Ember Pit
All cuts

Pork · St. Louis cut

Spare ribs

The 3-2-1 method is a training wheel. The real test is the bend.

Internal target

198°

Bend test

90°Probe220°
Pit
225–275°

Low & slow

Time
5–6 hr

Clock, not a scale

Rest
10–15 min
USDA
145°

Safety floor

Safe long before they are tender. Keep going to 195–203°F.

Watch it cooked

Andersons Smoke Show · Better Than 321 Ribs! Pellet Grill Spare Ribs

Better Than 321 Ribs! Pellet Grill Spare Ribs

Andersons Smoke Show

Watch on YouTube

Recipes

How to cook it

  1. 1

    Peel the membrane. Season both sides.

  2. 2

    Smoke 250°F unwrapped until bark is set (about 2.5–3 hours).

  3. 3

    Wrap with a little butter, brown sugar, and honey if you like. Continue to probe tender.

  4. 4

    Unwrap, sauce if you sauce, 15–30 minutes to tack up.

Probe & cues

Between bones in the thickest meat.

  • Picked up at one end, the slab bends to a deep U and the bark cracks
  • A bone twists with light torque but does not fall out clean (that is overdone)
  • Meat has retracted from the bone ends

Stall. Optional wrap for 45–90 minutes once bark is set — not a mandatory 2-hour foil coffin.

Start a cook

Logs the target and runs a pit timer. Saved on this device.