3-2-1 Ribs

This is my version of St Louis ribs smoked "Johnny Trigg" style. I used the 3-2-1 method for smoking. This means I smoke for 3 hours, wrap in foil and cook for 2 hours, and cook unwrapped for 1 hour. I try to keep my temps around 225F. A lot of folks cook at a higher temp for less time.

I smoke on a Weber Performer. If you have a different style smoker then set it up for however you normally smoke. To smoke on a grill you want to set it up for indirect cooking. I put my coals on one side of the grill and use two bricks to hold them there and act as a heat shield of sorts. The bricks are a little past halfway of the grill. Use a chimney starter to start a few coals that will be dumped into the unlit coals in the grill.

While the grill's getting to temp, take your ribs out and pull the membrane of the back. Put your rub of choice on and cover with plastic wrap. You can do this the night before too. Once the grills holding steady at 225F throw the ribs on opposite the coals. Smoke em for 3 hrs.

A little before the 3 hrs is up get your wrap ingredients ready. The "Johnny Trigg" recipe uses Parkay (squeeze margarine), brown sugar, honey, and Tiger sauce. I couldn't find Tiger sauce so I just used Texas Pete. Lay out enough heavy duty tin foil to cover the ribs. Throw a handful of brown sugar down the middle of the foil. Squeeze the Parkay over it in a wave pattern. Drizzle the honey over top next. Then put a 1/2" wide strip of your hot sauce down the middle. When the ribs have cooked for 3 hrs put them on top of the wrap ingredients meat side down. Put the same ingredients on top of the ribs and pour a little apple juice in for extra moisture. Wrap them up tight so they don't leak any liquid or steam. Throw em back on the grill. Grill em for 2 hrs like this.

After the two hours take the ribs off and carefully take the foil off. Be careful here because these puppies are gonna be HOT! Throw the foil and juices away. Put the the ribs back on for another hour. This will help firm them up a little bit. If you want sauce on your ribs then nows the time to put it on and let it cook on. I don't use sauce so I'm not really sure about the best way to do that.

A lot of people say that 3-2-1 is too long for ribs to cook. Try experimenting with times until you get results you like. Also try different temps. Higher temps with shorter cook times or lower temps with longer cook times. Don't be afraid to experiment with different wrap ingredients. I'm gonna try some apple cider vinegar on my next wrap to give it more twang. We'll see how it goes. That's the fun in smokin. Thanks for reading my piece. Y'all have a good one.