Smoked Pork Spare Ribs, 3-2-1 Style

Ingredients

• Pork spare ribs
• Plain yellow mustard, to help the rub stick
• Barbecue rub of your choice
• For the wrap, per rack: 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons rub
• 4 pats softened butter
• Apple juice (optional, for the pan method)
• Pecan and fruit wood, 50/50, for smoke

Method

1. Rinse the ribs under cold water. Trim St. Louis style if desired: square up the rack, saving the trimmed pieces to smoke alongside (great in beans and soups later).
2. Flip bone side up. Loosen the membrane in the middle of the rack with a butter knife, work your fingers under it, and pull straight up — it comes off in one sheet (paper towels help the grip). Cut off the meat flap along the bone side.
3. Squeeze a generous wave of yellow mustard over the bone side and rub it in, then apply rub evenly. Let it sit ~10 minutes until wet-looking, flip, and repeat on the meat side.
4. Set up the smoker at 225°F with pecan and fruit wood. In cold weather, preheat at least an hour.
5. THE 3: place ribs bone side down directly on the grate and smoke 3 hours at 225°F. No mopping, no peeking.
6. THE 2: lay out a 36x18" sheet of foil. Sprinkle 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2-3 tablespoons of rub, and 4 pats of butter in a rack-sized bed. Lay the ribs MEAT SIDE DOWN onto it, wrap carefully, then wrap in a second sheet without flipping. Back on the smoker 2 hours at 225°F (no smoke needed).
7. Unwrap carefully and save the collected juices — baste with them in the last stage if you like.
8. THE 1: ribs back on the grate bone side down for 1 hour at 225°F, with or without smoke, to firm them back up.
9. Rest about 10 minutes, then slice. Done is 185-190°F internal, or when the rack bends and the meat cracks on the surface.