Posted on April 24, 2018

8 Hour Tamarind Spare Ribs

For these succulent spare ribs we’ve employed a few techniques that the Memphis really encourages. We had to check in on these every hour or so to moisten them as they smoked, but the timing on that was flexible and the grill took care of the rest. Since tamarind fruit is the primary flavor in Coca-Cola, we decided to try a soda mop to accompany the BBQ sauce and it was a smash success!

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Ingredients

  • 2 racks fresh (not frozen) pork spare ribs
  • See Tamarind Molasses BBQ Sauce recipe
  • For the slather:
  • 3 T tamarind juice concentrate
  • 1 T honey
  • 1 T apple cider vinegar
  • For the rub:
  • 3 T light brown sugar
  • 3 T fresh ground black pepper
  • 2 T kosher salt
  • 1 T garlic powder
  • 1 T onion powder
  • For the mop:
  • 1/2 C cola (we used Coke)
  • 1/4 C apple cider vinegar

Preparation

  1. Remove membrane from the back of the ribs
  2. Rub ribs all over with the slather and remove excess
  3. Coat wet ribs with dry rub, sprinkling and patting to form crust
  4. Optional: cover and let sit overnight
  5. Preheat grill to 225F
  6. Insert meat thermometer into the thickest section of meat and smoke, bone side down, while applying mop about every hour for 7-8 hours or until internal temp reaches 165F and meat easily falls apart
  7. Optional: cover ribs with foil after reaching temp and let rest for 20 minutes before serving