When to put glaze on smoked ribs?

3-2-1 Smoked Ribs Method: You set the grill temperature to 225˚F or “High Smoke”, close the smoker lid and: Grill the ribs directly on the rack (bone-side down) 3 Hours. Remove ribs, brush glaze on both sides, wrap each in foil and grill 2 Hours . Remove foil, glaze the tops and place directly on the rack 1 Hour.

What is the difference between BBQ sauce and rib glaze?

If you dip your ribs in BBQ sauce at the table, it's a sauce. Crazy, huh? Glazes tend to be a thicker consistency than sauces to help them stick to hot meat . Most glaze recipes will use more sugar than a sauce recipe, while sauce recipes are more likely to use spices and herbs to add flavor.

Should smoked ribs be wrapped in foil?

After letting them smoke for a 3 solid hours you want to take them off the smoker and wrap them in foil . Before you wrap them add some moisture. Some people add butter, some add apple juice, I add some sauce and brown sugar. Then wrap them and place them back on the smoker for another 2 hours.

Smoked Ribs with Maple BBQ Glaze - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (2024)

Smoking-Meat.com is supported by its readers. We may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you if you buy through a link on this page.

Read this article without ads

Join Now

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

It is no secret that my maple barbecue glaze is amazingly good and has been featuredon turkey and even chicken, but can it be used on things other than poultry?

In this recipe we are brushingit onto smoked baby back ribs while they cook and it has, once again, “hit it out of the ballpark!”

Helpful Information

Prep Time: 20minutes
Cook time:5-6 hours
Smoker Temp: 225°F (107°C)
Meat Finish Temp:195°F (91°C)
Recommended wood:Pecan

What You'll Need

2 or more racks of pork baby backribs
¼ cup real maple syrup
¼ cup Jeff's original rub

Maple Barbecue Glaze

½ cup real maple syrup
2 tbsp Jeff's original rub

Step 1: Remove Membrane

Some folks say remove the membrane on the bone side of the ribs, some say don't. I have tried it both ways and Ican't tell a significant difference regarding moisture or flavor. For me it's all about not having to deal with the membrane while I am eating. I just think it's a nice touch to remove it.

To remove it, use a butter knife or similar to lift up one edge or corner then use a paper towel or catfish pliers for a better grip and pull it clean off.

Step 2: Coat with Maple Syrup

There is nothing better than mustard to help the rub to stick and that's normally what I love to use. Since these are going to be getting some maple barbecue glaze later, I opted to use maple syrup as my “sticky” component.

Starting with the side you are already on, the boney side with the membrane now gone..

Smoked Ribs with Maple BBQ Glaze - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (1)

Pour it on and use a silicon brush to spread it all over the ribs and don't forget to getthe sides and ends as well.

Smoked Ribs with Maple BBQ Glaze - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (2)

Step 3: Season with Rub

Sprinkle Jeff's original rub onto the ribs.

Be generous about it.

Smoked Ribs with Maple BBQ Glaze - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (3)

Let the ribs sit for a couple of minutes to absorb some of the moisture from the syrup. Giving this a little timeprevents the rub from falling off when you move the ribs or flip them over.

Step 4: Repeat Syrupand Rub on Meaty Side

Flip ribs to meaty side up and apply themaple syrup and rub just like you did on the other side remembering to be generous with the rub.

Smoked Ribs with Maple BBQ Glaze - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (4)

Smoked Ribs with Maple BBQ Glaze - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (5)

Let the ribs sit for a few more minutes while the rub and syrup combine.

Step 5: Into Fridge Overnight (optional)

I often put the ribs straight into the smoker at this point and there's nothing at all wrong with that but, let it be known, that you can enhance the flavor by placing them into a lidded container and then into the fridge overnight. You can also just wrap them in plastic wrap instead of using a lidded container.

Smoked Ribs with Maple BBQ Glaze - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (6)

Step 6:Setup Smoker

In the morning, take the ribs out of the fridge and place them on the cabinet for a few minutes while you go get the smoker ready.

Use whatever smoker you have and set it up for cooking with smoke at about 225°F.

I just received a brand new Traeger Lil' Tex from Traeger Grills and so obviously, I am going to break it in right with some smoked pork ribs.

Just an FYI: I've been using it for a couple of weeksnow, running it through some paces and I have to say that I am very impressed with the ease of setup and operation and with the final product that it produces. Mind you, this is my first venture into cooking with pellets and therefore I cannot compare it with other pellet smokers. I am simply comparing the Traeger pellet smoking experience with my experiences using other types of smokers such as electric, propane and horizontal stick burners.

I filled the pellet hopper to the top, opened the smoker and set it to smoke. First there's smoke, then you hear the fire roaring and you close the lid and set it to your final temperature. It was that easy!

I am now ready to smoke some ribs.. easy peasy! Once your smoker is ready, you canproceed.

Step 7: Smoking the Ribs

Often I will use racks to make it easy to carry the ribs out to the smoker. I decided to use the new Traeger in a more raw way and just place the ribs right on the grate.

