❌

Normal view

There are new articles available, click to refresh the page.
Before yesterdayMain stream

Back to Basics: Crispy Pulled Pork Bacon Sliders

23 October 2026 at 08:16
Photo Credit: Daniel Hale

By Daniel Hale

Presented by Wildfire Outdoor Living

Pulled pork is one of those foods that may be even better the second time around.

For this installment of Back to Basics, we’re turning leftover pulled pork into a quick griddle meal that works just as well at home as it does at a tailgate.

Of course, here at BarbecueBible, we’re happy to smoke a pork shoulder from scratch. But if you already have pulled pork in the refrigerator—or pick some up from your favorite barbecue joint—you’re most of the way there.

For this recipe, I used the Wildfire Ranch Pro 30″ Griddle to turn the pork into crispy little slider patties. Think of them as pulled pork burgers, with bacon doing double duty as both topping and flavor.

Start With the Bacon

I started by cooking strips of bacon directly on the Wildfire griddle.

Once the bacon was crisp, I removed it from the griddle and set it aside for the sliders. More importantly, I left the rendered bacon fat right where it was.

That fat becomes the base for crisping the pulled pork.

bacon on griddle

Photo Credit: Daniel Hale

You could certainly use butter or olive oil instead, but if bacon is going on the finished slider anyway, why not? Also: it’s bacon.

Turn Pulled Pork Into Crispy Patties

Instead of simply piling the pulled pork onto the griddle, I formed it into small patties about the size of the slider buns.

The patties don’t need to be packed tightly like hamburgers. Press them together just enough to hold their shape.

Place them directly in the hot bacon fat and let them cook without moving them around too much. You want the pork making solid contact with the griddle so the bottom develops a crisp, browned crust.

crispy pork on griddle

Photo Credit: Daniel Hale

Flip the patties and crisp the second side.

The result is still tender pulled pork in the center, but with deeply browned edges and a crunchy exterior.

That contrast is what makes these different from simply reheating leftover barbecue.

Keep the Sliders Simple

Once the pork patties are crisp, the rest comes together quickly.

Chop the cooked bacon and pile it onto the pork. Add your favorite barbecue sauce if you like, then sandwich everything between slider buns.

Coleslaw makes a good topping, particularly if you want something cool and crunchy against the hot pork. Pickles would work, too.

But you don’t need much. The crispy pork and bacon should stay at the center of the slider.

crispy pork sliders

Photo Credit: Daniel Hale

A big thank you to Wildfire Outdoor Living for sponsoring this post.

Wildfire Outdoor Living is an Arizona-based company specializing in high-performance gas grills and premium outdoor kitchen solutions. Wildfire brings a commitment to cutting-edge technology and industry-leading innovation. Their 304 stainless steel design and illuminated LED knobs, cast stainless steel burners, and laser-cut stainless steel cooking grates create products that will provide peak performance. They also allow you to customize your outdoor kitchen with designer finish knobs and handles to meet the growing demand for designer outdoor kitchens.

Want to go deeper on the craft? Explore our grilling techniques and how-to guides for ribs, steak, chicken, seafood, and more.

Get Steven’s weekly grilling tips, seasonal recipes, and live-fire ideas in your inbox. Join our Up in Smoke newsletter. Sign up and get a FREE PDF of Steven Raichlen's Best Ribs Recipes Ebook.

Preorder Man On Fire — A Steven Raichlen Memoir. And get some really cool rewards!

Looking to upgrade your tailgating setup? Check out our Tailgating Essentials.

The post Back to Basics: Crispy Pulled Pork Bacon Sliders appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

Smoked Pork Chili: A Winning Tailgating Feast (Budget-Friendly, Too!)

Weary of the usual tailgating fare? Whether you party on the asphalt or in your backyard, we have the perfect antidote for “wing fatigue”: Smoked Pork Chili Verde.

Forget the usual hot dogs and hamburgers. This smoky, slightly spicy pork chili brings something different to the party, and it won’t cost a fortune.

This recipe—one of our favorites—was developed when we were blessed with an abundance of fire-roasted green chile peppers at a session of Steven’s Barbecue University. Meaty country-style pork ribs (not ribs at all, but a well-marbled cut from the shoulder) were smoked and helped turn these peppers into a dish that could feed more than 50 attendees. The recipe has since been adjusted to feed 12.

Happily, the chili benefits from an overnight rest in the refrigerator. Make it at home the day before the party, then reheat before your guests arrive. We like to serve the chili from a Dutch oven, like this one from Lodge.

What makes this pork chili verde special is its combination of roasted green chiles, tangy tomatillos, tender pork, and a touch of wood smoke.

