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Kansas City Sticky Ribs on a Gas Grill

Barbecued ribs differ in style from state to state, even town to town. One of our favorite styles is from Kansas City: the pull-apart tender ribs are slowly smoked and slathered with a thick, sticky-sweet, spicy sauce. We would make them all the time if they didn’t take all day. Is there a way to make them a little faster and taste just as good? Here’s what we discovered:

Test Kitchen Discoveries

Use meaty spareribs, preferably prepared St. Louis-style. This means much of the excess cartilage and fat has been trimmed, which translates to quicker cooking. The membrane coating the underside of the ribs should be pulled off so that they are easier to eat.
Tent the ribs with aluminum foil to catch the smoke and effectively “steam” the ribs. In this fashion, they will cook faster than if left uncovered.
During the last hour of cooking, completely wrap the ribs in foil to capture the meat’s moisture. They will have absorbed as much smoke flavor as possible by this point, so cooking them sealed is fine.

STEP BY STEP

How to Make Tender Ribs

Making tender ribs can be tough work, but we’ve found a few tips to get that fall-off-the-bone texture every time.

Remove the Membrane: Ribs have a papery membrane on the underside that can make it hard to pull the meat off the bone. Before cooking, loosen this membrane with the tip of a paring knife and, with the aid of a paper towel, pull it off slowly, all in one piece.

Cover with Foil: Barbecuing the ribs for hours on end won’t guarantee super-tender meat. Fortunately, you can trap steam and make the ribs tender by covering them with sheets of aluminum foil.

Wrap It Up: During the last hour of barbecuing, wrap the ribs tightly in the foil to keep them from drying out. After removing the ribs from the grill, let them rest for 30 minutes, still wrapped.

Kansas City Sticky Ribs on a Gas Grill

Serves 4 to 6

Buy St. Louis-style racks , which are more manageable than untrimmed pork ribs. We prefer our sauce recipe (see related recipe), but store-bought works, too (Texas Best and Bull’s-Eye are our favorites). If you're not keen on tending a grill for 4 hours, our ribs will still taste good even if they spend the last 2 hours of cooking in your oven, see optional step 6.

3	tablespoons paprika
2	tablespoons light brown sugar
1	tablespoon ground black pepper
1	tablespoon table salt
1/4	teaspoon cayenne pepper
2	full racks pork spareribs , preferably St. Louis cut, trimmed of any large pieces of excess fat, membrane removed, and patted dry (see photo 1)
2	cups wood chips
2	cups barbecue sauce (see related recipe)

1. Combine paprika, sugar, pepper, salt, and cayenne in small bowl. Massage spice rub into both sides of rib racks.

2. Soak wood chips in bowl of water for 15 minutes; place in small disposable aluminum pan. Place pan directly on primary burner of gas grill, turn all burners to high, and preheat with lid down until chips are smoking heavily, about 15 minutes. Turn primary burner to medium and shut off other burners, adjusting temperature of primary burner as needed to maintain average temperature of 275 degrees. Position ribs over cool part of grill.

3. Place sheet of aluminum foil directly on top of ribs (see photo 2) and cover grill. Barbecue 3 hours, turning and rotating ribs after each hour.

4. Brush ribs liberally on both sides with sauce, wrap tightly with foil (see photo 3), and barbecue until very tender, about 1 hour longer.

5. Transfer ribs (still in foil) to cutting board and rest 30 minutes. Unwrap ribs and brush with additional barbecue sauce. Slice ribs between bones and serve with remaining sauce.

6. To Finish in the Oven:
In step 3, after two hours, wrap ribs tightly in foil, place on baking sheet, and bake in 250-degree oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven, brush both sides with barbecue sauce, rewrap with foil, and bake until very tender, about 1 hour longer. Proceed as directed in step 5.