave half dry rub. Use fiesta seasoning from Texas. Cook at 250

I do mine for 6 hours, 5 hours at 225 and the last hour I put a light coat of BBQ sauce on them to get it good and sticky. I used a brown sugar based dry rub on them to start.

For me, nothing has beat 6 hours straight. That is a on a Traeger or a Weber kettle.

I like 3-2-1 ribs on my pellet smoker.

Apply your favorite rub.

Then, smoke 3 hours at 200 degrees.

Wrap in foil or butcher paper and smoke 2 hours at 250 degrees.

Unwrap, return to the grill, baste with your favorite BBQ sauce, and smoke 1 hour at 250 degrees.

A meat thermometer is your friend.

This is your answer, and as noted above those pictured are Spareribs - You can trim those into the St.Louis cut. Good luck.

Run that temp up ... and hope the ribs were not ever frozen..

Little late to the party but you might consider seasoning just prior to putting the ribs on the smoker. On a large cut like a butt or a brisket I season the night before, however with ribs I season 30-45 minutes before putting on the smoker. You can see the rub sweat in within 15 minutes or so after applying.

This works for me with both wrapped ribs or dry ribs.