Hatch green chiles roasting over an open fire on a grill

The green chiles and vegetables develop a rich, roasted flavor when charred over high heat. Meanwhile, the pork gets its own dose of smoke before everything comes together for a slow, gentle braise.

It’s the kind of meal that makes people stop talking about the game long enough to ask, “Who made this chili?”

And that’s saying something when the score is tied in the fourth quarter.

Recipe

Barbecue University Chili Verde

Recipe by Steven Raichlen

Country-style pork ribs are smoked over wood, then gently braised with fire-roasted green chiles, tomatillos, onions, and spices. This crowd-sized chili serves 12 and tastes even better the next day.

Yield: 12 servings

Equipment: Grill or smoker; grill-safe Dutch oven or heatproof casserole; food processor; 2 cups wood chips or chunks, preferably mesquite, soaked for 1 hour and drained

Ingredients

  • 20 to 24 fresh chiles, preferably a mix of poblanos, Anaheim, Hatch, or New Mexican chiles
  • 2 to 3 jalapeño chiles
  • 1-1/2 to 2 pounds fresh tomatillos, husked, washed, and halved
  • 2 large Spanish onions, peeled and quartered through the stem ends
  • 4 to 5 pounds country-style pork ribs, bone-in or boneless, each 3/4 to 1 inch thick
  • Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 12-ounce bottle or can of beer, in a spray bottle
  • 1 bunch fresh cilantro, coarse stems removed, with a few sprigs reserved for serving
  • 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
  • 6 cups chicken broth, plus more as needed
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin, or more to taste
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano, preferably Mexican
  • Sour cream or Mexican crema, for serving (optional)

Instructions

  1. Set up your grill for direct grilling and preheat to high. Grill the chiles, jalapeños, tomatillos, and onions, turning as needed, until the chile skins blister and blacken and the onions develop a good char.
  2. Transfer the grilled vegetables to a large bowl and allow them to cool. Peel, stem, and seed the chiles, reserving their juices. Remove any excessively charred layers from the onions and tomatillos. Coarsely chop the vegetables and garlic.
  3. Working in two batches, process the roasted vegetables, cilantro, garlic, chicken broth, cumin, and oregano in a food processor. Pour the mixture into one or two grill-safe Dutch ovens or heatproof casseroles.
  4. Prepare the grill for indirect grilling at 225 to 250 degrees F, placing a drip pan between the coal piles. Add 1/2 cup of wood chips or chunks to each pile, replenishing halfway through smoking. Alternatively, use a smoker according to its instructions. On a gas grill, use a smoker box or foil smoking pouch, starting on high until smoke appears, then reducing the heat to medium-low.
  5. Season the pork generously with salt and black pepper. Place the ribs over the drip pan and smoke for 1 hour, turning once and periodically spraying with beer. Transfer the smoked pork into the chile mixture, submerging the pieces.
  6. Cover the Dutch oven or casserole and place it on the grill. Cover the grill and braise for 1-1/2 hours, maintaining a temperature of approximately 300 degrees F by adding coals as needed.
  7. Move the Dutch oven to a heatproof surface. Remove the pork, discard any bones, and cut the meat into bite-size pieces. Stir it back into the chili. Adjust the seasoning with additional broth, cumin, or salt if necessary. Serve in bowls, topped with sour cream or crema if desired, and garnish with cilantro.

See the original Barbecue University Chili Verde recipe.

Looking for more recipes like this? Browse our Recipe Index for grilled, smoked, and live-fire favorites.

Get Steven’s weekly grilling tips, seasonal recipes, and live-fire ideas in your inbox. Join our Up in Smoke newsletter. Sign up and get a FREE PDF of Steven Raichlen's Best Ribs Recipes Ebook.

Preorder Man On Fire — A Steven Raichlen Memoir. And get some really cool rewards!

Looking to upgrade your tailgating setup? Check out our Tailgating Essentials.

The post Smoked Pork Chili: A Winning Tailgating Feast (Budget-Friendly, Too!) appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

5 Hour Smoked Pork Butt

1 October 2026 at 13:27

5 Hour Smoked Pork Butt

There’s just something about pork cooking directly over hot coals. All that fat and meat juice drips down onto the fire, comes back up as smoke, and gives the pork a flavor you just can’t get cooking indirect.

That’s why this is one of my favorite ways to cook a pork butt.

For this cook, I started with a Tyson All Natural Fresh, Bone-In Pork Butt, ran the pit at 300°F and let it cook right over the coals for the first 3 hours to build that bark and charcoal-smoked flavor. Then I wrapped it with a little BBQ sauce and let it go until it was tender.

