Gourmet Popcorn Ribs

Skip to Recipe Print Recipe

Gourmet popcorn ribs? What? Bear with me for a moment. Gourmet popcorn is all the rage with everything from bacon popcorn to beer to a pregnancy mix of dill pickle and ice cream. I kid you not! On top of all the pre-made popcorns, there are loads of popcorn seasoning from sweet to savory to a combination of both:

That’s what was the inspiration for this rib recipe that has exactly three ingredients.

Gourmet Popcorn Ribs Ingredients:

Ribs
Salt
Gourmet popcorn seasoning (in this case, Cinnamon Toast from Archer Farms)

Since this was something I gave maybe a 50/50 chance of working, I only used a half slab of baby back ribs. And no amounts here in the ingredients. It’s not that complicated.

Skin the membrane off the ribs and hit it with some salt on the bone side first and then a healthy coating of the popcorn seasoning:

Salt and seasoning goes on the bone side first so it doesn’t stick to the cutting board. The curve of the bones will keep the seasoning up off the cutting board. Now flip over to the meat side up and hit them with salt and the popcorn seasoning:

Something strange happened while I went outside to prepare the grill for indirect/two zone grilling with a target temperature of 300F, plus/minus 25. For some that temperature seems high, but once you go high heat, you will not go back. More on that later. So when I went out to the grill, the ribs looked like this:

When I went back inside, I found that my seasoning was gone. Well, not gone, but transformed:

My seasoning had gone from powder to a sort of gel from mixing with the liquid in the ribs. Now I’m really wondering where this is going to end up. Since I’m posting this, I’m thinking you might have it figured out as to how it turned out.

Place the ribs on the grill with some smoke wood (in this case, pear) and close the lid:

If you don’t have pear wood, any fruit wood will work. If you are curious about which smoke woods pair with which proteins, you can check here for a complete list. 

Here we have it at 30 minutes. Browned nicely, but I’m not seeing any of the seasoning:

So I’m wondering if the meat has absorbed any of that flavor so I decide to hit it with the popcorn seasoning again:

I closed the lid, but wondered how long before the seasoning would be absorbed again. Five minutes later I opened the lid and it was almost all gel again:

At the 1 hour and 55 minute mark, I found my ribs almost done:

I hit them with one more layer of the gourmet popcorn seasoning and closed the lid for five minutes then took them off and put them on the cutting board:

Sliced:

For those of you who wonder about grilling ribs in two hours and think there is no way they can be done properly. I will counter that argument with a single picture:

Ribs that are fall off the bone are overdone ribs. Or as I liked to call it, really expensive pulled pork. They should be tender but with a definite firmness at the same time. Your bite should be clean like that one above.

But the flavor? I got a wonderful hint of cinnamon that perfectly complemented the smoky flavor of the pork. Some of you are thinking, “I have cinnamon, I don’t need to buy this stuff.” No you don’t. But cooking with cinnamon is really tricky. There is a small margin of error in which all you taste is cinnamon and not that wonderfully smoked pork. This did a perfect job of accentuating the meat and not overpowering it. It was a wonderful rib.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below or send me an email. 

Also, you can follow us on our GrillinFools Facebook page and Instagram.

Print Recipe

Gourmet Popcorn Ribs

Baby back ribs coated with gourmet popcorn seasoning and grilled with the high heat method, and done so to perfection.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time2 hours hrs

Total Time2 hours hrs 5 minutes mins

Course: Entree

Cuisine: BBQ

Servings: 3 -4

Ingredients

• 1 slab ribs membrane removed
• salt
• gourmet popcorn seasoning

Instructions

• Remove the membrane from the bone side of the ribs
• Hit the bone side with coarse salt and a heavy coating of the popcorn seasoning
• Repeat the process on the meat side
• Prepare the grill for two zone/indirect grilling with a target temperature of 300 for the grill
• At the 30 minute mark, coat the top of the ribs with another thick layer of the gourmet popcorn seasoning
• When almost done, (just under 2 hours) hit them with another coating of the popcorn seasoning and close the lid for five minutes
• Remove from the grill when the meat has pulled back from the bones about a quarter inch (about 2 hours)
• 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

Related Posts

Sweet Tea Ribs

St. Louis Style Ribs for Memorial Day

Asian Glazed Ribs

Coffee Brined Ribs

This article was initially published on: August 20, 2013