Spare ribs, carved into St. Louis style ribs and seasoned before hitting the pellet smoker. Once the rub sets, the ribs are topped with canned peaches (or pineapple, as we did on the second slab) and basted with the sugary syrup from the can. The peaches sweat out some sweetness as they cook, while the sweet syrup is applied every 15-20 minutes. The peaches can be mashed into the ribs at the end. A drizzle of hoisin sauce completes these peachy sweet ribs.

A slab of St Louis Style Spare ribs topped with slices of peaches with one rib in the middle carved out on its side next to the knife used to cut it — GrillinFools Images ©

Skip to Recipe Print Recipe

This is not our first foray into Peach Sweet Ribs territory. Dad did this amazing recipe more than a decade ago and it is still fantastic. I will say this though, it shows how much better our photography has gotten. So take a minute and peruse that recipe before popping back here. We’ll wait. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get back to these Peachy Sweet Ribs which we cooked on a pellet grill.

Want the perfect side dish for these sweet ribs? Smoked pit beans would be the perfect side for these spares.

Peachy Sweet Ribs Ingredients:

2 slabs of pork spare ribs, cut into St. Louis ribs
1 cup mayonnaise, divided
Your favorite sweet BBQ rub (we used Heath Riles Honey Rub)
Salt
2 cans of peaches in syrup – substitute pineapple in syrup
1 cup hoisin sauce, divided

Peachy Sweet Ribs Prep:

Start off by trimming out your ribs from spare ribs to become St. Louis style. Here’s the whole slab to start. You could cook these as is, but the will cook a bit unevenly. By the times the ribs in the middle are done, the little skinny piece on the right side will be dry and crunchy. That little flap on top might suffer the same fate.

Looks like dad has scored a line of where he plans on making a cut:

A raw slab of untrimmed spare ribs on a white cutting board with a knife nearby with a white handle — GrillinFools Images ©

Trimming them out to be St. Louis style makes sure the ribs cook evenly.

Essentially, to do this, envision the largest rectangular shape you can carve out from the whole slab of spare ribs.

A man with black nitrile gloves and a Grillin' Fools apron is slicing the sternum away from a slab of pork spare ribs — GrillinFools Images ©

A man with black nitrile gloves and a Grillin' Fools apron is carving off the end flap from a slab of raw pork spare ribs with the sternum flap already trimmed away, nearby — GrillinFools Images ©

A man with black nitrile gloves and a Grillin' Fools apron is carving off the flap from the fat end of a slab of raw pork spare ribs with the sternum flap already trimmed away, nearby — GrillinFools Images ©

And there is a flap of meat on the underside or bone side of the ribs:

A man with black nitrile gloves and a Grillin' Fools apron is carving off the inside skirt steak from a slab of raw pork spare ribs with the sternum flap already trimmed away, nearby — GrillinFools Images ©

Then grab a sheet of paper towel and grip that membrane that runs along the bones and pull it free:

A man with black nitrile gloves and a Grillin' Fools apron is pulling the membrane off the back of a slab of raw pork spare ribs with the sternum flap already trimmed away, nearby — GrillinFools Images ©

Trimming St. Louis Style Ribs

Here is a different slab of ribs before and after the cuts:

A whole slab of untrimmed spare ribs on a white cutting board taken from directly over top — GrillinFools Images ©

A whole slab of trimmed spare ribs on a white cutting board taken from directly over top with the four pieces trimmed away an inch away from where they used to be attached to the slab — GrillinFools Images ©

That little bit at the bottom of the pic above is the piece that runs along the bone side underneath which is inside skirt meat and my favorite.

For more about St. Louis ribs, check out this recipe.

Here’s a video of the process shot with that slab in the two pics above:

Let’s get back to the Peach Sweet Ribs recipe.

Now add the binder (mayo) and rub on the bone side:

A man in black nitrile gloves and a GrillinFoolscom apron seasons two slabs of ribs One is coated entirely with seasoning The other has seasoning descending down in the pic from the jar of spices — GrillinFools Images ©

And then flip them over, at which point the natural concave of the bones will keep the binder and rub elevated over the top of the cutting board and thus negate having to reapply any seasoning (which is why we always season bone side first).