The whole cook takes about 5 hours, but there is one part you don’t want to rush. Give that pork butt a good rest before you pull it. After at least an hour, it’ll still be hot and tender, the juices have had time to settle back into the meat, and you’re ready to pull it and serve.

WHAT MALCOM USED IN THIS RECIPE:

Print
pulled pork

5 Hour Smoked Pork Butt


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

Description

This pork butt cooks hot and fast over charcoal, where the drippings hit the coals and add even more smoke and flavor. After about 5 hours, you’ve got tender, juicy pulled pork with plenty of bark.


Ingredients

  • 1 whole pork butt
  • Killer Hogs AP Seasoning
  • Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub
  • Killer Hogs The BBQ Sauce

Instructions

  1. Prepare a smoker for cooking at 300°F. For this method, you need a cooker that allows the pork to sit 22–24 inches directly above the hot coals, with no heat deflector between the meat and the fire. That distance is important. It allows the pork to cook over the coals without being too close to the fire, while the drippings can still fall onto the coals and create that signature flavor. A drum smoker is ideal for this setup.
  2. Score the fat cap in a grid pattern, cutting through the fat but not deep into the meat. This helps the fat render and allows more seasoning and smoke to penetrate. It also creates those little barked-up pieces of fat cap that make some of the best bites at the end.
  3. Season the pork butt all over with a base layer of Killer Hogs AP Seasoning, then apply a heavy coat of Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub. Work the seasoning into the scored fat cap and make sure the pork is coated well on all sides.
  4. Place the pork butt on the cooking grate fat side up, directly over the hot coals.
  5. Cook at 300°F for 3 hours. As the pork cooks, the fat and meat juices drip onto the hot coals, creating smoke that comes right back up around the meat and builds that distinct charcoal-smoked flavor.
  6. After 3 hours, remove the pork butt from the pit and place it on a large sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Pour Killer Hogs The BBQ Sauce over the pork, then wrap it tightly.
  7. Insert a meat probe through the foil into the pork butt and return it to the smoker.
  8. Continue cooking at 300°F for about 2 more hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 202°F and the pork is tender.
  9. Don’t skip the rest. After cooking this pork hot and fast, it needs time to rest before you pull it. Place the wrapped pork butt in a dry cooler for at least 1 hour. This gives the juices time to redistribute so they stay in the meat instead of running out when you pull it.
  10. Unwrap the pork butt and pull the meat, mixing in the bark and those pieces of rendered fat cap. Serve with Killer Hogs The BBQ Sauce.

Malcom Reed
Connect on Facebook
Follow me on TikTok
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel
Follow me on Instagram

Buy Killer Hogs Products Here

The post 5 Hour Smoked Pork Butt appeared first on HowToBBBQRight.

Back to Basics: A Hot Date with Bacon, Blue Cheese, and Hot Honey

29 September 2026 at 13:00

Bacon Wrapped Dates

Photo Credit: Steve Nestor

By Steve Nestor

What is your go-to appetizer when hosting a party at your house? Mine is chicken wings. My guests expect and look forward to the chicken wings. But sometimes I like to mix things up and surprise them with something new.

Here is an appetizer that is sweet, salty, savory, and speedy to make. If you are looking for a quick and delicious appetizer, I have just the thing: bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with blue cheese.

Wildfire Banner

How to Make Bacon-Wrapped Dates

Here is how it all comes together. I used Medjool dates. I started by slicing down the side of each date and removing the pit. I then stuffed each date with a slice of blue cheese.

I cut the bacon in half and spread the slices out on the cutting board.

The Barbecue University Bacon Trick

One trick I learned when I was a student at Barbecue University is to use your hands to stretch out each slice of bacon to make it longer when wrapping food. Stretching out the bacon allows you to overlap the original edge of the bacon.

Next, I wrapped each date with a slice of bacon and secured it with a toothpick. I placed them in the refrigerator to help the bacon stick to the dates.

Bacon Wrapped Dates

Photo Credit: Steve Nestor

Griddling the Bacon-Wrapped Dates

I wanted the bacon to get crispy without burning, so I set up the Wildfire drop-in griddle over medium heat. I removed the toothpicks and placed the bacon-wrapped dates on the griddle seam-side down to sear them closed.

The dates grilled for 2 minutes on each side, for a total of 8 minutes. I finished the bacon-wrapped dates with hot honey for some kick.

Bacon Wrapped Dates

Photo Credit: Steve Nestor

The bacon was crispy and salty, the dates were warm and sweet, and the blue cheese created a creamy center. The spice from the hot honey balanced the sweetness of the dates and the richness of the blue cheese. Each bite provided a burst of flavors and textures.

Recipe

Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Blue Cheese and Hot Honey

Medjool dates are stuffed with blue cheese, wrapped in bacon, and griddled until the bacon is crisp. A drizzle of hot honey adds a spicy-sweet finish.

