St. Louis Ribs (About 3 Hours)

Name: St. Louis Ribs (About 3 Hours)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 2 h 45 min
Total time: 3 h
Yield: 1 rack, 3-4 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 rack of St. Louis cut ribs; yellow mustard, as the binder; The Kennard BBQ Seasoning Base; apple cider vinegar, for spritzing; 3 tbsp butter, in pats, for the wrap; your finishing sauce (check the label for GF if you need it)

by Matt KennardUpdated October 5, 2026

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Bark set, a short buttered wrap, then sauced until it tacks. Tender with a little bite, not falling off the bone.

Yield: 1 rack, 3-4 servings
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 2 h 45 min
Total: about 3 h

Smoked Egg-free Pork Dinner Weekend project Entertaining

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Three hours, not six. The wrap is short on purpose and watched closely, because the failure here is softness rather than toughness.

Salt the night before, sweeten in the morning. Salt is a dry brine: it penetrates past the surface, seasons the meat rather than the outside of it, and dries the exterior so it takes smoke properly. Sugar does the opposite over twelve hours — it dissolves into a slurry, and a wet surface steams rather than smoking.

So: membrane off, kosher salt and 16-mesh black pepper the night before, uncovered in the fridge. The sweet rub goes on fifteen minutes before they hit the smoker.

Ribs are thin enough that a full overnight with salt is the most they need; longer starts to push the edges toward ham.

Ingredients

1 rack, 3-4 servings

1 rack of St. Louis cut ribs
yellow mustard, as the binder
The Kennard BBQ Seasoning Base
apple cider vinegar, for spritzing
3 tbsp butter, in pats, for the wrap
your finishing sauce (check the label for GF if you need it)

Make these first

Method

Prep membrane off

Trim the rack and pull the membrane off the back.
Prep 15 min · seasoning looks wet

Bind with mustard, season per the Kennard BBQ Base, and let it adhere.
Smoke 90 min · bark set, top cracking, meat pulled back slightly

Smoke at 250F until the bark sets - the top starts to crack and the meat pulls back a little from the bones. Spritz with apple cider vinegar.
Smoke 45-60 min · tender, not soft

Wrap in foil meat-side down with a few pats of butter and a few lines of your finishing sauce. Back on, and watch it - this is where ribs go from tender to mush.
Smoke 20-30 min · sauce tacked up

Unwrap, paint with sauce, and leave it until the sauce tacks up. Around 200F, but trust the visuals: tender, pulled back from the bone, not falling apart.
Rest briefly rested

Rest briefly and serve.

Goes with

Uses: The Kennard BBQ Seasoning Base, Honey BBQ Finish
Also good with: The vinegars, and when to use which, Brussels with Bacon Lardons and Balsamic, Ranch-Style Pinto Beans, Cornbread, Cold Potato Salad, Mushrooms with Thyme and Balsamic
A cousin of: Cooking for a crowd: shopping, prep, timing, and getting it all on the table, Salt, acid and time: brining, dry brining and marinades, Fire, Honestly, Arranging the Fire

From the journal

Tacos for ten, and why the sides matter — Brunch for ten off one smoker. The meat went fine. What I'd tell anyone cooking for a crowd is about slicing, acid and the sides.

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St. Louis Ribs (About 3 Hours)

Ingredients

Make these first

Method

Goes with

From the journal

Comments (0)

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