Louis style ribs, you’re going to want to grab a knife and fork for these babies. Once it reaches this point, you can transfer them to a serving platter and smother them with that smokey sauce. If yours are a boneless or leaner version without much marbling, then keep an eye on them and consider finishing them at a lower temperature.Īs it braises, the onions will soften and the sauce will flavor the meat inside and out. If your country style pork ribs have a good amount of marbling like mine do pictured here, they are much better cooked to 205-210F degrees.Īt this point, the fat will render and the meat will become fork tender. Technically, pork is safe to eat once it reaches an internal temperature of 145F degrees. Place the sliced onions in an aluminum half pan, add the smoked ribs, pour on the sauce and cover with foil. You could continue smoking them like this, until they are tender, but I prefer to finish them like mom – in a bath of onions and barbecue sauce. You’re basically just looking for color at this point. If your temp is 165F or 175F, that’s fine. This will take around 3 hours, at which point the internal temperature will be at about 170F degrees. First, smoke them until they form a beautiful bark. We’re going to cook the ribs in two phases. After about 15 minutes, the meat will start to glisten. While the grill is heating up, season the pork ribs liberally on all sides with Pork Rub. The key is to set the temperature to 250F degrees with an indirect zone. If you don’t have a pellet grill, you can cook these on any barbecue. I find they bring out the meat’s natural sweetness. I like using hickory, pecan or apple wood with pork. It’s essentially a slow cooker with wood. While mom cooked these in a traditional slow cooker, I’m preparing the recipe using a pellet grill.

For even cooking, try to find a package with similarly sized ribs. It’s part of the shoulder blade and usually only runs along one end of the rib.īutchers usually trim country style pork ribs into 1-2-inch thick pieces.

The bone is not like a traditional rib bone. This cut has a lot of natural marbling, which makes the meat fall apart when cooked properly.

Visit the Pork Checkoff to learn more about ribs and other pork cuts.Ĭountry style pork ribs are cut from meat near the shoulder (AKA pork butt) near the rib end of the pork loin. Louis style ribs, which are the ribs you see most often in barbecue competitions. Spare ribs are then broken down further to create St. There are three basic cuts of ribs on a pig: baby back, spare and country style. But instead of browning the ribs, I’ll smoke them for a few hours and then braise them for the same tender, juicy results. After several hours, the meat is perfectly fork tender. Now that I smoke and grill just about everything, it’s time to give mom’s recipe a makeover, so it can earn its proper barbecue name.įor mom’s recipe, she browns the pork ribs on all sides and then puts them in a slow cooker with one sliced yellow onion, a bottle of barbecue sauce and some parsley. It wasn’t exactly barbecue, because it wasn’t smoked, but they were still one of my favorite meals. When I was a little girl, barbecue at my house meant country style pork ribs cooked in barbecue sauce in a slow cooker. By Christie Vanover | Published J| Last Updated June 13, 2022ĭisclosure: This recipe was sponsored by the National Pork Board.

Country style pork ribs