Irn Bru Smoked Spare Ribs
These smoked spare ribs are trimmed St Louis style & glazed with a homemade Irn Bru barbecue sauce glaze! They’re tender, sticky & packed full of flavour.
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These spare ribs are trimmed St Louis style then cooked low & slow on a smoker, until they’re perfectly tender. We’re not stopping there though because these ribs are also glazed with a sweet, Irn Bru bbq sauce which gives them a sticky finish & extra flavour. We’re also going to be spritzing the ribs with Irn Bru as they cook, which adds another layer of flavour & helps caramelise the outside!
These sticky Irn Bru smoked spare ribs go great on a homemade barbecue tray & they’re actually surprisingly easy to trim & cook. Like most barbecue recipes, they do take several hours to cook but trust me, they’re worth it!
For more smoked meat & grilling recipes, take a look at our barbecue recipe collection! Here you’ll find smoked pulled pork, grilled chicken, steaks, pulled lamb shawarma & lots more.
What You’ll Need
- Pork Spare Ribs – You’ll need 2 whole racks of spare ribs for this recipe, which we’re going to be trimming St Louis style. You could do this yourself or get your butcher to do it for you.
- Slather – A slather is used to help stick the rub to the meat. I like to use French’s mustard but veg oil will work as well.
- Rub – I made my own rub when I smoked my spare ribs, which I’ve included in the recipe card but feel free to use a ready made one if you’d prefer.
- Barbecue Sauce – These ribs are glazed with my Irn Bru barbecue sauce but other barbecue sauces will work as well.
- Irn Bru – We’re using Irn Bru to spritz the pork as it cooks & to thin out the barbecue sauce, to make a glaze. I’d recommend using 1901 Irn Bru (the original recipe!) as it contains the most sugar. For the spritz, we’re using a 50/50 mix of Irn Bru & cold water.
A Note On Barbecues
I cooked my pork belly on my homemade offset smoker which runs on wood & charcoal. However this recipe can be made on any type of barbecue as long as you can cook on it indirectly. If you’re using a charcoal smoker, it’s best to use a good quality charcoal then throw in a lump of wood just before adding in the ribs. I like to use cherry or apple wood with pork.
How To Make Irn Bru Smoked Spare Ribs
Here’s a step by step guide to making our Irn Bru smoked spare ribs. From trimming the ribs St Louis style, to rubbing, smoking, glazing & resting them.
1. Trimming Spare Ribs St Louis Style
Trimming spare ribs St Louis style involves squaring up the rack of ribs by cutting off the cartilage level with the top of the bones & removing the thin section of meat from the narrower end of the rack. This gives the ribs a more uniform shape, meaning that they’ll cook more evenly & will be easier to eat.
Trimming spare ribs at home is surprisingly easy but you could ask your butcher to do it for you. For a visual guide to trimming spare ribs St Louis style, take a look at our video guide, which is further down this page.
How To Trim Spare Ribs St Louis Style
- Trim Off Skirt Meat – Place a rack of spare ribs on a chopping board then pat dry with kitchen paper. If there’s a flap of meat running along the backside of the ribs, trim this off level with the rib bones using a sharp knife. This is skirt meat & tends to burn if left untrimmed.
- Remove Cartilage – Next, use your fingers to feel where the end of the longest rib is then insert the tip of your knife between the end of the rib & the section of cartilage above it. Now cut along this section, perpendicular to the ribs, to separate the ribs from the cartilage.
- Square Up Rack – Cut the flap of meat off from the narrower end of the ribs, to square up the rack. You’ll need to cut off the end bone (or couple of bones), otherwise this section of meat will burn in the smoker.
- Trim Fat – Trim any excess fat from the top of the ribs (there should be a thin, even layer) & any small bone fragments & sinew.
- Remove Membrane – Finally, flip the ribs over & remove the membrane. To do this, use the tip of a knife to release a corner of the membrane from the ribs then grab it with a piece of kitchen paper & pull upwards to remove. If you’re lucky, the membrane will come off in one piece but if it doesn’t, use a sharp knife to trim it off.
2. Slather & Rub
Next, we need to slather & rub our trimmed ribs. To do this, we coat the of the ribs with a light coating of French’s mustard then cover the outside of the ribs with a light & even coating of rub (make sure to coat all sides!). I used a homemade rub, which I made with sea salt, black pepper, demerara sugar, paprika, mustard powder, garlic & onion granules. Feel free to use a ready made rub if you’d prefer though!
Once rubbed, we let the ribs sit at room temperature for up to an hour whilst we light the smoker. I wouldn’t recommend letting the ribs sit with the rub on for more than an hour, as this can start to cure the meat, affecting the texture of the ribs.
3. Lighting The Smoker
Next, light your barbecue with charcoal or wood (depending on the type of smoker you’re using), set up for indirect cooking then leave to preheat to 250°f/120°c. Make sure that your barbecue is fully up to temperature & producing clean smoke before adding in the ribs.
Clean smoke will be a light blue colour & is vital for proper bark formation & the best smoked flavour. Dirty smoke is thick & white and will make your smoked meat taste bitter.
