GrillinFools
Grills vary in size (and price) a great deal. with this rolled ribs hack, we will show exactly how to maximize the space on a small grill to produce the most bountiful barbecue yield. These ribs are simply seasoned with salt and your favorite BBQ seasoning then slow smoked to porcine perfection.
Indeed, this recipe is more like a guideline.
Once you master this hack, you can roll all sorts of different rib recipes. And we can help because we have a TON of them.
Here are some of our favorite rib recipes:
Gochujang Ribs (sweet and spicy Korean ribs)
Blowtorch Baby Back Ribs, because it’s not a party until you bust out the blowtorch
Rolled Ribs Hack Ingredients
- 3 slabs of baby back ribs (substitute spare ribs if necessary)
- Bakers twine
- Your favorite BBQ seasoning (we used Boars Night Out)
Truth be told, we used three different rubs in this recipe. One on each slab.
Two of which we hadn’t tried before and the Boars Night Out which is one of our favorites. Thus, to keep it simple, I’ll just show the one kind:
Indeed, the squeal is for real!
How to do this Rolled Ribs Hack
Skin the membrane off the bone side of the ribs and season that side with salt and the BBQ rub. Then roll the ribs up and tie the bakers twine around the roll to keep it in place and salt and rub the outside. Smoke the ribs indirect until the bark forms and they reach your desired tenderness
The step-by-step, pic by pic foolproof instructions are below
Initially, lay the ribs out flat and remove the membrane from the bone side of the ribs.
Truth be told, the baby backs we used in this recipe were already skinned, so I’m showing a pic of the skinning of the ribs from another recipe which is also a great primer on how to turn standard spare ribs into St. Louis Style Ribs:
Then, season the bone side of the slab of ribs:
Then tie the rack of ribs with the bakers twine and salt the outside:
Pro Tip ~ You can also use a wooden skewer to form the circle
Form the ribs into a roll and slide the skewer a couple bones back from the end all the way through the other side of the roll
Season the outside of the salted ribs with the BBQ seasoning:
Prepare the Grill
We are going with indirect grilling here. In a standard grill, set the coals and smoke wood on one side and the ribs on the other side. Target temp inside the grill is 300F (+/- 25F). The grill I used here is a kamado style grill. Thus, I put the coals and smoke wood on the bottom, a heat deflector above the coals and the ribs on the grill grates. The heat deflector directs the hot, direct heat around the meat so they slow smoke.
Target temp in the kamado is also 300F (+/- 25F).
The grill we used is our Everdure 4K:
After all three slabs are on the grill, close the lid.
About 30 minutes in, the baby backs are starting to color up nicely:
Here’s another view:
Rolled Ribs Hack Two Hours In
After 2 hours, our rolled ribs hack is working beautifully:
Look at that glorious color:
There’s only one problem with this method.
The outside of those ribs that are closest to the other racks, doesn’t get the same color as the sides of the ribs that are facing out.
Here’s the outside of the Boars Night Out rack (and my new Jeep in the background):
And here’s that same rack when I rotate it 180 degrees:
After 2 hours, rotate the ribs to even out the color of the bark
Additionally, here’s an overhead shot of the ribs on the Everdure 4K after the 180 degree rotation:
Also, at this point, hit the baby back ribs with a little more seasoning.
I’m a HUGE fan of re-seasoning at least once when cooking just about anything.
Re-season
I re-season on steaks, chicken wings, lamb and tri tip.
Indeed, a lot of seasoning is lost in the cooking process from repositioning the meat or it just plain melting into and off the meat as the fat renders out.
Give the ribs another hour or so (longer if you want them fall off the bone) and remove from the grill.
Then, slice the bakers twine:
Furthermore, slice the ribs as usual:
Finally, I like to layer on a little seasoning after I slice the ribs as well.
Not a heavy coating, just a light dusting. Seriously, this one trick will change your life:
Rolled Ribs Hack Summary
Simply put, roll up those seasoned ribs and secure them with bakers twine or a wooden skewer and smoke as usual. About 2 hours in, rotate the ribs 180 degrees to make sure the baby backs color up evenly. Also, be sure to re-season the ribs a couple hours in and after you slice.
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Finally, check out the smoke ring:
Recipe Card:
Rolled Ribs Hack
Equipment
- baker's twine Substitute wooden skewers
Ingredients
- 3 slabs Baby back ribs Substitute spare ribs if necessary
- Salt
- Your favorite BBQ Seasoning
Instructions
- Skin the membrane off the bone side of the ribs and season with salt and BBQ rub. Roll up into a cylinder shape and secure with a piece of bakers twine or a by spearing with a wooden skewer
- Prepare the grill for indirect grilling with coals and wood on one side and the meat on the other. In a kamado, place the coals and the wood on the bottom, then the heat deflector and finally place the ribs on top of the grill grates at the top. Target temp is 300F (+/- 25F)
- Smoke for about 2 hours and then rotate the rolled ribs 180 degrees and re-season with the BBQ seasoning.
- Smoke for another hour and remove from the grill. Cut the bakers twine and discard. Slice the slab between each bone and serve
Video
A few more pics of the Rolled Ribs Hack:
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