Spare ribs (St. Louis cut)

ribs (pork, spare) · verified system recipe · Classic 3-2-1 backyard method

Pit temp
225°F
Wrap at
203°F
Pull at
203°F
Total time
~5.5 hr

Phase timeline

180m
120m
30m
Smoke (bare)Wrap (foil w/ butter+sugar)Bare to set saucetotal: 5h 30m

Step-by-step

  1. 1. Smoke (bare)

    → 165°F · ~180 min

    225°F pit, hickory + apple. Bone-side up first 90 min, then flip. Spritz with apple juice after the rub sets (~hr 1.5).

  2. 2. Wrap (foil w/ butter+sugar)

    → 203°F · ~120 min

    Tight wrap with brown sugar + butter pats + a splash of apple juice. Bone-up in the foil.

  3. 3. Bare to set sauce

    → 203°F · ~30 min

    Unwrap, brush with sauce, back on the grate to tack the glaze. Probe should slide between bones with no resistance.

Rub
Brown sugar + paprika + garlic + salt + pepper, sweet-leaning
Spritz / mop
Apple juice + apple cider vinegar 3:1
Wrap method
foil_with_liquid
Rest method
tent_5min
Minimum rest
5 min

📐 Scale for guests

Target weight
4.0 lb
1 lb/guest
Cuts needed
1
~5 lb per cut
Cook time / cut
5h 30m
+ 5m rest

Each cut cooks at its own rate — even if you double up, plan the same hours. For very large crowds, run multiple cuts in parallel and stagger by 30 min.

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