Easy and delicious Pellet Grill Pork Ribs

Pork ribs are one of my family’s favorite summer suppers. These easy and delicious pellet grill pork ribs will not disappoint. I use my standard homemade rib rub and they come out perfectly every time. You can use baby back ribs or side ribs for great ribs. Baby backs are a bit more expensive and I find side ribs a bit more meaty, so those are the ones I usually use. One rack usually will feed two adults so depending on how many I am feeding I will prepare one rack per two people. There’s usually not any leftovers and that’s okay with me.

We love barbeque and smoking so it should be no surprise that I have a Traeger pellet grill/smoker. To be honest it’s more of my husbands “toy” than mine. That being said, I do like to use it too. I have a lot of kitchen equipment and basically an outdoor kitchen as well. It comes in handy when it is hot outside and I want to avoid heating the house even further.

Preparing Your Pellet Grill Ribs:

Whether you use back or side ribs is up to you but you should do a few things before you put your ribs on the smoker (pellet grill) to ensure the best results. One of the first things I recommend is that you remove the membrane from the back of the rack of ribs. This membrane is called the silver skin and it is a thin layer of tough skin on the bone side of the rack.

A paper towel comes in handy for getting a grip on the membrane because it is slippery. Just use the tip of your knife to start lifting the silver skin on one end of the rack of ribs, then use a paper towel to grasp the membrane and pull it along the length of the rack of ribs to remove it. This will allow the seasonings to penetrate into the meat of the ribs from both sides.

Now that the silver skin is removed from the ribs you can season them.  I like to use a rimmed baking sheet and add about 2-3 tablespoons of rib rub per side.  You don’t want a thick coating of seasoning but you do want the majority of the ribs to have some seasoning on it. If you want a good rib rub then you can click here for my homemade rib rub recipe.

I think a dry rub with some brown sugar, smoked paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, onion powder, dry mustard, kosher salt and black pepper is perfect and gives a nice sweet, smoky, and salty flavor to the ribs

Flavoring your Pellet Grill Ribs:

The next thing you need to decide when you are making ribs on the pellet grill, is to choose what flavor of pellet you want to use. We like hickory, but there are so many to choose from. Use what you like. Hickory, apple, cherry, mesquite and pecan are common favorites.

How to make the best Pellet Grill Ribs:

Ribs cooked in a pellet smoker, such as a Traeger, are the easiest method, in my opinion.    There is no messing with water pans or wood chips like with a traditional smoker. All you have to do is fill up the hopper with your choice of pellets (depending on what flavor you want), set the temperature, and start smoking.

The best thing about pellet grill ribs is that they are pretty much set and forget. There’s no wrapping in foil, no spray bottle marinade, no yellow mustard or apple juice. Just pre-heat your pellet smoker to 225F, rub your ribs with seasoning or your favorite dry rub, place the rack in the smoker and let them cook. You will know they’re ready when a few things happen.

Once the smoker is preheated to 225 degrees F, you can put your seasoned racks of ribs directly on the grates and let them smoke.  Leave them alone for at least 4 hours.  The less you open the grill, the shorter your cook time will be.  You do want to keep an eye on the smoker temperature and make sure it stays where you set it. Depending on what type of rib you are using, they will take different lengths of time. Because baby back ribs are generally smaller, they will take 4 to 5 hours and spare ribs will take 6 to 7 hrs.