Whether sausages, steaks, chicken breasts or vegetables – summertime is grilling time and grilling is one of the most popular hobbies among Germans. After all, there is nothing that brings friends and family together like a barbecue with tasty food. Of course we love the classic, but if you want to treat your loved ones to something really delicious and unusual, then you should grill some spare ribs this year. Beef brisket, pulled pork and juicy spare ribs are considered the holy trinity of barbecue culture in the USA, and for good reason. Butter-tender and aromatic ribs undoubtedly provide a real culinary delight. But for the ultimate enjoyment, there are a few things to consider when preparing it. How are spare ribs grilled on the grill gas? Should we pre-cook them first? Which marinade goes best with the ribs? You can find all of this as well as many other helpful tricks and spareribs recipes in our article!
What are spare ribs?
Whether pulled pork, ribs or juicy pork chops – there is hardly any other meat that can be prepared in as many different ways as pork. Although there are also veal and beef ribs, the classic spare ribs are made from pork, namely from the lower part of the pork rib. They are generally flatter, meatier and longer than baby back ribs and have significantly more fat. To ensure that your ribs are juicy and tender when grilled, always buy high-quality meat. Because some ribs have less meat than others, ask the butcher to show them to you first.
Pre-cook ribs or not?
If you want to grill juicy and tender spare ribs, you should expect around 5-6 hours. To shorten the cooking time by about 1 hour, some chefs recommend pre-cooking the ribs first. To do this, you can either cook the ribs in the oven at 170 degrees for 1 hour or alternatively cook them in a seasoned stock for 1 hour over low heat. Although the meat becomes a little more tender when pre-cooked, the cooking process also removes a lot of the ribs' popular flavor. Classic American spare ribs are usually not pre-cooked, but rather prepared directly on the grill.
This is how spare ribs are prepared correctly
Before you grill spare ribs, you should first prepare them accordingly and there are a few important points to consider. In addition to the correct preparation, there are alsothe right grill marinadeand the rub seasoning is crucial to the wonderful taste we know and love.
Remove silver skin
The first thing you need to do is to completely remove the silver skin from the side of the bone. It is quite tough and prevents the rub from absorbing well into the ribs. And here's how to do it right:
- Unwrap the spare ribs and place them on a baking sheet or large cutting board, meat side down.
- First, lightly loosen the silverskin from the bone with a teaspoon.
- Using a sharp measure, slowly and carefully move the bone under the membrane.
- Then carefully lift it up with your hand and pull it off completely.
Make your own dry marinade for ribs
Of course, you can grill ready-marinated spare ribs - it's much easier. But for the perfect barbecue enjoyment, we recommend that you make your own marinade. This way you know what exactly is in it and can adapt the recipe to your own taste. The so-called rub, also known as dry marinade, is the real secret weapon for juicy and aromatic spare ribs. And here is a recipe for the classic spare rib rub:
- 1 tbsp salt
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 tbsp paprika powder, sweet
- 1 tbsp paprika powder, hot
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 EL Chilipulver
- 1 EL Pfeffer
Simply mix all the spices in a bowl and brush the spare ribs generously with them on both sides with your hand. To allow the spices to absorb well, place the ribs in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes.
Grill and marinate spare ribs: rib marinade recipe
Alternatively, you can skip the step above and marinate the spare ribs.What a marinadeOf course it depends on your taste. Here are a few rules you should keep in mind.
- To make the ribs absorb the marinade better, first rub them with acid (vinegar) and salt.
- Then add the ingredients you like and enhance the flavor with olive oil.
- The more acidic the marinade, the shorter it takes to marinate. So if you use more vinegar, then marinate the ribs for a maximum of 2 hours.
- Some options for salt are miso paste, soy sauce, or Worcestershire sauce
- For acidity, use vinegar, wine, yogurt, buttermilk or alternatively you can grill the spare ribs with apple juice.
Grill spare ribs on the gas grill using the 3-2-1 method
No matter whether on a gas grill, charcoal grill or in aluminum foil - you should always grill spare ribs indirectly and never open the lid. To grill indirectly on the gas grill, you need to set the side burners to medium or low temperature while keeping the burners below off. To achieve this smoky taste, you also need 1 large smokebox. The optimal temperature for grilling spare ribs is between 110 and 120 degrees. There is also no exact information regarding the grilling time and this can vary greatly depending on the thickness of the ribs and the size of the grill. As a rule, you have to expect around 4-6 hours. And here comes the recipe for spare ribs on the gas grill.
The 3-2-1 grilling method originally comes from the USA, but is now also very popular here. The numbers indicate the different phases of rib preparation. The spare ribs are first smoked for 3 hours, then steamed in aluminum foil for 2 hours and then cooked for 1 hour and brushed again with BBQ marinade. This is how you grill spare ribs on the gas grill:
- Light the side burners and set the temperature to 110 degrees.
- Place the smokebox directly over the burner and close the lid for 10-15 minutes.
- Then place the spare ribs on the indirect grill zone in the middle and close the lid.
- After 3 hours, wrap the ribs in aluminum foil with apple juice or apple cider vinegar and place on the grill for 2 hours.
- Brush the spare ribs with the marinade and grill for 1 hour.
- And voilà – your juicy spare ribs from the gas grill are ready!
Prepare pork ribs on the charcoal grill
Spare ribs are grilled on theCharcoal grillis probably the most common way to prepare the ribs. The charcoal provides that unmistakable smoky flavor that we all know and love. To keep the temperature constant, you can use a minion ring. There are different types of wood you can use to smoke ribs. Just make sure the wood is dry and seasoned. For example, birch, pear, apple, maple or beech provide a rather mild smoke aroma. If you want a stronger smoke flavor, it's best to use oak, walnut, plum or hickory. It is also important that the wooden briquettes or smoking chips are very close to each other.
And this is how you can make spare ribs on the charcoal grill:
- Place a fire starter cube on the grid and position a chimney starter on top of it.
- Place 5-6 briquettes in it, light the cube and wait until all the coals are glowing. Remove the chimney starter from the grill.
- Place 2 rows of briquettes close together in the shape of a ring on the edge of the grill and then place another row on top.
- Place two handfuls of wood chips at the beginning of the chain and set the air supply in the base to half.
- Once you reach a constant temperature of 110 degrees and smell the first smoke, place the spare ribs in the middle of the rack over the pot of water.
- Close the lid and cook the ribs for 4 hours.
- Now brush the ribs with some BBQ sauce and cook again for 30 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the grill and fry the spare ribs over direct heat for 2-3 minutes per side until crispy.
To prevent the meat from drying out and to keep it juicy and tender, you can grill the spare ribs in aluminum foil. This method works perfectly on both gas and charcoal grills.
- Brush the spare ribs with the marinade and wrap tightly in aluminum foil.
- Preheat the grill and grill the ribs for 1 hour with the lid closed.
- To ensure that the spare ribs are juicy and cook evenly, turn the aluminum packets occasionally.
- Remove ribs from grill and carefully remove aluminum foil.
- Now grill the meat, bone side down, over direct heat with the lid closed for 5 minutes per side.
- Enjoy!
