The Best Way To Make Ribs If You Don’t Have A Smoker

I woke up Saturday morning and decided today was the day I was going to buy my first smoker.  I had been craving barbecue for a while and I really wanted some good ribs.  So I went out to the store to buy the model smoker I had been researching.  And guess what?  Sold out.  I didn't give up on the ribs though, and I actually made the best ribs I've ever eaten.

I have a charcoal grill, but the problem with that is I can't control the temperature evenly enough to cook ribs nice and slow.   So I did a hybrid version of using the oven in the house, and the charcoal grill outside.

First I slathered on a rub over the rack of ribs.  The seasoning I used has salt, pepper, paprika, and cayenne.   You can also just use kosher salt and fresh ground pepper too.  The cayenne added gives it a little bit of heat.

Next, I put it on a cookie sheet on the center rack of the oven and set the temp to 225 degrees.  On the bottom rack near the element I put soaked hickory chips in just a little bit of water.  That gave it just a hint of smoke, but not enough to smoke up the kitchen.  It really added a lot to the flavor.  I baked the ribs for 4 1/2 hours at 225 degrees.

Then, I fired up the charcoal and put some hickory wood chips on that as well.  I threw the ribs on for just about 3-5 minutes per side, just to char them up and give them more of a bbq taste.  I also glazed it with Sweet Baby Rays sauce at this point.

The result?  Tasty, delicious, meat fall off the bone, ribs.  It was so good my wife who doesn't even like barbecue said we need to make it again.