Bacon Infused BBQ Ribs
One of our favorite things to make in the smoker is bacon ribs.
Using thick strips of bacon to infuse barbecue ribs with bacony goodness creates tender ribs with a rich, smoky flavor and sublime texture.
What makes this bacon ribs recipe even better is when the ribs are paired with a homemade Bacon Bourbon BBQ Sauce.
How to Make Bacon Ribs
All it takes to infuse pork ribs with beautiful bacon flavors is to lay strips of bacon across the ribs during the smoking process.
What makes bacon infused ribs so delicious is how the bacon juice bastes the ribs, adding its smoky, salty goodness to the ribs, while helping to keep the pork moist and tender.
The strips of bacon also make a great side dish. When the ribs have finished cooking, just cut the bacon in half and serve them with a little side of BBQ sauce for dipping.
The best way to finish the ribs is to use our flip, fire, and paint technique. That involves using the grill to paint on and carmelize the barbecue sauce onto the ribs at the end of the cooking process.
This baby back rib recipe is delicious if the ribs are smoked with hickory, mesquite, oak or any other good hardwood.
If you don’t have any Bacon Bourbon BBQ Sauce on hand, use your favorite sauce or try one of Umami’s other BBQ Sauce recipes. They’re easy to make and so much better than the cloyingly sweet BBQ sauces sold in grocery stores.
A few dishes that compliment the smokiness in the ribs are our Smokehouse Potato Salad and Roasted Sweet Corn.
Rib Tips
Bacon Infused BBQ Ribs
Ingredients
- 2 racks of pork ribs
- 6 strips thick cut bacon
- 1 to 2 cups Bacon Bourbon BBQ Sauce
Dry Rub
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp Ancho chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin, ground
- 1/2 tsp mustard powder
Instructions
- Start by removing the silver skin from the back of the ribs by sliding your fingers or a sharp knife underneath it so you can get a hold of an edge and pull it off.
- Mix the spices together and generously coat the ribs on both sides, rubbing the spice mixture into the pork.
- Smoke the ribs between 210℉ to 225℉ for 6 to 8 hours. The lower and slower you go the better the ribs will be.
- The easiest way to infuse the ribs with bacon is to lay three strips of bacon across the top of the ribs while they’re smoking. To make sure the ribs cook evenly they should be flipped every couple of hours.
- When flipping the ribs, just set the bacon on top of the other rack of ribs or the grill, flip the ribs over and put the bacon back in its happy place.
- The ribs are done when the meat easily pulls away from the bone.
- To finish the ribs use the paint, fire, and flip method. The goal of this method is to sear the sauce onto the outside of the ribs without burning the sauce or drying the ribs out.
- Place the ribs on a medium high grill, using a grill brush lightly paint the BBQ sauce across the ribs. Once the sauce is on, flip the ribs over and paint the other side, cooking them for 2 to 3 minutes a side before flipping them over and repeating the process. Continue painting and flipping the ribs until each side has been painted three times.
- Take the ribs off the grill and let them rest for a few minutes before slicing.
- To serve the ribs, slice them in ones or twos along the bone, and serve with some more Bacon Bourbon BBQ Sauce.
Recommended Equipment
Mark is an experienced food writer, recipe developer, and photographer who is also Umami’s publisher and CEO. A passionate cook who loves to cook for friends, he can often be found in the kitchen or by the grill testing new recipes.
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