Ingredients

  • 10 Medjool dates
  • 10 slices or pieces blue cheese
  • 5 slices bacon, cut in half crosswise
  • Hot honey, for finishing

Instructions

  1. Slice down the side of each date and remove the pit.
  2. Stuff each date with a slice of blue cheese.
  3. Cut the bacon slices in half and spread them out on a cutting board. Using your hands, gently stretch each piece of bacon to make it longer.
  4. Wrap each date with a piece of bacon, overlapping the bacon slightly, and secure it with a toothpick.
  5. Place the wrapped dates in the refrigerator to help the bacon adhere to the dates.
  6. Set up the Wildfire drop-in griddle over medium heat.
  7. Remove the toothpicks and place the bacon-wrapped dates on the griddle seam-side down to sear the bacon closed.
  8. Griddle for about 2 minutes on each side, about 8 minutes total, or until the bacon is crisp.
  9. Transfer the dates to a serving plate and finish with hot honey.

Bacon Wrapped Dates

Photo Credit: Steve Nestor

A big thank you to Wildfire Outdoor Living for sponsoring this cook.

Wildfire Outdoor Living is an Arizona-based company specializing in high-performance gas grills and premium outdoor kitchen solutions. Wildfire brings a commitment to cutting-edge technology and industry-leading innovation. Their 304 stainless steel design, illuminated LED knobs, cast stainless steel burners, and laser-cut stainless steel cooking grates create products designed to provide peak performance. They also allow you to customize your outdoor kitchen with designer-finish knobs and handles to meet the growing demand for designer outdoor kitchens.

The drop-in griddle will turn your Wildfire gas grill into a full-fledged kitchen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can enjoy pancakes and bacon for breakfast, smash burgers for lunch, or stir-fry for dinner, all on the drop-in griddle.

Looking for more recipes like this? Browse our Recipe Index for grilled, smoked, and live-fire favorites.

Get Steven’s weekly grilling tips, seasonal recipes, and live-fire ideas in your inbox. Join our Up in Smoke newsletter. Sign up and get a FREE PDF of Steven Raichlen's Best Ribs Recipes Ebook.

Preorder Man On Fire — A Steven Raichlen Memoir. And get some really cool rewards!

Looking to upgrade your tailgating setup? Check out our Tailgating Essentials.

The post Back to Basics: A Hot Date with Bacon, Blue Cheese, and Hot Honey appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

How to Candy Bacon

“Candy is dandy,” goes the saying. But candied bacon is even dandier.

Just ask my wife. This morning, she announced she would like candied bacon to go with her eggs for breakfast.

Well, you know the other saying: “Happy wife, happy life.” So candied bacon it is!

Fortunately, I had a package of organic, thick-sliced, cob-smoked bacon in the refrigerator. I grabbed some maple syrup and brown sugar (equally organic) and fired up the griddle.

So who first created candied bacon? One predecessor may have been “pig candy”—pioneered on the competition barbecue circuit by pit masters who crusted pork belly with brown sugar, black pepper, and cayenne, prior to an hours-long smoke in their offsets. Martha Stewart got into the act in the early 2000s with sugar- and spice-crusted bacon baked crisp in the oven. But that effort paled next to the “Millionaire’s bacon” introduced (and trademarked) at the Sweet Maple restaurant in San Francisco.

You know what I think? Candied bacon had no single progenitor. Like fire, it arose in many places independently, because sweet + salty + smoke = edible paradise every time.

How to Make Candied Bacon on a Griddle

Which brings me back to the wife-pleasing candied bacon I made this morning. It’s super easy. All you need is bacon, maple syrup, brown sugar, a griddle, tongs, and a wire rack.

Step 1. Heat your griddle to medium-high. Open a 12-ounce package of thick-sliced bacon and fry one strip to grease the griddle. (Figure on 2 to 4 minutes per side, rubbing the bacon across the griddle so the fat will grease the surface.)

Step 2. Spread out the remaining bacon on a platter. Place 1/4 cup maple syrup in a small bowl and using a basting brush, brush each strip of bacon with the syrup on both sides.

Step 3. Spread out 1 cup brown sugar (light or dark—your choice) in a foil pan. Dip each strip of syrup-glazed bacon in the brown sugar, turning to coat both sides. (Add more sugar as needed.) Arrange the sugar-crusted bacon strips on the griddle.

Step 4. Fry the bacon until sizzling and darkly browned on both sides, 2 to 4 minutes per side, turning with tongs.

Candied Bacon

Step 5. Transfer the bacon to an oiled wire rack over a drip pan. Let it cool slightly or to room temperature. It will crisp on cooling.