4. Smoking The Ribs
When the smoker is up to temperature, we add the ribs in, facing meat side up then let them cook for 1½ hours undisturbed, making sure to maintain a consistent smoker temperature at all times.
Once 1½ hours have passed, we continue cooking the ribs until a decent bark has formed but spray them with the Irn Bru spritz every 30 minutes or so. This stops the ribs from drying out & helps the meat take on more smoke. A decent bark will roughly take another 2-4 hours of cooking to develop.
5. Wrapping
Once the ribs have taken on a good amount of colour, we need to wrap them in foil. This speeds up the cooking process, helps the meat retain moisture & stops the bark from going too dark.
To wrap the ribs, we lay a double layer of foil down on a work surface, drizzle a couple of tablespoons of the barbecue sauce glaze in the middle then place a few pieces of butter on top. Then we place a rack of ribs on top, facing meat side down, drizzle another tablespoon of barbecue sauce on top then wrap the ribs up in the foil. Then the ribs can be placed back into the smoker, facing meat side down. We repeat this process with the other rack of ribs.
6. Cook Until Tender
Now we need to continue cooking the ribs at 250°f/120°c, until they become tender. This will roughly take another 1-3 hours & you’ll when the ribs are done when a skewer slides into the meat with little resistance. You could also use the “bend test” to check if the ribs are cooked. This is where you pick the ribs up with a pair of tongs & if they bend and crack easily, they’re done.
I don’t tend to check the internal temperature of ribs as I find that’s best to cook them to feel. But if you were to check the meat with a food probe, the internal temperature would be between 190°f & 200°f (88°c & 93°c).
7. Glazing
Once the ribs are cooked, we take them out of the foil then place them back into the smoker, facing meat side up. Then we brush the ribs all over with a light coating of the Irn Bru barbecue sauce glaze and continue cooking for another 15-20 minutes until the glaze is tacky. Then we apply another light coating of the glaze then cook for a final 15-20 minutes, to set the glaze.
8. Resting
Now that our ribs are cooked & glazed, we transfer them to a baking tray, cover them loosely with foil then let them rest for 15-20 minutes. This gives the juices time to redistribute throughout the meat which makes the ribs juicier & more tender.
9. Slicing
The final step is to cut the ribs between the bones then serve! A sharp knife comes in handy here.
Tips & Tricks
- For the best quality spare ribs, buy them from your local butcher.
- For the meatiest spare ribs, trim them yourself! Rib trimmings can be used to make sausages, pork pies or stock/broth.
- Make sure to maintain a consistent smoker temperature throughout the entire cook, as this cooks the meat quicker & more evenly.
- To give your rubs the best flavour, make your own rub & barbecue sauce.
- Wrap the ribs in foil once a decent bark has formed, to keep them moist & to stop the bark from going too dark.
- Cook the ribs until a skewer slides into the meat with little resistance. We want them to be tender but still have some bite.
- Let the ribs rest for 15-20 minutes before serving. This lets the juices redistribute throughout the meat, making the ribs more tender.
Serving Suggestions
Smoked spare ribs go great with all type of classic barbecue side, like pit beans, slaw, potato salad, cornbread, grilled corn & mac and cheese. If you take a look at our collection of side dishes, there’s loads to choose from!
Frequently Asked Questions
Spare ribs take approximately 6 to 8 hours to smoke but the cook time can vary due to the thickness of the ribs, your smoker’s temperature & even the weather!
I find that the best temperature to smoke spare ribs is 250°f/120°c. If you cook ribs at too high a temperature, they’ll become tough but if you cook them at too low a temperature, they’ll take all day to cook!
There’s a couple of ways to check whether smoked spare ribs are done. One way is to poke the meat with a skewer/food probe, if it slides in with little resistance, the ribs are ready. Another way is the bend test. This is where you pick the ribs up with tongs & if they bend & crack easily, they’re ready. It’s important not to over cook smoked spare ribs, otherwise they can turn mushy. They should still have some bite!
Wrapping smoked spare ribs comes down to personal preference but I find that you get the best results if you wrap the ribs in foil as it helps them retain moisture & prevents the bark from going too dark.
Leftover smoked spare ribs will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge
To reheat leftover spare ribs, cut the ribs into individual pieces then place into an ovenproof dish, add in a splash of water & cover with foil. Bake the ribs in a 160°c/320°f oven for 30-40 minutes, until piping hot.
The best type of Irn Bru for glazing ribs is the original recipe stuff as it contains the most amount of sugar! This is called Irn Bru 1901 & is available in supermarkets.
Equipment Used
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More Barbecue Recipes To Try!
