Smoked Pomegranate Chipotle BBQ Ribs

Name: Smoked Pomegranate Chipotle BBQ Ribs
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 6 h
Total time: 6 h 10 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 1 full rack St. Louis style or baby back ribs; Wood chips (I prefer hickory and apple); 1 tablespoon light brown sugar; 1/2 tablespoon paprika; 1/2 teaspoon ground dry mustard; 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/2 teaspoon onion powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon chile powder; 1 cup (8 ounces) pomegranate juice; 1 lemon, juiced (about 2 tablespoons); 2 tablespoons sugar; 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar; 1/4 cup ketchup; 1 chipotle pepper, finely chopped; 3 tablespoons light brown sugar; 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses; 2 tablespoons tomato paste; 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon onion powder; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder

By Chris Cockren 72 Comments

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Weave Made Media® and Farmland/Smithfield, but all my opinions are my own. #weavemade #ReadySetRibs http://my-disclosur.es/RgFrEH

Easily turn your gas grill into a makeshift smoker to make these sweet, sticky, and slightly spicy Smoked Pomegranate Chipotle BBQ Ribs.

Did we all have an awesome Memorial Day weekend? It was my buddy Steve’s big bachelor party getaway. We rented a cabin upstate, did some golfing, explored a decrepit and creepy vacant hotel that could very well be on an episode of The Walking Dead, and enjoyed a whole lot of gorge eating. It was pretty glorious.

And now Monday is here. Guess what Asheley and I are currently doing to celebrate Memorial Day? Moving. That’s right, we officially close on the sale of our home this Wednesday, so it’s a mad dash to the self-storage center to cram in as much of our crap as possible. Big thanks to Asheley’s parents and Tyler + Ashley for helping us big time. And for the next month and a half, thanks to my parents for taking us in until our new home is ready.

But now that Memorial Day is here, it’s officially grilling season. Can I get a woot. Like, a big time woot. I know my man David over at Spiced shares my primal-cooking-over-fire-happiness.

And turning my gas grill into a makeshift smoker? Awesome, as demonstrated by this pulled pork. And now, it’s time for ribs.

I want my baby-back baby-back baby-back… ribs. Austin Powers anyone?

Ribs are like the epitome of awesome summer food. It’s direct hand to mouth eating, complete with bbq sauce being slathered all up in your face. #lifeisgood

There’s nothing better than getting together with friends and polishing off a few racks for ribs. Ah, summer. Good times.

So listen, turning your gas grill into a smoker is pretty darn easy and makes you one culinary bad-donkey. And chicks dig culinary bad-donkeys.

We are going to set up the grill for indirect grilling, which simply means that only one side of the grill will be ignited. And we’ll let the ribs hang out on the unlit side so they cook low-and-slow.

That’s the key to super tender juicy ribs. Low-and-slow. Say it with me now. Low-and-slow.

Let’s set up that makeshift smoker, shall we?

On the left side of your grill, place a shallow disposable aluminum pan right underneath the grate and fill with water. This will create moist, even heat. That’s a good thing.

Now we need that handy dandy wood chip foil packet. Hit up your favorite home improvement warehouse (or use the almighty Amazon) to grab some wood chips. Experiment with whatever type of wood your little heart desires, although I typically use a mix of apple and hickory. All you need to do then is take a handful of chips, wrap ’em up in foil, and poke a few holes on the top with a knife. You’ll want to make around 4 packets.

Place one of those packets in front of your water pan. On the right side of your grill, place an oven thermometer on top of the grate. Don’t go trusting your built in thermometer on the top of your grill. It’s probably not accurate. Not even close.

Start by only turning on the left-most burner on around half power. Close the lid and let it come up to temperature. For smoking, you want to try to stabilize the heat between 225-250°F. If it is close but just a little under, try bumping up that burner a little bit. If it’s not close to 225°F, try turning on the adjacent burner on its lowest setting. Remember, the magic range you’re looking for is 225-250°F. You may have to tweak the burners throughout the process, as outside temperature, rain, wind, etc. can all affect the inside of the grill.

Once you have the heat stabalized, throw those ribs on cool side of the grill (right side), close the lid, and walk away. Check on your ribs periodically, about every 45 minutes or so, to check the grill temperature, refill the water pans, and replace the wood chip packets (you’ll know they are done when it’s not smoking anymore).

If you’re using St. Louis Style ribs, it’ll take aroudn 5 to 6 hours. Apparently baby back ribs take around 3 to 4 hours, although I haven’t tried it… yet.

Boom, smoked ribs on a gas grill.

And although some people like their ribs commando (i.e. no sauce), I’m all about the dry rub + bbq sauce combo when it comes to ribs. And this sweet, sticky, and slightly spicy Pomegranate Chipotle BBQ Sauce is just about good enough to bathe in.