We served the candied bacon with my wife’s scrambled farm eggs, but it’s also delicious with French toast, on a BLT sandwich, crumbled over baked potatoes and salads (hum—what a cool flavoring for potato salad!), and, yes, even ice cream sundaes. Really! (See the recipe in my book Man Made Meals.)

Candied Bacon

But best of all, candied bacon makes my wife happy, and that’s the dandiest of all!

Note: In addition to the brown sugar, some people like to add black pepper, cayenne, or their favorite barbecue rub. Just saying!

Recipe

Candied Bacon on a Griddle

By Steven Raichlen

Thick-sliced bacon brushed with maple syrup, coated with brown sugar, and griddled until sizzling and darkly browned.

Ingredients

  • 1 12-ounce package thick-sliced bacon
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 cup light or dark brown sugar, plus more as needed
  • Optional: black pepper, cayenne, or your favorite barbecue rub

Instructions

  1. Heat your griddle to medium-high. Fry one strip of bacon to grease the griddle, 2 to 4 minutes per side, rubbing the bacon across the griddle so the fat greases the surface.
  2. Spread out the remaining bacon on a platter. Place the maple syrup in a small bowl and, using a basting brush, brush each strip of bacon with the syrup on both sides.
  3. Spread the brown sugar in a foil pan. Dip each strip of syrup-glazed bacon in the brown sugar, turning to coat both sides. Add more sugar as needed. Arrange the sugar-crusted bacon strips on the griddle.
  4. Fry the bacon until sizzling and darkly browned on both sides, 2 to 4 minutes per side, turning with tongs.
  5. Transfer the bacon to an oiled wire rack over a drip pan. Let it cool slightly or to room temperature. It will crisp on cooling.

Plan your next cook with our full recipe collection—weeknight grills, weekend projects, and special-occasion feasts.

Get Steven’s weekly grilling tips, seasonal recipes, and live-fire ideas in your inbox. Join our Up in Smoke newsletter. Sign up and get a FREE PDF of Steven Raichlen's Best Ribs Recipes Ebook.

Preorder Man On Fire — A Steven Raichlen Memoir. And get some really cool rewards!

Looking to upgrade your tailgating setup? Check out our Tailgating Essentials.

The post How to Candy Bacon appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

Baconpalooza: 9 Ways to Grill With Bacon

“…bacon is in its terminal stage, clinging to relevance, grasping at any opportunity to cash in on its dwindling cachet as its 15 minutes come to an end.”

So wrote Seattle journalist Erica C. Barnett in May 2009, in the alternative newspaper The Stranger.

Well, Ms. Barnett, you got it wrong. Time to eat crow, preferably wrapped in a bacon weave.

Yes, cured and smoked pork belly is still one of America’s favorite flavors, an exceedingly popular meat at supermarkets and butcher shops from coast to coast. At breakfast it sits beside eggs, toast, pancakes, or potatoes. On a hamburger it contributes smoke and crunch. Wrapped around vegetables, chicken, fruit, or scallops, its rendering fat bastes whatever lies beneath it. Crumbled over salads or soups, a small amount can flavor an entire dish. Even bacon fat itself becomes an ingredient, carrying its smoky character into eggs, beans, cornbread, vegetables, gravies, stews, and sauces.

“Fry” it on your outdoor grill or griddle and avoid messy spatters and lingering odors.

Here are our favorite ways to enjoy this versatile meat.

Make a Bacon Weave

Have you yet to try the impressive bacon weave, a savory cloak that elevates meatloaf, pork loin, and the Thanksgiving turkey?

Bacon sausage fattie

If not, find concise directions and tips for success here. It’s easy and is guaranteed to impress friends and family.

Make Bacon Jam

We read that 69 percent of U.S. restaurants feature bacon on their menus, some in the form of bacon jam.

It’s a bougie condiment you can make yourself. Find the recipe for Bacon Jam here.

BBQ Sauce

Make Bacon Bourbon

Bacon isn’t limited to the plate. You can even put it in your glass.

Our Bacon Bourbon uses rendered bacon fat to infuse bourbon with smoke. Sip it straight or use it for Manhattans and Old Fashioneds. Better still, garnish the cocktail with a strip of bacon.

Bacon Bourbon

Bacon-Wrapped Onion Rings

Wrap thick slices of sweet onions with thin-cut bacon for a porky twist on onion rings.

Bacon on a Stick

Thread bacon on bamboo skewers and grill at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes per side, or until done to your liking.

Serve with burgers or other grilled sandwiches. These also make good stir sticks for Bloody Marys.

Bacon-Wrapped Corn

Spiral bacon slices around ears of sweet corn.

