Blowtorched Ribs

Ribs seasoned and slow smoked on a kamado style grill. Then the ribs are slathered with a savory and sweet sauce that is caramelized with a blow torch. If you aren’t making blowtorched ribs are you even trying?

During a lengthy discussion of sauce vs. rub on our Facebook page, someone mentioned that he makes a special glaze and uses a blow torch to caramelize the ribs after smoking them. He had me at blowtorch. Sometimes I use a blow torch to light my charcoal grill (doesn’t everybody?).

I actually thought, “Why haven’t I done this before?” I love ribs and I love fire. Even more I love an intensified flame at the top of a propane tank with a trigger ignition.

It’s really no different than peanut butter and jelly, salt and pepper, Justin and Kelly, blow torch and ribs. Blowtorched ribs!!! It seems so natural, I feel stupid for not doing it earlier. It’s almost caveman-like in its sure primal ferocity.

So let’s get to the BBQ recipe which along with the ingredients below, will require a blowtorch.

Blowtorched Ribs Brine Ingredients:

• 1 quart apple juice
• 1/4 cup table salt
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• 2 slabs baby back ribs

Combine everything but the ribs in a resealable plastic bag and slosh around until the salt is dissolved. Pull the membrane off the back of the ribs (skin the ribs), place them in the bag with the brine and refrigerate over night.

The following day, remove from the brine and pat dry with a paper towel and place on a cutting board (only two half slabs pictured below), bone side up and prepare the rub:

Blowtorched Ribs Rub Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp granulated garlic
• 2 tbsp turbinado sugar (raw sugar)
• 1 tbsp sweet paprika
• 2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

Or just use your favorite BBQ rub.

Combine the rub ingredients in a bowl and then give the bone side of the ribs a dusting to a coating (your preference).

You put the rub on the bone side, so the natural curve of the bones will keep the rub from sticking to the cutting board instead of the meat and saving you from having to reapply:

Now outside to the grill, in this case a kamado style grill, that was set for indirect grilling by putting the plate setter inside (to deflect the heat around the meat) and the my 4 half slabs of ribs were put on the grill grate and upper rack along with another half slab I jerked and a chunk of oak wood put on the coals:

Close the lid for two hours, only opening it if you run out of smoke wood.

Here are the ribs after an hour:

About 10 minutes before the 2 hour mark, head inside and create the glaze.

Blowtorched Ribs Glaze Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp apple jelly
• 2 tbsp apricot preserves
• 2.5 tsp Worcestershire sauce (that’s tsp not tbsp)
• 2 tbsp hot pepper jelly

Put the glaze ingredients in a bowl and put it in a microwave for 90 seconds to liquify the gelatin and allow for the ingredients to combine. Then go check the ribs. Here they are at the 2 hour mark:

Flip the slabs over and slather the glaze on the bone side first:

Flip over and slather (one of my favorite words that I use too much) on the meat side:

After 20 minutes, I added another coating of the glaze to the meat side of the soon to be blowtorched ribs and again at 40 minutes and here’s what they looked like at the 2 hour and 40 minute mark:

Time for the blowtorch part of these blowtorched ribs:

I’m going to show a few pictures of the torching to give you an idea of what to expect:

Here’s what happened when I hit the half slab of jerk ribs with the blow torch:

I’m not exactly sure why the jerk ribs flamed up so much. I don’t care. It was cool.

Remove the blowtorched ribs from the grill, allow them to rest a few minutes so the juices redistribute throughout the meat, slice and serve:

Blow Torch Ribs Run Down

We’ve all left ribs on the grill while the sauce thickens but this takes that to another level entirely and requires a blow torch to do so! Please exercise all due precautions when using the blowtorch, as safety should always come first. Beyond that note of caution, all I can say, if you aren’t doing blowtorched ribs, well, you just aren’t trying.

Picture your next BBQ. People milling around the grill, taking a peak at your meat, smelling the smoke, commenting on how good the food looks/smells. And then picture the looks on their faces and comments when you break out the propane torch. It doesn’t cost much. A can of propane is about $2.50 and the nozzle was under $10.

I use the blow torch to light my charcoal grills all year and one can lasts me about 10 months.

Next time you pick up some ribs, swing by the hardware store on the way home. If some asks, “You got some plumbing to do?” Say, “Nope, I’m grillin’.” Then walk away with a grin as the clerk shakes his head and you think, “That’s a grillin’ fool.”

If you have any questions or comments about this BBQ Ribs Recipe, feel free to leave them below or send me an email.

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Recipe Card:

Print Recipe

Blowtorched Ribs

Blowtorched Ribs - Ribs smoked on a kamado grill then coated with a sweet sauce that is glazed with a blow torch. Because who doesn't love a blowtorch?

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time2 hours hrs

Total Time2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course: Entree, Main Course, Ribs

Cuisine: American, American Fare, Barbecue, BBQ, Pork Ribs, Ribs

Keyword: Akorn, Asian Glazed, BBQ Ribs, Blow Torch, Blowtorch, Blowtorched, Blowtorched Ribs, Kamado, Kamado Grill

Servings: 6 People

Ingredients

Brine Ingredients

• 1 qt apple juice
• ¼ cup table salt
• 2 tbsp garlic minced
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 slab baby back ribs

Rub Ingredients

• 2 tbsp granulated garlic
• 2 tbsp turbinado sugar raw sugar
• 2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tbsp sweet paprika

Glaze Ingredients

• 2 tbsp apple jelly
• 2 tbsp apricot preserves
• 2 tbsp hot pepper jelly
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

Brine Instructions

• Combine everything but the ribs in a resealable plastic bag and slosh around until the salt is dissolved
• Remove the membrane off the back of the ribs
• Place the ribs in the bag with the brine and refrigerate over night

Rub Instructions

• Combine the rub ingredients in a bowl
• Give the bone side of the ribs a dusting to a coating (your preference)
• Flip the ribs and repeat on the meat side
• Prepare the grill for two zone grilling (or indirect grilling) with coals and smoke wood on one side and nothing on the other
• Target temperature of the inside of the grill is 275-300
• Place the ribs on the side of the grill with no heat and close the lid
• When the meat pulls back from the bone about a half inch (about 2 hours at this temperature), slather with the glaze

Glaze Instructions

• Combine the glaze ingredients in a bowl and put in the microwave for about 90 seconds to liquify the gelatin and allow the ingredients to combine
• Mix well
• Flip the slabs over to the bone side and slather with the glaze
• Blast the glaze with a couple minutes of the blowtorch (making sure the flame is blue and not orange) by constantly rocking the flame slowly back and forth across the glaze (optional)
• Flip over to the meat side and smear with the glaze
• Blast with the torch on the meat side
• Once a sugary crust is achieved on all the slabs, remove from the heat, allow to rest for five minutes, slice and serve

Scott Thomas

Scott Thomas, the Original Grillin’ Fool, was sent off to college with a suitcase and a grill where he overcooked, undercooked and burned every piece of meat he could find. After thousands of failures, and quite a few successes, nearly two decades later he started a website to show step by step, picture by picture, foolproof instructions on how to make great things out of doors so that others don’t have to repeat the mistakes he’s made on the grill.

See Full Bio

BBQ Grilling

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This article was initially published on: September 18, 2012