I seasoned the ribs overnight with raw sugar, kosher salt, #10 & #16 mesh black pepper, garlic powder, season salt, adobo powder, chipotle powder, celery seed, sumac, & arbol pepper using Italian dressing as a binder. I left the membrane intact on the ribs since it will protect the meat during the cooking process. I barbecued these ribs on my Weber Smoky Mountain smoker from start to finish using only direct heat, starting with the meat side down with the grill grate directly over the coal box. I made sure to move to ribs around so they would achieve a nice sear without burning. After the ribs had achieved a good crust I moved them to the top rack of the smoker with the water pan removed to keep the heat direct & cooked them at 300F until tender. I mopped the ribs every 8-12 minutes using a mixture of beer, orange juice, cider vinegar, onion, poblano, crushed garlic, lemon slices, brown sugar, salt, & arbol pepper that had been brought to a boil & allowed to cool (add 2 parts ketchup & 1 part mop to make a bbq sauce if desired). After cooking for 2 hours the ribs were ready to come off the smoker. The ribs were bite through tender while still retaining nice char/grill flavors, the cooking method also turned the membrane into a nice crispy texture with the soft meat. This was a really fun way to do ribs & while I don’t think this replaces smoking ribs with indirect heat I do think it’s a good alternative & suggest other people give it a try & see what they think. I served the ribs with sweet baked beans & esquite.
