Kansas City Sticky Spare Ribs
Kansas City ribs are sweet and sticky. A brown-sugar rub, hickory smoke for 5 to 6 hours, then layered mops of thick tomato-molasses sauce in the final hour that build into a lacquered, sticky crust. Patience on the glaze is the whole game.
- Method
- Low and slow smoke
- Total time
- 6 hr
- Target internal temp
- 200F, bend test
- Gear
- Pellet or offset smoker, hickory, Folding Tongs
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 2 racks spare ribs, membrane off
- For the rub: 1/3 cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons paprika, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon pepper, 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 cups thick KC-style sauce (tomato, molasses, brown sugar, vinegar)
- Hickory wood
The Cook
- 01
Pull the membrane and coat both racks in the sweet brown-sugar rub.
- 02
Smoke at 250F on hickory.
- 03
Cook 4 to 5 hours undisturbed until the bark sets and the bones start to show.
- 04
In the last hour, brush on a thin layer of KC sauce. Let it set for 15 minutes until tacky. Failure point: pile it on thick at once and it slides off in a wet mess instead of lacquering.
- 05
Brush a second thin layer and let it tack up again.
- 06
Brush a third layer for deep sticky shine.
- 07
Pull with the Tongs when the racks bend and the glaze is set, around 200F.
- 08
Rest 10 minutes, then slice between the bones.
Doneness
Around 200F between the bones with a bend test that cracks the surface. The glaze should be tacky and set, not runny.
Pro Tip
Do not rush the glaze. Each coat needs to tack up before the next or you never build the sticky layers that make a KC rib.
Questions
Cooked By Our Readers
Real cooks, real fire.
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