3 – 2 – 1 Ribs Cooking Method
The 3-2-1 method for ribs is a popular approach to smoking pork spare ribs. This method takes a total of six hours. It delivers beautifully tender, flavourful ribs. The method’s name reflects its timing breakdown across three stages. Here’s how it works:
Preparation
- Start by drying your ribs with kitchen towel.
- Next, we use a binder. Our binder of choice is yellow American mustard. This step is optional. It allows more rub to actually stick to the surface of your meat. Our standard rub recipe can be found here.
- Light up your smoker and aim for 107°C (225°F). We add oak and apple wood chunks to smoke on our smoker to add that extra bit of flavour.
3 Hours Unwrapped
- Start by smoking the ribs for three hours unwrapped directly on the grill.
- During this time, the ribs absorb the smoky flavour and develop that much-loved “bark”—the dark, flavour-packed crust on the surface.
2 Hours Wrapped
- Next, tightly wrap the ribs in aluminium foil or butchers paper with a splash of liquid for two hours to help steam and tenderise them.
- This step breaks down the connective tissue, making the ribs soft and almost fall-off-the-bone tender. Good liquids to add include apple juice, cider vinegar, or even a dash of beer. We use a drop of WE BBQ sauce with apple juice and cider vinegar.
- Place the wrapped ribs back on the smoker at 107°C (225°F).
1 Hour Unwrapped with Sauce
- For the last one hour, remove the foil and return the ribs to the smoker unwrapped, brushing them with WE BBQ sauce of your choice.
- This final hour lets the sauce set and caramelise, creating a sticky, delicious finish.
- Maintain the temperature, and keep an eye on the ribs to ensure the sauce doesn’t burn.
Extra Tips
For those who prefer a bit more bite to their ribs, try a 2-2-1 variation by reducing the initial smoke phase by an hour. These are more likely to win you a competition. But we prefer ours to fall off the bone.
The 3-2-1 method is perfect for barbecue newcomers and produces classic, tender ribs with minimal fuss—just brush with your favourite WE BBQ sauce, and they’re ready to enjoy!