Smoked Rib Recipe ~ 3-2-1 Method

I wish I had a dollar for every smoked rib recipe.. there are many, many recipes but not all of them are worth their proverbial salt.. fortunately, I have learned of one recently that I really like and you will too.

It is called the 3-2-1 method and I must warn you that this smoked rib recipe bends the rules of most purist smokers.. it uses (gasp!) aluminum foil during a portion of the process.

For those of you who are after really smoky and tender ribs and do not have a problem with using foil then please read on..

The 3-2-1 smoked rib recipe is a good way to smoke ribs and tends to turn out perfect ribs every time whether you are using the meatier spares or the baby backs.

Here is the scoop..

The 3 stands for the 3 hours that you initially smoke the ribs with nothing but your favorite rub on them and your favorite hardwood such as hickory, mesquite, apple, pecan, etc.

After the 3 hours you remove the ribs and quickly double wrap them in heavy duty foil.. just before you seal them off splash on some apple juice for good measure and close the foil leaving some room around the ribs for the steam to be able to flow around the meat and do it's magic.

The ribs cook in the smoker wrapped for 2 hours undisturbed.

After 2 hours remove the ribs from the smoker, unwrap and place back into the smoker for the final 1 hour. You can add a glaze or sauce at this point if you wish.

Those who use this smoke rib recipe say the meat will literally fall off the bone and be extremely juicy, tender and flavorful.

I am assuming you know how to remove the membrane from the ribs and know to smoke the ribs at around 220 degrees. If not then please read the smoking ribs page to get more detail on the individual processes of smoking ribs.

Special thanks to Jefferson Davis, a member of the Smoking Meat forum who introduced this wonderful smoked rib recipe to the forum.

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