Nothing crazy. Offset smoker. Around 250-275. I use applewood. Depending on my mood I'll use chunks or chips for the wood. If using the chips they are wet, if using chunks dry. I know everyone has different opinions on the wet or dry... but the chips are useless if dry at the higher temps imo. Thats why I have both lol.
For the ribs, I go pretty light on the rub compared to what most would do. I used to make my own but I found a boxed rub I like a lot so I just use that now. I leave the silver skin on the bottom. Its 50/50 on if you should or shouldn't... I've never had a complaint doing it that way. Once rubbed I let them rest with the rub about an hour before hitting the smoker. Now my exact procedure is as follows:
While resting you need to consume at least 3 beers before it hits the smoker. After the hour drop it on the smoker. Being an offset I have a hot and cold area. They get about 3 hours on the hot side. They just start to get a decent bark at this point. If using the chips I'm adding them every 20 minutes or so. Constant stream of light smoke.
Once the 3 hours are up they get lightly wrapped in foil and placed on the cool side (about 180f over there) they sit there however long they need but will still get some smoke since the foil is loose. Typically 2 hours though as I clear space on the grill. At this point I'm throwing bratwurst on to smoke, hot dogs, etc. Also note, you should have at least 9 cold snacks consumed by this point.
When they're ready to glaze I pull them off and let them rest 10 minutes or so and get the grill ripping. When ready they go on the grill, open, and get glazed 2x on each side at around 600F. They spend maybe 4 minutes total on there as you dont want to burn anything and just get the glaze sticky. Then I pull and rest them a minute and slice.
At this point you should have consumed 14 total cold snacks. So even if you royally screwed them up, they'll still taste okay and you won't be as sad about ruining 25$ worth of ribs.
It basically ends up being a 3-2-1. Well a 3-2.5-.1 if you want to be exact.
I rubbed with a rub called road kill grill. Its mild, good flavor, slight kick and nothing crazy. Gotta balance it for all the guests. And I glazed it with sweet baby rays. In the past I've done homemade apple cider glazes, a homemade jack Daniel's glaze... pretty much anything lol. As luck would have it, ribs are pretty forgiving. I'll often add more cayenne to the rub if its just for me. I experiment with homemade sauces on myself before putting them out to the public as well.
Nothing special. But I can pretty much make them exactly like that every time. Dad and I have developed that setup over 15 years now.
