Grill Smoked Pork Shoulder Ribs. "Ribs" of pork, cut from the pork shoulder, smoked on the grill until they are fall-apart tender. (This is how you get boneless pork “ribs”. You can also use country-style pork ribs if they are cut from the shoulder.)
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My local grocery store sells pork "western ribs". Other stores call them "boneless" ribs, or "country-style ribs". These aren't really ribs; they're pork shoulder cut into thick, rib-like strips. The advantage is, they're almost entirely meat, and cheaper than real ribs. If you like riblets - and oh, how my kids like riblets - this is the cut of meat for you.
This is easy barbecue. That's an oxymoron, right? Barbecue is supposed to take time and effort. Or at least time. The effort? Tending the fire once an hour while drinking beer.
This is a “cheater barbecue” recipe - I’m smoking on a gas grill, using wood chips, wrapping the ribs in foil for the last hour. (The wet heat tenderizes the ribs by melting the collagen in the tough shoulder cut.) I also include instructions for the charcoal grill, using wood chunks, which gives you more smoke flavor. (Gas grills aren't good at trapping the smoke for smoking; a charcoal grill has a lot less airflow, so a lot more smoke.) Barbecue traditionalists would recommend an offset smoker, using nothing but logs burned down to coals. And foil? I'd be run out of Dodge City for that one. (They would also recommend using real ribs. If you have real ribs, check out my Grill Smoked Baby Back Ribs Recipe.)
Cheater barbecue? Sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do when he needs barbecue. (For you traditionalists, take deep breaths, and think of this as smoking small pork shoulders.)
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Smoking woods: Hickory is the most common smoking wood for pork, and the one that will smell the most like barbecue. But, I've used all sorts of wood, and they've all worked well. Apple wood and cherry wood are my favorites. Oak from wine or whiskey barrels are also great; I don't notice much of a different in the smoked meat, but they do smell wonderful while they are smoking.
- Pork cuts: If you want boneless "ribs", use a boneless pork shoulder cut into 2- by 2-inch strips. Or, use bone-in pork shoulder; the shoulder blade will be in the pieces of pork, but once they are done cooking the bone pulls out with a gentle tug. Or, if your store sells Country ribs (aka Country-style ribs), look for country shoulder ribs - country ribs cut from the shoulder end of the loin. Country ribs from the center loin side will still work with this recipe, but they are more lean, and aren't as tender of ribs.
- Barbecue Rub: I use my homemade barbecue rub recipe, which is salt free, so I also add salt. If you use a store-bought rub, don't add more salt! That said, store bought rubs are fine, go ahead and use your favorite. (If you don't have a favorite, look for one that has some sugar in it, and says it is good for pork.)
- Barbecue Sauce: I use my homemade barbecue sauce recipe. Again, store bought barbecue sauce is fine. If you have a favorite, go ahead and use it.
Grill Smoked Pork Western Ribs
- Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 3 pounds of ribs 1x
Description
Grill Smoked Pork Shoulder Ribs. "Ribs" of pork, cut from the pork shoulder, smoked on the grill until they are fall-apart tender. (This is how you get boneless pork “ribs”. You can also use country-style pork ribs if they are cut from the shoulder.)
Ingredients
- 2 cups wood chips (gas grill) or 2 fist-sized chunks of wood (charcoal grill) - hickory chips or chunks are traditional, but any smoking wood will do
- 3- to 4 pounds Pork Shoulder Ribs (Pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch by 2-inch thick strips)
- 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt (If your rub is salt free, like my homemade rub)
- 2 tablespoons barbecue rub (My homemade BBQ rub recipe is here or substitute your favorite rub)
- 1 cup barbecue sauce (My homemade BBQ Sauce recipe is here or substitute your favorite sauce)
Instructions
- Soak the wood: One hour before cooking, submerge the smoking wood in water. Use wood chips with a gas grill, or wood chunks with a charcoal grill.
- Gas Grill - set up for indirect low heat (250°F to 300°F): Preheat the grill, and set it up for indirect low heat (250°F). On my Weber Summit, I preheat the grill with all burners set to high for 15 minutes, brush the grill grate clean, then I turn burner #4 down to medium, turn all the other burners off, and turn on my smoker burner. (If I didn't have the smoker burner, I'd leave another burner on medium.)
- OR Charcoal Grill - set up for indirect low heat (250°F to 300°F): Set your grill up for indirect low heat, 250°F to 300°F, with the heat on one side of the grill, and a drip pan on the other side. On my Weber kettle I light 40 coals (⅓ of a Weber charcoal chimney, or one full Weber charcoal basket), wait for them to be mostly covered with gray ash, then pile the coals on one side of the charcoal grate. (I do this in the charcoal basket; it holds the coals in a tight pile.) Finally, I put a drip pan on the charcoal grate opposite the coals, then put the grill grate back in the grill.
- Season the ribs and add the wood to the grill: While the grill is heating up, sprinkle the ribs evenly with the salt and the barbecue rub. (If your barbecue rub already has salt in it, skip the salt. My homemade rub is salt free.) Drain the wood chips or wood chunks. In a gas grill, if you don't have a smoker box on your grill, wrap the chips in an envelope of aluminum foil and poke a few holes in it for the smoke to escape, then set it directly over the lit burner. (If you have a smoker box, use it instead). In a charcoal grill, add the wood chunks to the coals
- Cook the ribs for 3 hours, then wrap in foil and cook for 1 more hour: Put the ribs on the grill over indirect heat - not directly over one of the lit burners. Close the lid and cook on medium-low (250°F to 300°F) for 3 hours. If you are using a charcoal grill, add 12 unlit briquettes to the lit charcoal every hour to keep the fire going. After three hours, brush the ribs with the barbecue sauce, wrap them in aluminum foil, and seal the foil. Put them back over indirect heat, close the lid, and cook for another hour.
- Serve: Remove the foil pack of ribs to a carving board. Let them rest for fifteen minutes, or up to an hour. Open the foil and remove the ribs to a platter. Carefully pour the liquid from the foil into a bowl and whisk in the rest of the barbecue sauce. Brush the ribs with this sauce, then serve, passing the rest of the sauce at the table.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Category: Sunday Dinner
- Method: Grill Smoking
- Cuisine: American
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Related Posts:
Again, here are links to the Homemade Barbecue Rub and Easy Barbecue Sauce I use in the recipe. If you're looking for some other grilled ribs, try my recipes for
Grill-Smoked Baby Back Ribs, Grilled Short Ribs with Paprika Rub, or Grill-Smoked BBQ Short Ribs. Or, try some surprisingly tender Instant Pot ribs, like my Instant Pot Baby Back Apple Ribs, Instant Pot Texas Beef Ribs, Instant Pot Spare Ribs, or Instant Pot BBQ Short Ribs.
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