Country Style Ribs are delicious and are quick and easy to smoke on a Weber kettle. There are two completely different cuts of pork that are marketed as Country Style Ribs but they are both pretty tasty!

Keep reading and let me show you how to turn these ribs into some great barbecue!

Table of Contents

Two Types of Country Style Pork Ribs

Here is the most common style of Country Style Rib. There is absolutely nothing rib like about this cut as which is actually a sliced pork butt (shoulder area). Depending on where on the butt the slice came from it may or may not have a bone.

Here is the other type of country style rib which has sections of loin, rib and belly.

This technique will work with both style of ribs but the one from the butt will always taste better due to the higher fat content.

This recipe cooks the ribs until they reach an internal temperature of 145F at which point the meat is tender, juicy and sliceable like a pork chop. You can also cook these ribs for much longer until they are fall apart tender like I show in this recipe for Trager Smoked Country Style Ribs.

Prepare The Country Style Ribs for Smoking

There is not much you need to do to prepare this cut for the grill.

If you have ribs that were cut from the butt, then you might want to trim off some of the exterior fat. It’s not a big deal if you leave the exterior fat on but it will drip all over your kettle and make a bit of a mess.

If you have ribs that were cut from the loin, then you might want to brine them for an hour or two. It is not a big deal if you skip the brine as long as you don’t cook them past 145F.

I seasoned these ribs with a liberal coating of Bone Sucking Sauce dry rub.

If you can’t find this brand locally, then here is a great dry rub that you can make at home.

Dry Rub for Smoked Country Style Rib

1 cup turbinado sugar
1/4 cup Kosher Salt
2 Tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon granulated onion
1 teaspoon celery salt (or Lawry’s Seasoned Salt)
1 teaspoon chili powder

Let the rub soak into the meat for at least an hour before you start smoking the ribs.

Prepare Your Weber Charcoal Grill for Smoking

You are going to need to set up your kettle for low, indirect heat.

If you are using a charcoal basket then fill it with about 30 Kingsford briquettes and light it with a paraffin cube in one corner. Set the bottom air vent to 20% open and keep the top air vent 100% open.

After the charcoal has lit, place 2-3 chunks of hickory on top of the briquettes.

This configuration will keep your kettle in a nice low temperature zone for about two hours which will be plenty of time to get these ribs cooked.

If you do not have a charcoal basket then bank about 30 briquettes on one side of the grill and light as per above.

Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature of the grill at the grate level. You want the cool side of the grate, where the shoulder is going to be, to be running at around 250F.

Do not pay any attention to the built in thermometer in the lid of the grill. The lid thermometer is going to read at least 50-75 degrees hotter than the grate temperature.

Smoke the Ribs

Place the country style ribs on the cool, indirect side of the grill away from the charcoal. Close the lid and make sure the air vent on the lid is 100% open and located over the meat.

After about 30 minutes the ribs will have taken on some nice smoke and will have an internal temperature of about 120F.

To add another layer of flavor and give the meat some shine I like to coat the pork on both sides with some melted peach preserves.

Let the meat cook for another 30 minutes.

I pull these from the grill when they hit an internal temperature of 145F.

The smoking process is the same for the other type of country style rib.

The only difference I used between the two types of ribs is the flavor profile of the sauce. Instead of melted peach preserves, these ribs were brushed with some Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce.

These sliced up real nice!

Yeah…these made me happy 🙂

Now you know about the two types of Country Style Ribs, have a great dry rub recipe and a few ideas on how to sauce or glaze them.

Now get out there and fire up your Grill!

Smoked Country Style Ribs on a Weber Kettle

Country style ribs are seasoned with a flavorful dry rub and then smoked with hickory. The ribs are brushed with a sweet sauce before finishing.

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Prep Time 1

Cook Time 1 30

Total Time 2 30

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Calories 375 kcal

Ingredients

For the Dry Rub
1 cup turbinado sugar For the Dry Rub
1/4 cup kosher salt For the Dry Rub
2 tbsp paprika For the Dry Rub
1 tsp black pepper For the Dry Rub
1 tsp granulated garlic For the Dry Rub
1 tsp granulated onion For the Dry Rub
1 tsp celery salt For the Dry Rub
1 tsp chili powder For the Dry Rub
3 lbs Country Style Pork Ribs
1 cup Sweet bbq sauce or melted peach preserves

Instructions

Combine the dry rub ingredients and mix well.
Season the country style ribs with the dry rub and wait one hour before putting them on the smoker.
Smoke at 250F with hickory for 30-45 minutes.
Apply a glaze of bbq sauce or melted peach preserves.
Continue smoking at 250F for another 30 minutes or until an internal temperature of 145F is reached.