I love using my smoker. It’s an easy way to cook something and be able to do other things since you don’t have to watch it. Plus cooking meats in a smoker imparts some amazing flavors and keeps the meat moist and tender.
Ribs of course are a go to summer barbecue staple. They are simple to make and cooking them in a smoker is easy to do and frees you up to do other things while they are cooking.
The cocoa dry rub takes just a few minutes to mix together and rub on the rack of ribs. Don’t worry about getting all the lumps out of the brown sugar, you are going to rub this into the ribs.
Once you’ve trimmed the sinew and excess fat off the ribs, place them on a long piece of plastic wrap. Rub half the rub mixture into each side of the ribs.
Now wrap the ribs up tight in plastic wrap, put them on a plate and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, remove the ribs from the refrigerator and the plastic wrap and place it bone side down on a smoker rack.
Now get your smoker ready according to manufacturer instructions, preheat it to 225 degrees and do a chip burn. Add the ribs when the smoker is ready.
I like to use hickory and cherry wood chips for my Cocoa Dry Rub Ribs, but use what wood you like. I also only fill my wood chip pan about half full. I like the smoke flavor, but I don’t want it overwhelming.
After about 4 1/2 hours you will have deliciously smoked and tender ribs. These are tasty on there own, or try them with a sweet and tangy barbecue sauce.
I like to make Grilled Loaded Potatoes to eat with the ribs and leftovers I freeze until I’m ready to make Rib Burgers.
Enjoy!
Smoked Ribs with a Cocoa Dry Rub
Equipment
- Cutting board and knife
- Small Bowl
- Smoker
Ingredients
- 1 rack St Louis or Baby Back Ribs
- ½ pan hickory cherry, or apple wood chips
Cocoa Dry Rub
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp oregano
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp granulated garlic
- ½ tbsp chili powder
- ½ tbsp chipotle powder
- ½ tbsp onion powder
- 2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Trim ribs of excess fat and sinew.
- Mix together dry rub ingredients.
- Rub ribs with dry rub the night before, wrap in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator.
- Get smoker ready according to manufacture directions. I like to use ¼ pan hickory and ¼ pan cherry wood chips.
- Pre-heat with a chip burn to 225 degrees.
- Smoke bone side down for 4 ½ hours.
- Remove from smoker, slice and serve immediately.
- Enjoy!