GrillinFools
When you saw the title Bacon Pineapple Ribs, you expected to see bacon wrapped ribs, didn’t you? We’ve done that a couple times. Somewhat standard bacon wrapped ribs as well as jerk bacon wrapped ribs. But we aren’t going to be wrapping these ribs in bacon. We’re going to be cooking up some bacon and and then pour the bacon fat into a pot with some pineapple juice, garlic and honey and reduced before slathering that deliciousness onto the ribs. Did I mention I will hit the ribs with some jerk seasoning before they hit the smoker?
Bacon Pineapple Ribs Ingredients:
- 2 slabs of baby back ribs
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Your favorite spicy rub (I used a jerk rub)
- 6 slices bacon
- 6 oz of pineapple juice
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp honey
Ribs Prep:
Let’s start off with a slab of ribs. For this cook, I only made one slab, but the ingredients are enough for two slabs:
First, we need to skin those ribs. Flip them over to the bone side and peel the thin membrane off the back.
***Editor’s Note ~ Paper towels are your friends. Use a paper towel to get a grip on the membrane and peal it back***
***Editor’s Note Part Two ~ Always season the bone side of ribs first so that when you flip the ribs over, the the natural concave of the bones keeps the rub off the cutting board. If you do the meat side first, when you flip the ribs over to season the bone side, rub on the meat side is going to stick to the cutting board. When you go to put the ribs on the grill, there will be a clean strip down the middle running the length of the ribs with no rub and nice line of rub on the cutting board***
Season the bone side with the salt, pepper and rub:
Now take care of meat side:
Go outside and start the grill. These ribs need to be cooked indirect which means coals on one side and the meat on the other, in a kamado with a plate setter, or in this case on my Traeger Timberline Wood Pellet Smoker. I set the temp at 300.
Bacon Time!
As grill heats up, cook the bacon in a pan:
When the bacon browns and releases all that glorious fat, remove the bacon from the pan and allow the pan and fat to cool:
Once the bacon fat has cooled down a little bit, pour the fat into a pot with the pineapple juice, honey and garlic:
How to grill Bacon Pineapple Ribs:
Set the grill to 300F (+/- 25F) and put the ribs on the grill (in this case a pellet cooker):
Oh, don’t forget to put the pot with the bacon pineapple slurry in the grill too. We want the slurry to simmer and reduce:
I’m all about that Baste, that Baste
After an hour the sauce will be reduced somewhat and the rub will have melded with the meat. If the reduction were to be applied earlier, the rub would wash off:
Continue to baste the ribs every 15 minutes.
Sexy Ribs!
How sexy does this slab look?
But wait, that slab gets better:
Once the bones peek out 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch, the ribs are done. If you want fall off the bone ribs, smoke for another 30-45 minutes, while continuing to baste every 15 minutes
Time to slice the ribs:
And a close up:
But what about the smoke ring?
Bacon Pineapple Ribs Summary:
The sweetness of the pineapple and the savory of the bacon counter the hotness of the jerk seasoning beautifully. It makes for a wonderfully complex flavor profile.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave them below or send me an email.
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Bacon Pineapple Ribs
Ingredients
- 2 slab baby back ribs
- salt
- black pepper
- your favorite spicy rub I used a jerk rub
- 6 slice bacon
- 6 oz pineapple juice
- 1 tsp garlic minced
- 2 tbsp honey
Instructions
- Skin the ribs and season the bone side with salt, pepper and the spicy rub
- Repeat on the meat side
- Start the grill with either indirect heat, the meat above a plate setter in a kamado or in this case on my Traeger Timberline Wood Pellet grill - target temp is 300 degrees
- While the grill heats up cook the bacon in a pan
- When the bacon is crispy, remove the bacon and allow the grease to cool
- Pour the bacon grease into an oven safe pot with the pineapple juice, garlic and honey
- Place the ribs and the pot with the bacon pineapple slurry on the grill
- After an hour, baste the ribs with the bacon pineapple reduction
- Baste every 15 minutes until the ribs are done which is when the bones peek out 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch or about 2 hours and 15 minutes
- If you want fall off the bone ribs, keep smoking another 30-45 minutes, continuing to baste every 15 minutes
- Remove from the grill and serve
Scott Thomas
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