Now hit the meat side:

A man in black nitrile gloves and a GrillinFoolscom apron is spooning mayonnaise which acts as a binder for seasoning over two raw slabs of St Louis style pork spare ribs outside on a deck — GrillinFools Images ©

A man in black nitrile gloves and a GrillinFoolscom apron seasons two slabs of ribs Seasoning is raining down in an arc — GrillinFools Images ©

How to Grill Peachy Sweet Ribs

Then, prepare the smoker for 275F (+/- 25 degrees). In this case, we have our Green Mountain Grills pellet grill so I can just set it and forget it and have that perfect smoky flavor infused into the meat:

Two slabs of seasoned but raw ribs are inside a smoker The pic was taken from inside the grill — GrillinFools Images ©

Thirty minutes in, our rub is adhering nicely and we are coloring up beautifully:

Two slabs of seasoned ribs with a reddish hue inside a smoker after about 30 minutes of smoke and heat — GrillinFools Images ©

This is why I’m fat
And if you are wondering what chunk of meat is at the tip of the pic, that’s some of the brisket we trimmed off in this Beef Tallow Brisket post we cooked on the same day. That’s right, we did two whole brisket flats, two slabs of ribs, and a few other goodies in one day! The chunk of meat at the bottom left of the pic is one of the pieces we trimmed off prepping the ribs. Never throw those away! Indeed, that might be my favorite part of grilling ribs. We call them nibblers. They cook much faster than the slabs so we sample them throughout the cookout.

When should you glaze your ribs?

The simple answer is: after the rub has set. At first, when the meat hits the grill, adding any liquid will wash the rub off. But after an hour or so, the rub is melded to the meat and won’t wash off as easily. Once that rub has adhered to the meat it’s OK to glaze. This usually happens about an hour in, but this is not a hard and fast rule. An hour in at 300F is not the same as an hour in at 225F.

After about an hour, our rub has set and now it’s time to crack open the cans of fruit.

Make sure to get the fruit that is canned in syrup:

A bowl of canned peaches in front of a bowl of canned pineapple in front of a smoker on a deck with a heavy wall of trees in the background — GrillinFools Images ©

Now lay the peaches (and pineapple if you are so inclined) along the top of the slabs of ribs:

Two slabs of seasoned ribs with a reddish hue one with a line of canned peaches on top and one with a line of canned pineapple rings inside a smoker after about 60 minutes of smoke and heat — GrillinFools Images ©

The goal here is to let the heat draw the moisture out of the fruit and baste the ribs as everything cooks.

Then grab a spoon and drizzle some of the syrup over the ribs:

Spooning the sweet pineapple syrup from a can of pineapples over a slab of ribs with pineapple ribs on top — GrillinFools Images ©

After about 30 more minutes, the peaches are getting a tinge of brown around the edges:

Furthermore, here are the pineapple ribs:

One slab of seasoned ribs with a reddish hue with a line of canned pineapple rings along the top inside a smoker after about 90 minutes of smoke and heat — GrillinFools Images ©

After close to 3 hours in the smoke of our Green Mountain Grills pellet cooker, our ribs are done:

A slab of fully cooked and seasoned ribs with a reddish brown hue with a line of canned peaches on top on a cutting board in front of a grill — GrillinFools Images ©

A slab of fully cooked and seasoned peachy sweet ribs with a reddish brown hue with a line of canned peaches on top on a cutting board — GrillinFools Images ©

Do pellet grills smoke enough?

But this was cooked on a pellet grill and pellet grills don’t smoke enough.

That’s garbage.

Tell me there isn’t enough smoke when you see this smoke ring:

A slab of St Louis Style Spare peachy sweet ribs topped with slices of peaches with one rib in the middle carved out on its side next to the knife used to cut it — GrillinFools Images ©

A close up of the sliced rib on a cutting board The rib is on it's side, showing the cooked meat and a pronounced pinkish spoke ring down one side with some slices of cooked peaches and the end of a knife nearby — GrillinFools Images ©

The Green Mountain does not billow smoke. It bathes the meat in that beautiful blue smoke. Billowing smoke is usually white smoke which will impart an acrid flavor to the meat. Go with the subtle blue.

