If you’ve never done it before, the thought of making a great rack of ribs on a gas grill can be intimidating. Don’t worry. Here are the six steps you need to follow to achieve the authentic barbecue flavor you are looking for with your Windermere outdoor grill.
Before you start, here’s a couple things to keep in mind regarding your grill.
A gas grill does an amazing job of hot and fast cooking, but that’s not what you want to prepare some tender, smokey barbecue ribs. You will want to cook the ribs indirectly. Meaning that the heat will not be directly underneath the meat – it will be off to the side, so your grill needs to have at least two burners.
Now, on to the six-step process for a great rack of ribs using a Windermere outdoor kitchen.
Please note: This example is for a full rack of trimmed spare ribs. This process can also work with baby back ribs, but you’ll need to cut the cooking time by about 5 minutes for each stage of the process.
You will need the following supplies:
- One rack of pork ribs
- A good rib rub
- A good barbecue sauce for ribs
- 1/2 cup (120 mL) apple juice
- Aluminum foil
- Fuel for your gas grill
- Wood chips or chunks for smoke
- A sharp knife
1 Get Your Rack Ready
If you get your ribs at the store, the first thing you’ll need to do before using your Windermere outdoor grill is some trimming. Check the rack for loose meat, fat or bone and then, slice off the extra scraps and excessive fat (don’t worry about cutting off all the fat, but you should trim down the thickest areas of fat). A little bit of fat will help the meat stay moist. When you are finished, rinse the rack with cold water and dry with paper towels.
2 Rub Your Ribs
Next, put on the rub and apply it evenly on all of the meat and use as much of the rub as will stick to the meat. The moisture of the meat will hold all the rub you need.
Put the rub on no more than one hour before you are going to start cooking. Wrap the rack with plastic wrap if you need to put it back in the fridge before you cook it. It is best to get your meat on your Windermere outdoor grill in 10-20 minutes after you apply the rub.
3 Smoke Bombs
Getting the right smoke on your gas grill and the right temperature is not easy to do. In fact, when using a gas grill, the best you can do is to give your rack a hint of smoke. This is where the smoke bombs are going to come in – it is a fast and easy way to smoke on your gas grill in your Windermere outdoor kitchen. Start by putting a half cup of damp wood chips on a piece of aluminum foil. Wrap them so one side has just a single layer of foil. Then, poke a bunch of holes in the foil so the smoke can escape. You also might want to invest in this Paradise Woodchip & Charcoal Smoker Box to achieve the same results.
Next, put the smoke bombs under the cooking grate and as close to the burner you are using as possible. Preheat the grill high enough to get the combustion of the wood started. When the smoke starts coming out, reduce the heat, put the ribs on the grill and shut the lid.
4 Put The Ribs On Your Windermere Outdoor Grill
You may be surprised to know that possibly the most important part of this process is the placement on the grill. Keeping the ribs moist while cooking requires indirect heat and temperatures up to 375 degrees.
Where to place the rack? If you are going to use the burner on the left side, put your smoke bombs directly over this burner and under the cooking grate. Your ribs will then be to the right of the hot burner, running parallel. If the rack is too long for this, you may need to place the rack diagonally and rotate it from time to time so it will cook evenly.
Now, put your rack on the grill, bone-side down and shut the lid. Adjust the temperature to 300 degrees and let it cook for 30 minutes without opening the lid so the smoke will stay inside.
5 Wrap The Ribs
After 30 minutes of cooking on the grill, the ribs should be brown on all sides. If any part of the surface of the meat looks raw, let the meat cook for another 10-15 minutes.
Next, steam the ribs with apple juice to make them tender. The key to this is wrapping the ribs tight in foil. Make it as watertight as you can after pouring in the juice. Then, put the wrapped ribs back on the grill in the indirect grilling location. Close the lid and turn up the heat to 375 degrees so the apple juice will boil and tenderize the ribs.
6 Add Some Sauce
When the ribs have steamed in the foil for 30 minutes, reduce the heat and unwrap the ribs. They should be mostly cooked. The rack of ribs should be flexible. If the ribs are not completely browned, rewrap the foil and let them grill for another 10-15 minutes.
Next, reduce the temperature of the grill to 250 degrees (it has to be less that 265 degrees – the burning temperature of sugar) and put the rack back in the same place to finish cooking.
Now, you want to use a good barbecue sauce to add authentic flavor to the ribs and surface texture of the meat. For the best sticky ribs, you want a few coats of barbecue sauce. To do this, put sauce on one side of the ribs, close the lid and cook them for another 5 minutes then open the lid and add sauce to the other side and cook for another 5 minutes. Continue this process for 30 minutes.
5 minutes after the last coat of sauce has been applied, the ribs are ready to cut and serve.…. “Live the good life, grill in Paradise.” Paradise offers the world’s strongest built Outdoor Kitchens, Fireplaces, Fire Pits and Tiki Huts. Learn why a Paradise Grilling Systems product offers the superior quality you have been looking for! You’ll also want to check out these accessories to go along with your Windermere outdoor kitchen.
