The day before: Before you even think of taking the ribs out of the fridge, make the dry rub. (thank me later) After making the rub, remove the ribs from their packaging and pat dry with paper towels. Trim ribs of excess flap meat and pull off the silver skin membrane on the bone side. Brush both sides of ribs with mustard – Most Dijon’s have sugar added, make sure to choose one that does not, or use yellow mustard. Apply dry rub liberally on both sides, cover in plastic wrap, then foil. Chill in fridge overnight. This is an important step, don’t skip it. If you have time, go ahead and make the BBQ sauce the day before as well.

A big thank you to Mary Cressler at Vindulge.com, from whom I got this recipe, making my own little tweaks of course. If you want to see the original, I totally understand. I am still very much a novice blogger, and never think to take pictures of the process until it is too late. I do take pictures of the final product, but that really isn’t very helpful to some. Mary did take pictures, so if you need that, click the link, it will open in a new tab.

After doing a bunch of reading, I was confused as to which method was better, meat side up, or meat side down; there was compelling reasons for both, so I experimented and did one of each. Other than the ‘meat side down’ rack having grill marks, I couldn’t tell a difference. So, the decision is yours.

Cook Time, about 6 hours
Servings 4 -6 servings

Ingredients summary:

This is everything you will need for this recipe, some will be divided

2 racks spare ribs, St. Louis cut
4 tablespoons dijon mustard (Make sure to choose a sugar free one, or use yellow mustard)
5 tablespoons butter (divided, or 4 TBSP butter, and 1 TBSP avocado oil)
3 cups + 6-8 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (divided)
2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (divided)
2 tablespoons coarse ground pepper
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely diced
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika (divided)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon oregano
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (divided)
1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce (no sugar added)
2 cloves garlic, diced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 tablespoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce ((GASP, it has sugar and molasses in it, use it anyway))
Optional, but recommended: 2 TBSP brown sugar Swerve

Ingredients:

the Ribs

• 2 racks spare ribs, St. Louis cut
• 4 tablespoons dijon mustard (Make sure to choose a sugar free one, or use yellow mustard)
• 2/3 cup sugar free dry rub
• 4 tablespoons butter (2 per rack)
• 6 – 8 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (3 – 4 per rack)

SPRITz

• 2 cups apple cider vinegar, placed into a food safe spray bottle

Dry Rub

• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons coarse ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

BBQ SAUce

• 1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 tablespoon butter (or avocado oil)
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce (no sugar added)
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon  paprika
• 1/2 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce ((GASP, it has sugar and molasses in it, use it anyway))
• Optional, but recommended: 2 TBSP brown sugar Swerve

Instructions:

For the Sugar Free Dry Rub

• Combine all dry rub ingredients in a bowl and mix well. 

For the BBQ Sauce

• In a large pot set to medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter or avocado oil and add the onions. Stir occasionally until the onions are soft (golden/starting to caramelize), and sweet to the taste (at least 20 minutes). * you may need to adjust the heat and turn it down if they are browning too fast.
• Next add the garlic and stir together for 1 minute.  (burned garlic is very bitter, take care to not let the garlic burn)
• Add the apple cider vinegar, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and mix. Add dry seasonings, Worcestershire, and brown sugar swerve if using. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Using a hand immersion blender, or countertop blender, blend your sauce until smooth and there are no chunks. Taste and adjust seasonings to your preference. If its too thick add water or more apple cider vinegar.

For the ribs

• In case you missed it in the intro, this is an important step, don’t skip it. Before you even think of taking the ribs out of the fridge, make the dry rub. (thank me later) After making the rub, remove the ribs from their packaging and pat dry with paper towels. Trim ribs of excess flap meat and pull off the silver skin membrane on the bone side. Brush both sides of ribs with mustard – Most Dijon’s have sugar added, make sure to choose one that does not, or use yellow mustard. Apply dry rub liberally on both sides, cover in plastic wrap, then foil. Chill in fridge overnight.
  
• Preheat smoker to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). We have a Traeger, so I used an oak, pecan, and mesquite blend. Depends on your preference. I love that smoker for many reasons, mainly because it maintains a constant temp.
• Add the ribs to the smoker, close the lid, set a timer for 90 minutes, and if you didn’t have time before, go make the bbq sauce now.
• After that 90 minute timer goes off, set it for another 90, and begin spritizing, roughly every 20 minutes (that’s three hours total). This keeps the ribs moist. After that you should see the bones protruding about ¼ inch, that’s the sign that it’s time to wrap. You should long be done with the sauce by now.
• Place foil on a sheet pan, grab first rack of ribs and place on the foil. Add 2 tablespoons of butter, cut up into smaller pieces to evenly disperse, brush on a thin layer of sauce and sprinkle with 3-4 TBSP apple cider vinegar. Wrap tightly, then do it all over again with the second rack of ribs.
• Place back on smoker for about two hours, checking after an hour to see if you’ve reached the texture that you want. Take care when opening, as steam will escape. We like ours falling off the bone, but realize that some people don’t, so check.
• Unwrap, and discard foil, but leave ribs on the grill. Brush with sauce, how much is up to you. If you like a less messy rib, add a little. If you like it it dripping and gooey, add a lot. about 30 more minutes.
• Remove both racks of ribs from grill, slice and enjoy.