Family Style Spiced Ribs That Anyone Can Grill

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Summertime is MY TIME OF YEAR because this here mama throws down on a grill like nobody's biznass!!! WERD.  My family knows, during the summer, they can get plenty of good meals out of me.  I grew up with grilling women in my life.

I was raised by both my mom and grandmother and we were Warrior Lady Grillers!  (that's totally a thing).  Growing up in Connecticut, you have to savor the summer months, because they don't last very long. As soon as the air is warm enough and the sun starts shining, my grandmother would pile up on charcoal and we'd commence to grilling!

My job as a child, was to always be the prep cook and to keep an eye on the meat as it cooked. Watching my Warrior Grilling Mamas, I learned when to put the meat on the grill how to listen to the sound and smell of whatever was cooking and to always keep an eye on the food so, it didn't burn (badly).  I lived for those moments on our small little concrete porch, with green turf carpeting, and a cool glass of lemonade or tea, talking to my mother and grandmother about our day - it was the best.

Now that I have my own family, I try to take moments like the ones I had with my mom and grandmother and build them with my kids and hubby.  The only good part is that I live a little further south and our summer days are much longer than those Connecticut summers!

Any given day of the week, you can find me getting my family around the patio for a delicious grilled meal.  Being the festive person I am, I always like to make summer dinners extra fun.  So, I set up a fun BBQ Blending Station with sauces and fresh ingredients to make our own flavored sauces.  We just add them to already delicious KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce to kick it up a notch.  Nothing says summer like saucy smoked ribs loaded with BBQ Sauce, right?

To get ready, I headed out to get some Extra Tender Smithfield Ribs.  These have always been our go-to ribs for grilling and you can find them at Wal-Mart.  What I personally like about Smithfield Ribs is that they don't have any added hormones or steroids, they're also hand cut, so all the work is pretty much done for you and they always, always come out super tender and juicy!

I know some people are intimidated by ribs and grilling in general.  You do not have to be.  The process is super easy.  All you need to do is follow my lead.  Light up your charcoal on one side of your grill.  You will know it's time to put your ribs on the grill when the coals have turned white and have a red glow to them.  Since all grills work differently and cook at different speeds, you will want to make sure you keep an eye on things.  I'll be honest, I sat down to have a little mini 'wine-tasting' and may or may not have scorched my ribs a teeny bit.  It's all good, because, these ribs were still tha bomb dot com.

When I grill my ribs, I like to rub them down in my own spice mix - you can find my spice mix recipe at the end of this post.  Once I do that, what I like to do is put a good sear on both sides of the ribs while the grill is super hot  - so, about 2-3 minutes on each side.  You might see some flames, if you do, just be patient and watch the flame die down.  Once both sides are nice and seared, you will want to put your ribs onto the side of the grill WITHOUT  the charcoal.  Then, close the lid on your grill and let those babies smoke for about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours....keep an eye on them and check about every 20 minutes or so.

You can always tell when the ribs are done.  The meat will pull easily from the smallest bone.  Don't be afraid if you see any pink near the bone of the rib, this just means your ribs are perfectly smoked! This picture does the ribs NO JUSTICE!  Maaan, the meat was flavorful, juicy and tender.  YEAH BABY!  Be sure to put your ribs onto a pan to rest and let the juices go back into the meat.  While you're waiting - grill some veggies, cause those are awesome too!

The ribs came out perfectly juicy and tender.  I'm telling you, Smithfield never disappoints on tender, taste and flavor.

*GRILLING TIP: If you ever over cook your ribs, place them in an aluminum pan and place them in any type of broth....the juice will return to the meat and it may just fall right off the bone!  Sauces make ribs even more delicious.  Here's an idea I came up with for flavor pairings to add to our favorite KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce.

You don't have to get all fancy and festive as I did, but you definitely want to put out some really delicious fresh ingredients.  My husband LOOOVES KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce, but I notice he's always doctoring it up with fresh ingredients.  So, I figured, I'd add something fun to the mix and set up a BBQ Blending station to go with our grilled ribs.

I set out a variety of sauces along with fresh ginger, lime, crushed pineapple, brown sugar and red pepper flakes to add a bit more kick to the sauces.  This ideas is also a great alternative to people who want to maybe make their own bbq sauce.  On a chalkboard, I listed some 'recipes' for creating a sweet, tangy or spicey blend  for the sauce.

The kids really enjoyed this part of family time and got very creative with adding the different sauces and seasonings to make their own blended bbq sauce.  We even let them brush on their sauce and warm the ribs on the grill for a few minutes.  It was good and messy fun!

This was my how I whipped up my sauce and it was so good....sriracha, lime, a small bit of crushed pineapple and red pepper!!!!  I added fresh grilled veggies to my plate, because.....veggies.

Since we grill out so often, I like to make a huge batch of BBQ Spice Rub and store it in small jars. The jarred spice also make really nice gifts especially if you have guests come over for a summer cookout or you're invited to one.  My recipe is super easy and can be printed here.  Use round chalkboard labels and a white gel pen to hand write the name of your special rub mix.

I hope you enjoyed these easy tips for grilling ribs.  Don't be intimidated by it, there are no mistakes, remember slow and steady wins the race here, folks......enjoy.  Hey, PS -  Father's Day is coming up - try grilling the special dad in your life some delicious ribs and let me know how they turn out!  I'd love to hear from you!  

Do you have any grilling questions for me?  Ask me on Facebook - I'd be happy share more of my tips!

Be sure to check out Smithfield's HogWild Throwdown Contest whether you're an amateur or pro griller you have a chance to win one of 2 Ford F-150's.  Get on board and don't miss out, celebrity grill talents Moe Cason and Tuffy Stone are brand ambassadors for this event!




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