Bacon-Wrapped Fruit

Wrap wedges of fruit—peaches, cantaloupe, or pears—with bacon and grill to your liking.

Make Onion Bombs

Follow our directions for Onion Bombs—a blessed marriage between onions, bacon, and ground meat.

Onion Bombs

Make Your Own Bacon

Make your own bacon! It’s easier than you think and can be on your table in as little as two days.

Homemade Bacon

Photo: Steve Nestor

Our 48-hour homemade bacon method shows you how.

Looking for your next cook? Browse the Recipe Index for grilling and smoking inspiration.

Get Steven’s weekly grilling tips, seasonal recipes, and live-fire ideas in your inbox. Join our Up in Smoke newsletter. Sign up and get a FREE PDF of Steven Raichlen's Best Ribs Recipes Ebook.

Preorder Man On Fire — A Steven Raichlen Memoir. And get some really cool rewards!

Looking for some fall grilling inspiration? Check out our Fall Grilling Guide.

The post Baconpalooza: 9 Ways to Grill With Bacon appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

Perfect Baby Back Ribs

28 August 2026 at 13:14

Perfect Baby Back Ribs

I’ve cooked baby back ribs just about every way you can cook them. Different smokers, different seasonings, different sauces… and there’s really no one right way to do it. You can take just about any good rib recipe and make some great ribs.

What makes the biggest difference is knowing what to look for along the way.

It starts with picking out a good rack and trimming it up so it cooks evenly. Then you gotta know when the bark is set and the ribs are ready to wrap, what tender ribs should actually feel like, and when it’s time to get them off the pit. And one of the biggest things I’ve learned is to give ribs a good hold once they’re tender. That little bit of time lets everything settle down before you put on the final glaze.

For these ribs, I’m using Tyson Baby Back Ribs from Walmart and keeping the flavors pretty simple. But that’s really the point. Change the seasoning, change the sauce, cook them on whatever smoker you’ve got. If you pay attention to these little things during the cook, you’ll get tender, juicy ribs with that beautiful mahogany finish every time.

WHAT MALCOM USED IN THIS RECIPE:

Print
baby back ribs

Perfect Baby Back Ribs


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

Description

These baby back ribs are smoked at 275°F until the bark is set, wrapped until tender, then given a proper hold before finishing with a final glaze. It’s the little things along the way that give you tender, juicy ribs with a beautiful mahogany finish.


Ingredients


Instructions

  • PREP THE RIBS
    • Remove the membrane from the back of each rack. Square up the ends and trim away any loose fat or anything that doesn’t look like it will cook up appetizing. Squaring up the rack makes the finished ribs look better, and those thin ends tend to dry out during the cook anyway.
  • SEASON THE RIBS 
    • Apply a medium-heavy coat of Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub to both sides of the ribs. No binder is needed.
  • SMOKE AT 275°F
    • Any smoker will work. Cook the ribs for about 2–2½ hours, but don’t go strictly by time. You’re looking for the rub to fuse into the meat and form a good-looking bark. That’s when they’re ready to wrap.
  • MAKE THE WRAP MIXTURE
    • Combine the melted butter, apple juice, ¼ cup Killer Hogs The BBQ sauce and 1–2 Tablespoons of Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub.
  • WRAP THE RIBS
    • Place each rack meat-side down on a sheet of foil. Pour half of the wrap mixture over each rack. Fold the foil over the ribs and tuck in the ends to seal.
  • COOK UNTIL TENDER
    • Return the wrapped ribs to the smoker. After about 1½ hours, start checking for tenderness. The ribs should feel very flexible through the foil, you should see some disintegration around the bones, and the internal temperature should be around 204–208°F.
  • VENT AND HOLD
    • Open the foil and allow the steam to escape, then wrap the ribs back up and place them in a dry cooler for 1 hour.
    • Burp the cooler about every 15 minutes to release excess heat and steam. This gives the meat a chance to calm down and reabsorb some of the liquid from the wrap.
  • GLAZE & SET
    • Remove the ribs from the foil. Brush the bottom and top with a layer of Killer Hogs The BBQ Sauce and finish with a light dusting of Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub.
    • Return the ribs to the smoker for 15–20 minutes, just long enough for the sauce to caramelize and set.

Notes

  • Picking a good rack: When I’m buying Tyson Baby Back Ribs, I look for racks that are as even as possible, with straight bones and a tight vacuum seal. Starting with a good, uniform slab helps the ribs cook more evenly.
  • Don’t cook by the clock alone: The times are a guide. Look at the bark before wrapping and use the feel of the ribs, the bones and internal temperature to determine when they’re tender.
  • Make the wrap your own: Butter, apple juice and BBQ sauce is the combination used here, but the wrap can be changed to suit the flavor you want. Think about adding some combination of fat, sweet, vinegar and heat. Whatever you use, adding a little more of your original seasoning to the wrap helps reinforce the flavor you started with.
  • Don’t skip the hold: Giving the ribs an hour in a dry cooler after they’re tender lets them settle down and reabsorb some of that flavorful liquid before the final glaze.

