St Louis-Style Ribs using a Rotisserie

Rotisserie St Louis-style ribs are something I’ve been wanting to make for some time. I usually smoke my ribs, low-and-slow or high-and-fast on my smoker. This time I decided to give ribs on my gas grill a shot to see if I would like them as much as my ‘traditional’ method of cooking ribs. Well, by golly, I did and then some! I really enjoyed these ribs. They had great flavor. They were still moist and were as tender as could be. And they had this slight crunchiness to the skin that was just fantastic. Oh, and they were easy to make to boot! These were winner-winner ribs for sure!

St Louis-Style Ribs using a Rotisserie

Indirect Cooking

When you put your ribs on your grill it’s important that they do not sit (well, spin) over direct heat. If you look at the very far right of my picture above you’ll see that the very end of my rack got a little dark. That’s because there’s a burner right below that part of the ribs. I didn’t realize that until it was too late. I learned from my experience. The rest of the ribs were fantastic and I’d make them again and again (but I’d make sure that they were 100% in indirect heat!).

I put the apple juice into a cheap spray bottle and then spritz the ribs every 30 minutes or so. Spraying them is easier than using a brush and it makes sure I’m not brushing off any of the seasoning.

St Louis-Style Ribs using a Rotisserie
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5 from 1 vote

St Louis-Style Ribs using a Rotisserie

These were winner-winner ribs for sure!
Course Main
Cuisine American
Keyword grilled, ribs, rotisserie
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 630kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Spread the mustard on all sides of the ribs. Just a light coating will do.
  • Sprinkle the rub over the ribs and pat gently to adhere. Don't forget to get the back and sides of the ribs.
  • Fire up your grill for rotisserie cooking over medium-low heat, around 300 F. Place a large drip pan under the rotisserie.
  • Skew the ribs onto the rotisserie. Be careful doing this. Never put your hands where the sharp end can skewer you and not the ribs! Run the spit thru the first and second bone on one end. Bend the ribs slightly (like an 'S') and skewer between the next set of bones where you can skewer without breaking the ribs. Finally run the spit thru the last two bones. Secure with the rotisserie forks. It's ok if you have to remove the spit and try again to get the ribs nice and skewered down the middle. An extra hole or two isn't going to hurt anything!
  • Place the spit onto the grill and start the motor. Close the grill lied and cook for 2 – 3 hours or until the meat on the bones has pulled back from the ends by about 1/2". I like to spray my ribs with apple juice ever 30 minutes while they spin. You can also brush them with the apple juice but do so carefully as you don't want to brush off your seasoning.
  • Brush the ribs with BBQ sauce and let cook another 10 minutes for the sauce to set.
  • Carefully remove the spit from the grill using thick grill gloves and remove the ribs. Cover with foil and let rest 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 630kcal | Protein: 35g | Fat: 53g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 19g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 182mg | Sodium: 184mg | Potassium: 551mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

St Louis-Style Ribs using the Vortex

Oh skeptical me. Sure, I’ve grilled St. Louis-style ribs before on my Weber grills. High heat. Low heat. I’ve done them both and they were great. But with a Vortex? That’s not just high heat, it’s crazy hot heat. I was skeptical about making St Louis-style ribs using the Vortex, and well… wrongfully so. In less than an hour I had great ribs. A slight smoky flavor (they even had a beautiful smoke ring!). Tender. Very, very juicy. And my favorite part, a bit of a crunchy edge. Some people call them rib sticks. I call them yummy!

St Louis-Style Ribs using the Vortex

Easy. Crazy Easy. And Delicious.

Making St Louis-style ribs using the Vortex is just as easy as making wings or fried chicken using the high-heat insert. It really is fire-and-forget. There’s no fuss, no messing with things, no flipping, nothing. They’re done in 45 minutes. Count on it.

St. Louis-style ribs are great cooked on a good ole gas grill too! And for the perfect side, make my garlic Parmesan Vortex potato wedges!

St Louis-Style Ribs using the Vortex
Print Pin
5 from 1 vote

St Louis-Style Ribs using the Vortex

Making St Louis-style ribs using the Vortex is just as easy as making wings or fried chicken using the high-heat insert. It really is fire-and-forget. There’s no fuss, no messing with things, no flipping, nothing. 
Course Main
Cuisine American
Keyword ribs, Vortex
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 630kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Fire up a Vortex full of charcoal. You can fit a rack of ribs around an 18" or larger grill. Place a wood chunk or two over the coals for smokier flavor. Keep the top and bottom vents open all of the way the entire time.
  • Remove the membrane from the bone-side of the ribs.
  • Cut the ribs into single bone servings. Think rib stick because that's what you're after. Try and get equal amounts of meat on each side of the bone.
  • Season the ribs well with the seasoning.
  • Place the ribs, meat-side up, around the Vortex. Don't let them touch. Close the lid and let cook 40-45 minutes. I did not turn my lid, but on a larger grill, 22" or bigger, you may want turn rotate it 90 degrees every 15 minutes.
  • Once the ribs are done (you'll see the meat has pulled back about an inch on the bones), brush with sauce and let cook another 5 minutes to set the sauce.
  • Serve immediately.