- Brisket Style Smoked Pork Belly
- Smoked Pulled Lamb Shawarma
- Smoked Ham Hocks
- Smoked Pulled Pork
- Smoked Pork Belly
- Barbecue Baked Beans
- Cherry Cola Whiskey BBQ Sauce
Watch How To Make This Recipe
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Irn Bru Smoked Spare Ribs
Equipment
- Smoker/Barbecue (See Notes)
- Digital Food Probe
- Spray Bottle
- Small Mixing Bowl
- Foil
Ingredients
- 2 Racks Spare Ribs (Whole – See Notes)
Rub & Slather
- 20 g Fine Sea Salt
- 20 g Demerara Sugar
- 15 g Coarse Ground Black Pepper
- 2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 tsp Mustard Powder
- 1 tsp Garlic Granules
- 1 tsp Onion Granules
- French's Mustard (To Slather)
Spritz
- 150 ml Irn Bru (See Notes)
- 150 ml Cold Water
To Wrap & Glaze
- 300 g Irn Bru BBQ Sauce (See Notes)
- Irn Bru (To Thin Out)
- 100 g Unsalted Butter (Cut Into Small Pieces)
Instructions
Trimming The Ribs
- Place a rack of ribs on a chopping board then pat dry with kitchen paper. If there's a flap of meat running along the backside of the ribs, trim this off level with the rib bones using a sharp knife.This is skirt meat. Sometimes, the butcher will have removed this already.
- Use your fingers to feel where the end of the longest rib is then insert the tip of your knife between the end of the rib & the section of cartilage above it. Now cut along this section, perpendicular to the ribs, to separate the ribs from the cartilage.The trimmings can be saved for stock or used for sausages! I find that a sharp boning knife works best for trimming.
- Next, cut the flap of meat off from the narrower end of the ribs, to square up the rack. You'll need to cut off the end bone (or couple of bones), otherwise this section of meat will burn in the smoker.
- Trim any excess fat from the top of the ribs (there should be a thin, even layer) & any small bone fragments & sinew.
- Finally, flip the ribs over & remove the membrane. To do this, use the tip of a knife to release a corner of the membrane from the ribs then grab it with a piece of kitchen paper & pull upwards to remove. If you're lucky, the membrane will come off in one piece but if it doesn't, use a sharp knife to trim it off.Removing the membrane comes down to personal preference so feel free to leave it on if you like.
- Repeat the trimming process with the other rack of ribs then set them to one side.
Rub & Slather
- To make the rub, combine all of the ingredients in a bowl then mix together.Not the mustard (this is for the slather)!
- Next, coat the ribs with a light coating of French's mustard then cover the the outside of the ribs with a fairly light but even coating of the rub. Make sure to pat the rub into the meat so that it sticks properly.You might not need all of the rub! The ribs don't need to be heavily seasoned like pork shoulder or brisket would be.
- Once rubbed, let the ribs sit at room temperature whilst you preheat your smoker.Don't let your ribs sit for more than an hour as this can affect the texture of the meat.
Cooking
- Light your smoker/barbecue & leave to preheat to 250°f/120°c. Make sure that your barbecue is set up for indirect cooking.A good quality charcoal/wood makes all the difference here! I used an ash wood charcoal & added in a chunk of apple wood just before adding in the ribs.
- Once up to temperature, add the ribs into the smoker, so that the meat side is facing up. Let the ribs cook undisturbed for 1½ hours.Make sure to maintain a consistent smoker temperature at all times!
- In the meantime, add the irn bru & water into a spray bottle then set aside. We'll be using this to spritz the ribs.
- After 1½ hours have passed, continue cooking the ribs but spray them with the spritz every 30 minutes, until a decent bark has formed. This will roughly take another 2-4 hours.We'll be wrapping the ribs in foil once they've taken on enough colour.
- Whilst the ribs are smoking, mix the bbq sauce with enough Irn Bru to make a glaze that's thin enough to evenly coat the ribs. You'll probably need a couple of tablespoons.
- Next, lay a double layer of foil down on a work surface, drizzle a couple of tablespoons of the barbecue sauce in the middle then add half of the butter on top. Place a rack of ribs on top, facing meat side down then drizzle another tablespoon of barbecue sauce on top. Wrap the ribs up in the foil then place back into the smoker, facing meat side down. Repeat with the other rack of ribs.We'll be using the rest of the barbecue sauce to glaze the ribs.
- Continue cooking the ribs at 250°f/120°c for another 1-3 hours until the ribs are tender. The best way to check this is to give the meat a poke with a skewer or food probe. If the skewer slides into the meat with little resistance, the ribs are ready – we want them to still have some bite! Another way to check the ribs is to lift them up. If they easily bend & crack slightly, they're ready. If you want to take the internal temperature of the meat, it should be around 190°f & 200°f (88°c & 93°c) once the ribs are cooked. We still need to glaze the ribs at this point, which will take another 30 minutes or so, so keep that in mind when checking the meat!
- Next, take the ribs out of the foil & place onto the smoker, facing meat side up. Brush the meat with a light coating of barbecue sauce then cook for 15-20 minutes until tacky & set. Brush with another light layer of barbecue sauce then continue for another 15-20 minutes until set again.
- Once your ribs are ready, take them off the smoker, transfer to a baking tray then cover loosely with foil. Leave to rest for 15-20 minutes then cut between the bones & serve.