Additionally, here are the pineapple ribs:

A slab of fully cooked and seasoned ribs with a reddish brown hue with a line of pineapple rings on top on a cutting board in front of a Green Mountain Grills Pellet Smoker outside against a backdrop of green foliage — GrillinFools Images ©

A slab of St Louis Style ribs topped with slices of pineapple rings with one rib in the middle carved out on its side showing the cooked meat and pronounced pinkish smoke ring — GrillinFools Images ©

When slicing these, leave the fruit on the ribs:

A slab of sliced st louis style pork ribs with slices of pineapple rings on top in front of a Green Mountain Grills pellet smoker — GrillinFools Images ©

Peachy Sweet Ribs Recap:

Now, there are two ways to eat these things, well technically three. You can use the back of a spoon and smash the fruit into the ribs and eat them that way. You can also drizzle them with hoisin sauce. Or both:

A slab of sliced st louis style pork ribs with slices of pineapple rings on top in front of a Green Mountain Grills pellet smoker The ribs are slathered with hoisin sauce and a wicked looking knife with white handle sits nearby — GrillinFools Images ©

A slab of sliced st louis style pork peach sweet ribs with slices of peaches on top on a wooden cutting board on an orange table cloth Hoisin is slathered over the top in long streaks — GrillinFools Images ©

I tried the ribs all three ways and all of them were fantastic. Pick which you like the best. I’m thinking I need to try this with pears! I’m sure dad will be doing this as soon as he can with maraschino cherries.

If you have any questions about the above dish please feel free to comment below or email me.

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Recipe Card:

Peachy Sweet Pork Ribs 29 | GrillinFools — GrillinFools Images ©

Print Recipe

Peachy Sweet Ribs

Peachy Sweet Ribs are spare ribs trimmed Saint Louis style and smoked before being topped with canned peaches, drizzled with the peach syrup and hoisin sauce

Prep Time10

Cook Time3

Course: Entree, Ribs

Cuisine: Barbecue, BBQ

Keyword: Barbecue, BBQ, Green Mountain Grills, Grill, Grilling, Hoisin, Hoisin Sauce, Peach Butcher Paper, Peachy Sweet, Peachy Sweet Ribs, Pellet Cooker, Pellet Grill, Pineapple, Spare Ribs, St. Louis Style Ribs

Ingredients

2 slabs Pork spare ribs Trimmed out to St. Louis style
1 cup Mayonnaise divided
Your favorite BBQ rub The sweeter the better, divided
Salt
2 cans Peaches In syrup
1 cup Hoisin sauce divided

Instructions

Trim the spare ribs to be St. Louis style including removing the membrane
Slather the bone side of the ribs with half the mayo
Season the bone side with salt and BBQ rub
Flip over and slather with the mayo and then add the seasoning on the meat side
Prepare the pellet grill for 275F (plus or minus 25F)
Place the ribs in the smoker and close the lid
After about an hour, place slices of peaches or pineapple along the top of the ribs
Drizzle the fruit syrup over the ribs every 20 minutes
Once the ribs hit the desired doneness (whether competition style or fall off the bone) remove them from the heat and slice the ribs
Smash the fruit into the ribs and/or drizzle with hoisin

Video

Peachy Sweet Spare Ribs

A slab of fully cooked and seasoned ribs with a reddish brown hue with a line of canned peaches on top on a cutting board in front of a blurred Green Mountain Grills pellet smoker in a very green backyard butting up against dense trees — GrillinFools Images ©

A slab of fully cooked and seasoned ribs with a reddish brown hue with a line of pineapple rings on top slathered with hoisin on a cutting board in front of a blurred Green Mountain Grills pellet smoker in a very green backyard butting up against dense trees A knife with a white handle sits next to the ribs — GrillinFools Images ©

A slab of St Louis Style ribs topped with slices of pineapple rings carved into individual bones on a wooden cutting board next to a knife with a white handle in front of a Green Mountain Grills smoker — GrillinFools Images ©

A slab of St Louis Style ribs topped with slices of canned peach slices on a wooden cutting board next to a knife with a white handle in front of a blurred pellet smoker with a backdrop of dense green trees Hoisin sauce is drizzled over the top of the ribs — GrillinFools Images ©

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.

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