Malcom Reed
Connect on Facebook
Follow me on TikTok
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel
Follow me on Instagram

Buy Killer Hogs Products Here

The post Perfect Baby Back Ribs appeared first on HowToBBBQRight.

Why You Need to Barbecue a Pork Butt Right Now

Barbecue is simple but it isn’t always easy. Simple because it really requires only 2 ingredients: patience and wood smoke.

As for easy? Well, anyone who’s spent 14 hours barbecuing a brisket—maintaining a steady stream of thin blue smoke and a constant temperature of 250 degrees, powering through the stall, doing the wrap, resting the meat and attempting the carve—you’d never call a perfect brisket easy.

But there is one cut that’s both simple and easy to cook and it’s absolutely forgiving. Cook it high heat or low, fast or slow, and it almost always comes out tender and juicy. It’s also one of barbecue’s big three. Drum roll, please. I give you pork shoulder, aka Boston butt. (More on the curious name in a minute.)

Pork shoulder is definitely easy. You season it with your favorite barbecue rub (mine is my Carolina Pit Powder). Or even just salt and pepper. You put it on your grill or in your smoker. Hell, you can even cook it on the rotisserie. You can cook it low and slow or hot and fast—with charcoal, wood, propane, or even—shhhh—on an electric grill.

Pork shoulders

You can cook it in a few hours, or smoke it for half a day, at temperatures ranging from low to medium, and even high. Thanks to its ample marbling and collagen-rich meat, pork shoulder stays juicy while extended cooking turns it tender enough to shred.

Which brings us to the traditional way to serve pork shoulder in the Carolinas—“pulled,” that is shredded and doused with one of the world’s strangest barbecue sauces. In eastern North Carolina, that sauce consists of vinegar, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper (sometimes with a whisper of sugar). In western North Carolina, they redden this vinegar sauce with a shot of ketchup.

In South Carolina, pulled or sliced pork is often served with mustard sauce. In Tennessee, you may encounter tomato-based barbecue sauce, while northern Alabama is famous for its mayonnaise-based white sauce.

Pulled pork

But American pork shoulder is just a start. In Germany’s Saarland, cooks marinate pork neck or shoulder steaks with onions and spices, then grill them over a traditional beechwood fire on a swinging grate called a schwenker. In Greece, they perfume it with oregano, paprika, and pepper. In Bali, they blast it with ginger, galangal, lemongrass, and fiery chilies. The truth is pork shoulder is so easy to prepare and forgiving to cook, you can season it with almost anything.

Just the Facts About Pork Butt

  • A whole pork shoulder (14 to 18 pounds) consists of two parts—the Boston butt and the picnic shoulder (also known as the picnic ham). The former is the top part of the shoulder—5 to 8 pounds of rich, luscious meat, with only a shoulder blade to stand in the way of your carving knife. (When properly cooked, which is to say overcooked, you can pull said bone out with your fingers.)
  • The picnic ham is the bottom part of the shoulder, including the top of the leg. The drawback of a picnic ham is its high proportion of skin and bone to meat, which is why I prefer Boston butt. So if Boston butt comes from the shoulder, not the posterior, how did it get its curious name? In ancient times, New England butchers packed salted pork shoulders in barrels, aka “butts.”

    Pork Shoulder

  • When I started out in barbecue, pork was pretty much just pork. Today, connoisseurs choose heritage breeds like Berkshire, Duroc, and Mangalitsa. Berkshire (sometimes sold by its Japanese name, Kurobuta—literally “black pig”), for example, boasts richly flavored, well-marbled, dark-pink meat that makes commodity pork taste downright bland.
  • Most of the pork shoulder you buy today comes with the skin removed. Otherwise, trim it off with a paring knife and deep-fry it to make cracklings. (Prolonged grilling or smoking makes the skin leathery.)
  • Pork is safe to eat at 145°F followed by a three-minute rest, but pork butt usually needs to reach approximately 195°F to 205°F before its connective tissue has softened enough for easy pulling.
  • Chase the smoke ring. Smoke a pork shoulder low and slow in the presence of wood smoke, and you wind up with a pink ring just below the surface—the coveted smoke ring. No, it doesn’t mean that the meat is undercooked. The pigmentation occurs naturally—think of it as the red badge of barbecue honor.
  • Finally, the traditional way to serve pork shoulder in the American South is chopped with a cleaver or shredded with meat claws or your fingers. Elsewhere on Planet Barbecue, pork shoulder—particularly boneless shoulder—is served sliced.

