For these Party Ribs on the Grill we take a slab of baby back ribs, carve them into individual ribs and then slather with garlic aioli as a binder. The slathered individual ribs are then dropped into a bag of seasoning, shaken and coated thoroughly. The ribs are slow smoked on a charcoal grill at 225F for 2 hours until just short of fall off the bone tender otherwise known as competition style.

Scroll down for the pic-by-pic, step-by-step, foolproof grilling instructions.

Before we dive into these party ribs on the grill, let’s talk about some other options. We absolutely LOVE ribs at GrillinFools.com and thus have a wide variety of rib recipes that are home runs every time:

• Blow Torch Ribs
• 90-60-30 Ribs (because 321 ribs are so last decade)
• But if you want to go old school – 321 Wet Brined Ribs
• Hot Honey Ribs
• And here is a Wet Brined Rib Recipe without the 321 timing

Let’s get back after this one

What are Party Ribs?

Party ribs are pork ribs, typically baby back ribs (although spares can be used) that are cut into individual bones rather than leaving the slab whole. By slicing the slab into individual ribs, the seasoning coverage, and subsequent bark, is better than cooking the whole slab. With a slab of ribs, the sides of the ribs, when cut after cooking, will have no seasoning or bark. Party ribs have seasoning all the way around. Also, cooking individual ribs takes less time than cooking a whole slab. They make for a great appetizer at a party, hence the name Party Ribs.

Party Ribs on the Grill Ingredients:

• 1 slab of baby back ribs
• Salt
• 1/2 cup of garlic aioli (substitute mustard or mayo)
• 1 resealable plastic bag
• 1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ seasoning, we used Texas Oil Dust: Piggy Bank
• Pork rinds (completely optional)

Start the process by removing the membrane from the bone side of the slab of baby backs

I do this by simply gripping the edge of the membrane with a paper towel to get a hold of that slippery sucker:

Then grab a knife and cut each bone away from the slab:

Season the party ribs with coarse salt all the way around:

Grab a large bowl and then drop the salted ribs in and add the garlic aioli (or mustard or mayo)

Then work the party ribs around to coat completely

Why use a Binder when Smoking Meat?

A binder allows for better seasoning adhesion to the meat and bastes the meat as the binder melts during the cooking process. It tends to make for more flavorful and juicier meat with better bark than not using a binder. Popular binders are mustard, mayo and aioli. The meat will not be dominated by the flavors of the binder but it will have an impact on the final flavor profile

I’m a big fan of using a binder. I’m a bigger fan of the mayo/aioli binders than I am of mustard.

Grab the plastic bag and dump in you BBQ seasoning:

Transfer the baby backs to the plastic bag and give it a good shake to make sure the seasoning indeed coats every nook and cranny of every single party rib in the bag::

So some of you are wondering why I didn’t just dump the seasoning into the bowl or apply the binder in the bag followed by the rub?

Because the binder is all over the sides of the bowl and thus a bunch of seasoning will stick to the binder on the sides rather than the meat.

Now we are getting into the meat of the recipe, pun indeed intended.

Check out this rub coverage:

If we left the slab whole there wouldn’t be any bark/rub on the flat sides of the ribs where the slab is sliced

Prepare the grill for low and and slow with a target temp of 225F. In this case, I’m using my Everdure 4K, kamado style, charcoal grill with a chunk of apple wood which means we are cooking indirect with a plate setter between the fire and meat :

This is my Everdure 4K, kamado style grill, that has a Euro/retro look.

How to Cook Party Ribs on the Grill

Carve the slab of ribs into individual, meaty bones, season with salt, slather with a binder and then coat with your favorite BBQ seasoning. Place them on a 225F degree smoker and smoke between 1 hour 45 minutes and 2 hours 15 minutes. Once the ribs reach an internal temperature of 180F-190F, remove from the grill and serve.

Place the ribs in the cooker.

Indeed, something tells me this is going to be a great cook session:

Is it just me or is the light from above shining down on the rib?

The binder, combined with the liquid drawn out of the ribs by the salt, creates a very wet rib:

I’m still digging the sunbeam.