Notes

Nutritional values do not include rub or sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 630kcal | Protein: 35g | Fat: 53g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 182mg | Sodium: 184mg | Potassium: 551mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

St Louis-Style Ribs on a Gas Grill

Making St Louis-style ribs on a gas grill is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now. Yes, I have charcoal grills and I have a smoker, but not everyone else does. Which made me wonder… can it be done? Will they be as good as the ribs I cook on my other grills? Well, once I get something in my head, it’s not going away until I do it. And so I did. And you know what? These ribs were AMAZING!

St Louis-Style Ribs on a Gas Grill

Tremendous Ribs

Yes, I said it. Ribs cooked on a gas grill are fantastic. No, you can’t get that deep smoky flavor that you get from smoking them for 5 hours. But you get close. And you still get terrific, tender, moist ribs. I thought they were great.

I used my Weber Summit S-670 grill. It’s a large grill, to say the least. You don’t need to have such a big gas grill to make these ribs, but you do need one that’s big enough to hold the ribs and one that you can over indirect heat on. That means that the ribs need to sit away from the heat source. You want the spot where the ribs are to be around 250 F. And not much more. That’s essentially the same temperature as most people smoke ribs so you’re halfway there.

St Louis-Style Ribs on a Gas Grill

My Setup

Above you can see my initial setup. I had three burners lit: the two furthest to the right that you can see and the one under my smoke box. I filled the smoke box with apple wood pellets. If you don’t have a smoke box you can use a foil packet filled with wood chips. Just poke a few holes in it and put it over a lit burner. You’re not going to get a lot of smoke flavor, but a bit. Be happy with it. You can make up for it quite a bit by using a BBQ sauce that has a bit of smoke flavor to it.

St Louis-Style Ribs on a Gas Grill

Oven Thermometers Make This Even Easier

I found that my ribs were a bit too far away from my heat source (I was running around 200 F), so I moved them one burner to the right. I still only had the three rightmost burners lit. You can see my trusty oven thermometer in the picture. Get one (or two) and you’ll never regret it.

Once you get your gas adjusted so your temperature is 225-250 F you don’t really have to mess with it any more. This was my first time doing this, so I had to tweak where I had the ribs and my burner settings. After that I nailed 250 F for hours without any adjustments. Now that I know the right placement and gas knob settings, I’ll be able to make these ribs again and again without any fuss at all.

Rib Happiness

You will be totally happy with these St Louis-style ribs. I sure was. You might have to adjust the process a bit for your grill to get the right temps but once you do you’ll be making great ribs time-and-time again. I recommend taking notes on your setup so you can use the same process the next time.

You can also make delicious St Louis-style ribs on a smoker, Char-Broil Big Easy and even a Vortex!

St Louis-Style Ribs on a Gas Grill
Print Pin
5 from 1 vote

St Louis-Style Ribs on a Gas Grill

Yes, I said it. Ribs cooked on a gas grill are fantastic. No, you can’t get that deep smoky flavor that you get from smoking them for 5 hours. But you get close. And you still get terrific, tender, moist ribs. I thought they were great.
Course Main
Cuisine American
Keyword gas grill, ribs
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Resting time 10 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 700kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Fire up your gas grill for cooking at 250 F. You will need to cook the ribs over indirect heat, so only light some of the burners. Place the ribs away from the direct fire. Add wood chips or pellets to a smoke box. If you don't have one, just place the wood on a piece of foil. Fold up and seal, then poke a few holes in the foil. Place over the direct heat to smolder and create smoke.
  • Season the ribs with the rub, on both sides. Transfer to the grill over indirect heat. Close the lid and cook for 2 1/2 hours. Check the temperature regularly to make sure you maintain 250 F.
  • Remove the ribs to a large piece of aluminum foil, bone-side up. Fold up the edges of the foil to create a 'bowl' around the ribs.
  • Add the vinegar to the 'bowl'. Sprinkle the ribs with the brown sugar and top with pats of the butter.
  • Fold the foil around the ribs and seal tightly. Return to the grill and continue to cook for 1 hour 15 minutes at 250 F.
  • Carefully open the foil (steam will escape and it will be HOT!). Poke the meat between the bones. It should be tender. Also, the meat should be pulled back about 1" from the ends of the bones.
  • Remove ribs from the foil and place directly onto the grill, but still over indirect heat.
  • Brush the tops with the sauce. Close the lid and cook another 15 minutes to set the sauce.
  • Remove, let cool 10 times, slice and serve!

Nutrition

Calories: 700kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 53g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 183mg | Sodium: 199mg | Potassium: 623mg | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 12IU | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutritional values are approximate.