There was the year that I demonstrated how to make ribs eight times on the same national morning show. Each time, I would remind them we did ribs the last time, and the producer would say, “I know but everyone loves ribs!” And that is true.
The bonus: They’re easy to make — and easy to smoke — at home. You don’t need a smoker to smoke ribs. All you need is a grill, some soaked wood chips and great meaty ribs.
If you are like most people, and only cook baby back ribs, up your rib game and try St. Louis ribs which are trimmed to remove the flap of meat on the underside of the breast bone and squared off to more easily fit on the grill. Spareribs are cut from the belly or side of the pig. They are longer and fattier than back ribs.
Once you decide on which rib to buy, there are a few things to remember. First, make sure that each slab weighs at least 3 pounds and that the ribs have a nice layer of meat covering the bone. Slabs of ribs that are factory-cut often have “bone shine,” or areas of the rack where the blade hit the bone and cut off all the meat, exposing the bone.