4 Pork Butt Recipes to Try Right Now

North Carolina Pulled Pork

Start with the American classic: pork shoulder seasoned simply with salt, pepper, and paprika, then smoke-roasted over hickory until tender enough to pull apart with your fingers. A thin, sharp vinegar sauce keeps the meat moist without overwhelming the smoke. Serve it piled on a bun with vinegar-dressed cabbage for the full North Carolina experience.

North Carolina Pulled Pork

Get The Recipe »

3-2-1 Pork Shoulder

You know the 3-2-1 method for ribs. Here, the same idea turns a pork shoulder into pulled pork in three stages: three hours in the smoke, two hours tightly wrapped, and one final hour unwrapped to firm the bark. The result is smoky, crusty, and tender, with a cooking time that’s easy to remember. Serve it with horseradish poppy seed slaw and chipotle molasses barbecue sauce.

3-2-1 Pork Shoulder

Get The Recipe »

Whiskey-Brined Pork Shoulder

This pork shoulder gets a 24-hour bath in a brine of whiskey, brown sugar, and salt before it ever reaches the smoker. Once the smoke has built a dark exterior, the pork is transferred to a pan with apple cider and another splash of whiskey to finish by smoke-braising. The result is moist, tender pork with a subtle sweetness and unmistakable whiskey character.

Whiskey-Brined Pork Shoulder

Get The Recipe »

Korean Pulled Pork

Pulled pork takes a trip to Seoul in this sweet, salty, spicy, and umami-rich variation. The shoulder marinates in gochujang before being smoked until dark and crusty, then gets pulled and mixed with Korean barbecue sauce. Pile it onto sesame buns and top it with kimchi, sriracha, or sweet chili sauce. This is pulled pork with serious firepower.

Korean Pulled Pork

Get The Recipe »

Frequently Asked Questions

Is pork butt the same as pork shoulder?

Pork butt is one part of the pork shoulder. A whole shoulder consists of the Boston butt at the top and the picnic shoulder below it. The Boston butt contains more intramuscular fat and less skin and bone, making it the preferred cut for pulled pork. Recipes and meat counters often use the names pork butt, Boston butt, and pork shoulder interchangeably, so check the label or ask your butcher when in doubt.

What temperature should pork butt reach for pulled pork?

Pork is safe to eat at 145°F followed by a three-minute rest, but that doesn’t mean a pork butt is ready to pull. For tender, easily shredded pork, cook it to an internal temperature of approximately 195°F to 205°F. The thermometer is only part of the test: The shoulder blade should pull out easily, and a thermometer probe should slide into the meat with little resistance.

How long does it take to barbecue a pork butt?

Cooking time depends on the size of the pork butt, the temperature of your grill or smoker, and whether you wrap the meat. A smaller shoulder cooked at 275°F to 325°F may be ready in four to six hours, while a larger one smoked low and slow can take eight hours or more. Cook to tenderness and internal temperature, not strictly by the clock, and leave extra time for resting before pulling.

Plan your next cook with our full recipe collection—weeknight grills, weekend projects, and special-occasion feasts.

Get Steven’s weekly grilling tips, seasonal recipes, and live-fire ideas in your inbox. Join our Up in Smoke newsletter. Sign up and get a FREE PDF of Steven Raichlen's Best Ribs Recipes Ebook.

Preorder Man On Fire — A Steven Raichlen Memoir. And get some really cool rewards!

Looking for more summer grilling inspiration? Check out our Summer Grilling Guide.

The post Why You Need to Barbecue a Pork Butt Right Now appeared first on Barbecuebible.com.

Pulled Pork Grilled Cheese Sandwich

By: Charlie
20 July 2026 at 23:37

I always end up with more pulled pork than I know what to do with after a smoke, and this is my go-to way to use it up. Melty cheese and smoky pork between two crispy slices of buttered sourdough is hard to beat, and it comes together in about the time it takes to […]

The post Pulled Pork Grilled Cheese Sandwich appeared first on Simply Meat Smoking.

34 Easy Smoked Pork Recipes

By: Charlie
14 July 2026 at 20:33

Pork is honestly one of the best things you can put on a smoker. It’s forgiving, flavorful, and there’s so much you can do with it — from a low-and-slow pork butt that shreds into the most incredible pulled pork, to sticky ribs, crispy pork belly, glazed ham, and everything in between. This round-up covers […]

The post 34 Easy Smoked Pork Recipes appeared first on Simply Meat Smoking.

❌
❌