Let the Heat and Smoke Transform our Party Ribs

Now that the ribs are on the grill, there isn’t much left to do. Give it between 1 hour 45 minutes and 2 hours 15 minutes and these will be done.

No flipping, moving, adjusting anything.

Just let them smoke for a couple hours.

Here are a few pics of the process of cooking these party ribs on the grill:

‘

And there’s a little bone poking through:

Finally, these ribs are pretty much done and yet there is very little in terms of bone peeking out as we would normally see with a full slab.

I can’t explain this phenomenon.

I have no idea why the bones didn’t peek out more.

If you have an explanation, can you leave it in the comments below?

Our target temp for the party ribs is between 180F-190F.

These are competition style, tender but not fall off the bone.

If you wanted to go to fall off the bone, then they need to be taken to 203F-207F. Although I don’t recommend it with the party ribs.

With these individually sliced ribs, they can go right past 207F in a blink of an eye and thus dry out.

Optional [TAG49]

To serve these, I grabbed a casserole dish and then dumped in a couple bags of pork rinds from PorkRinds.com

I topped the pork rinds with the party ribs:

The rib/pork rind combo is really fantastic. Seriously. The combination of the tender ribs and the incredible crunch of the pork rinds is pretty spectacular.

Full disclosure, I partnered with PorkRinds.com on a video, but not on a recipe here. I included them here because their pork rinds are awesome. No compensation for this recipe. But I’m a real fan so I thought I would share.

Party Ribs on the Grill Recap

These ribs were amazing. The extra bark really make these ribs great and that doesn’t even include the time saving on this cook sesh. There was plenty of smoke flavor too. This is not a gimmick. This method is legit. Additionally, I want to try these again inside a 300F degree grill. I bet I can knock these out in maybe 75-90 minutes. I’m definitely going to be experimenting with party ribs for a little while. Blowtorch Party Ribs? Saucy Party Ribs? Peachy Sweet Party Ribs?

Furthermore, I almost forgot. If you want to see the perfect bite, tap on the link for the video to see that action.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below or send me an email.

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Recipe Card:

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Party Ribs on the Grill

A slab of ribs carved into individual ribs and heavily seasoned. These party ribs on the grill are smoked for 2 hours until just short of fall off the bone.

Course Appetiser, Appetizer, Barbecue, BBQ, Finger Food, Ribs

Cuisine American, American Fare, Appetizer, Baby Back Ribs, Barbecue, BBQ, Pork Ribs, Ribs

Keyword 4K, Aioli, Baby Back Ribs, Baby Backs, BBQ Rub, BBQ Seasoning, Binder, Charcoal, Charcoal Grill, Everdure, Everdure 4K, Foolproof, Garlic Aioli, Grilling, Kamado, Kamado Grill, Kamado Style Grill, Party Ribs, Party Ribs on the Grill, Pic-by-Pic, Pork Rinds, Ribs on the Grill, Step-by-Step

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours

Servings 6 People

Equipment

• 1 Large mixing bowl
• 1 Resealable plastic bag

Ingredients

• 1 slab Baby back ribs
• Salt
• ½ cup Garlic aioli Substitute mustard or mayonnaise
• ½ cup Your favorite BBQ Seasoning
• Pork Rinds

Instructions

• Remove the membrane off the bone side of the ribs with a paper towel and slice the slab of ribs into individual, meaty bones. Season the sliced ribs with salt
• Place the salted party ribs in the large mixing bowl and add the garlic aioli (or mustard or mayo). Work the aioli around the baby backs until they are coated completely
• Pour the BBQ seasoning into the plastic bag and then add the baby back ribs. Seal the bag and shake it thoroughly until the rub has coated the party ribs completely.
• Prepare the grill for indirect grilling with an internal temperature of 225F. Place the ribs on the grill and a chunk of smoke wood (in this case apple) on the coals.
• Smoke the ribs for about 2 hours (+/- 15 minutes). Start checking the internal temp of the ribs about 90-100 minutes. Keep checking every 10-15 minutes until the party ribs on the grill reach between 180F-190F internal. Remove from the grill and plate on a bed of pork rinds (optional)

Video

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