Smoked Ribs with Maple BBQ Glaze - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (7)

If you want to smoke multiple racks of ribs and you are short on space, it is perfectly ok to put them into one of those rib racks that holds them up vertically. This way you can get a lot moreracks of ribs using minimal space.

Traeger says you can fit 5 racks of ribs on the grate.. I probably wouldn'tdo that since the drip tray is smaller than the actual grate and I'm a little finicky about keeping the smokers clean. I'm thinking 4 would fit over the drip tray if you pushed them right next to each other. Using rib racks, probably 8-10 racks.

Maintain 225-240°F with pecan smoke (other smoking woods will work fine) throughout the entire time. On the Traeger, I just set it to the 225°F marker and it averaged that temperature throughout with small fluctuations up and down.

Use a water pan filled with water if your smoker is designed for this. The Traeger does not use a water pan.

Please note: I did not use the 2-2-1 method for these as I sometimes do. I left these on the smoker grate for the entire time never moving them or flipping them over.

2-2-1 Process Explained (optional process)

If you want to use the 2-2-1 method and you are not familiar with that, it's a 3 step process in succession as follows:

2 hours with heat and smoke on the smoker grate (unwrapped)
2 hours with heat on the smoker grate, wrapped in foil
1 hour with heat and smoke on the smoker grate unwrapped once again.

These times are flexible and can be adjusted to get the perfect rib custom designed to how much tenderness you want. The more time wrapped in foil, the more tender they will be. Total time will still be around 5 hours for baby backs so if you adjust time out of one step, it will just make the first or third step a little longer.

Extra meaty baby backs and spare ribs use a similar process called the 3-2-1 method adding an extra hour into the first step.

Step 8: Glazing the Ribs

Make the maple barbecue glaze in a small bowl or sauce pan.

½ cup real maple syrup
2 tbsp Jeff's original rub

Mix the ingredients together and stir occasionally while you are using it. This recipe is enough for about 2 racks of ribs to be glazed twice during the cooking process.

Once the ribs have been cooking for about 3 hours, glaze them with the maple barbecue glaze.

Smoked Ribs with Maple BBQ Glaze - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (8)

When the ribs are about 30 minutes from being done, glaze them again.

Smoked Ribs with Maple BBQ Glaze - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (9)

These 2 layers along with the initial layer of maple syrup and my rub gives you 3 layers of goodness and that's a very good thing.

Step 9: Slice and Serve

When the ribs are so tender they are bending in half easily when you lift up one end, they are done and ready to slice and serve.

Lay the ribs bone side up and slice between the bones using a very sharp knife.

Smoked Ribs with Maple BBQ Glaze - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (10)

Who says you can't get a nice smoke ring using pellets?

Smoked Ribs with Maple BBQ Glaze - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (11)

About the Traeger Pellet Smoker

Finally getting a Traeger into my handshas beena wonderful thing. Over the years I have had hundreds of folks ask me about this type of smoker and now I'll beable to answer questions from a personal use standpoint.

It is clear that Traeger has a very large and loyal fanbase and it's no wonder due to how well the smoker works.

Printable Recipe

Print Recipe Rate this Recipe

4.8 from 6 votes

Smoked Ribs with Maple BBQ Glaze

It is no secret that my maple barbecue glaze is amazingly good and has been featured on turkey and even chicken. In this recipe, we are brushing it onto smoked baby back ribs while they cook and it has, once again, "hit it out of the ballpark!"

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time5 hours hrs

Total Time5 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Servings: 4 -6

Ingredients

▢ 2 racks pork baby back ribs
▢ ¼ cup Real maple syrup (to help the rub stick better)
▢ ¼ cup Jeff's original rub

Maple Barbecue Glaze

▢ ½ cup real maple syrup
▢ 2 tbsp Jeff's original rub

Instructions

Remove the membrane from the boney side of the ribs. Lift it up using a butter knife or similar then use a paper towel or catfish pliers to get a good grip and pull it clean off.
Coat both sides of the ribs with maple syrup and Jeff's original rub. Brush on the maple syrup then sprinkle on the rub to cover well. Allow the rub to sit on the first side until it starts looking wet then flip it over and repeat on the other side.
Place seasoned ribs into a lidded container or wrap them in plastic wrap and place into fridge overnight to enhance the flavor.
Setup smoker for cooking at about 225°F (107°C) using indirect heat. If your smoker uses a water pan, fill it up.
Once smoker is ready, place ribs directly on smoker grate and close door/lid of smoker.
Make the maple barbecue glaze and mix the ingredients together well. Continue to stir during use.
When the ribs have been cooking for about 3 hours, baste them with the maple barbecue glaze.
Let the ribs continue to cook/smoke for about 1.5 hours then glaze them again with the maple barbecue glaze.
Total time is about 5 hours. If the ribs are extra meaty, they may require additional cooking time.
Place the ribs boney side up on the cutting board. Slice between the bones using a sharp knife.
Serve the ribs immediately and enjoy!

Notes

The ribs are finished when they are tender. Check for tenderness by lifting up on the center of the rack of ribs with tongs. The ribs will bend nearly in half when they are ready to eat.

You can also pull apart on two adjacent rib bones to test the tenderness and looseness of the meat.

Pin Recipe