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    You are here: Home » Food » Pork » Smoked Hot Honey Ribs Recipe

    Smoked Hot Honey Ribs Recipe

    January 19, 2023 By Mary Leave a Comment

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    Jump to Recipe
    Smoked spare ribs in slathered in a hot honey glaze

    These Hot Honey Ribs start by slowly smoking ribs, then basting them in hot honey and butter, and finishing with more hot honey glaze. It’s sweet, savory, and moderately spicy. If looking for a new rib recipe to try, or ways to use hot honey, this recipe is it! Hot Honey Ribs can be made with Baby Backs or Spare Ribs.

    Two racks of Hot Honey Smoked Ribs over butcher paper

    Hot Honey Ribs Recipe Highlights

    • This is perfect with homemade hot honey or the store bought version.
    • You can use this recipe with spare ribs (or St. Louis cut spares) or baby back ribs.
    • This method follows the basic 3-2-1 method of cooking (without the last hour uncovered).
    • A savory and sweet seasoning is important, and we use our ultimate dry rub for pork and chicken for best results.
    Jump to:
    • Hot Honey Ribs Recipe Highlights
    • Ingredients for Hot Honey Ribs
    • Preparation
    • If Using Baby Backs
    • If Using Spare Ribs or St. Louis Cut
    • Spritzing Ribs
    • Hot to Make Hot Honey Ribs
    • Other Rib Recipes
    • Hot Honey Ribs Recipe

    Hot honey may seem like a fad, but the reality is that it has quickly become our second favorite condiment (next to Frank’s RedHot hot sauce). It can be used for virtually anything from drizzling over goat cheese, hot honey pizza, fried chicken, or on toast with butter. But when you use hot honey on ribs – the flavor just works. Trust me! For some reason hot honey and pork is a match made in heaven, much like PB&J.

    Ingredients for Hot Honey Ribs

    • Ribs – Look for larger pork ribs with as much meat and marbling you can find. We use two full racks for one portion, which feeds 4 – 6 people.
    • Dijon Mustard – This is the binder that keeps the seasoning on the ribs.
    • Seasoning – A good balance of salt, savory, and sweet is best with this recipe. Too much sugar and it doesn’t balance the glaze. We use our own Ultimate Seasoning.
    • Unsalted Butter – Helps as the butter melts and binds with the honey.
    • Hot Honey – Our homemade hot honey is perfect. But if you have a store-bought version, like Mike’s Hot Honey, that will work in a pinch.

    Preparation

    Read section for spare ribs if using a whole rack of spare ribs.

    • Make your seasoning. If not using a pre-made store-bought seasoning, then be sure your seasoning is prepped in advance.
    • Remove the membrane from the ribs. For the ribs be sure to remove the membrane on the bone side of either baby back or spare ribs. The easiest way to remove is to use a small knife to pry a small corner of the membrane up and then pull with a paper towel. Or use a butter knife to gently pry the membrane from the bone side and then grip it and pull so it all comes off.
    • Trim excess fat. If you see excess layers of fat use a sharp boning knife to remove it prior to seasoning.
    • Use a binder. Before adding seasoning, coat the ribs with mustard first. We like Dijon mustard, but any yellow mustard or even olive oil will work.
    raw rack of ribs bone side
    Bone SIde
    raw rack of ribs meat side
    Meat Side

    A note on the rib membrane: If you leave the membrane on, it tends to get chewy and unpleasant after cooking for a few hours, which is why we remove it. Note that some rib companies will have removed the membrane already. If you don’t see an opaque white membrane on the bone side of the ribs, then it’s been removed (hooray!) and you can skip that step.

    If Using Baby Backs

    Plan a total cook time of about 5 hours for hot honey ribs. While Baby Back Ribs tend to have less meat than spares, the size can very. Smaller baby back ribs can cook in as little as 4-hours.

    If Using Spare Ribs or St. Louis Cut

    If you buy a full rack of spare ribs, untrimmed, we recommend to cut them into the St. Louis cut ribs. This evens out the ribs and allows them to cook more evenly, as well as removing unwanted bones and cartilage from a full spare rack.

    how to trim spare ribs
    Visual for breaking down spare ribs to St. Louis cut, including removing the membrane.

    If using Spare Ribs – start with a 6-hour timeline with 3 hours of smoke and up to 3 hours wrapped. However, check the ribs after 2 hours of wrapping to see if they are done.

    Spritzing Ribs

    An optional step for smoking ribs is spritzing. The added liquid sprayed onto ribs helps the smoke bond with the meat adding more smoke flavor.

    Combine equal parts water and apple cider vinegar in a food safe spray bottle and spray the ribs while they smoke. The spritz will be good for 24 hours, then discard (in case you make ribs or pork shoulder the next day).

    • ½ cup water
    • ½ cup apple cider vinegar

    How to Spritz: After the first hour of smoking, open the smoker door and spray the top of the ribs. Do this every 30 minutes until you need to wrap them. And contrary to popular belief a 10 second spritz will not lose all the ambient heat in the smoker chamber. Typically this means we spray 5-6 times per rib for each time we spritz.

    Hot to Make Hot Honey Ribs

    two racks of ribs on the smoker
    1. Prep: Prepare smoker for indirect cooking targeting 275 degrees Fahrenheit using a fruit wood. Coat the top and bottom of each rack of ribs with Dijon mustard and liberally apply the seasoning.
    2. Smoke (for 3 hours): Place the seasoned ribs into the smoker, uncovered and smoke for one hour. After the first hour, spritz the ribs every 30 minutes until 3 hours have passed total. By then the bones should start to poke out of ribs, which indicates it’s time to wrap.
    3. Wrap (and then continue to smoke for 2+ hours): Place a large sheet of aluminum foil on a cutting board. Remove each rib and place on the foil. Top the ribs with ¼ cup of honey and 2 tablespoons of butter (on the meat side). Wrap the ribs tightly and place the ribs top/meat side down in the smoker and continue cooking for 2 hours.
    4. Remove: Remove hot honey ribs from the smoker. You can expect a fair amount of liquid from the honey and the rendered fat. Gently open and remove the foil and then apply the remaining honey to the meat side of both ribs, slice, and serve.
    slices of hot honey ribs on butcher paper

    Other Rib Recipes

    A roundup of our favorite rib recipe ideas.

    • Blueberry Glazed Ribs
    • Kansas City Style Pellet Grill Ribs
    • Keto Friendly No Sugar Added Ribs
    • Chinese 5-Spice Savory Ribs and Thai Chili Glaze
    hot honey ribs on a sheet pan

    Tried this recipe? Give us a start rating and we would love to see! Mention @vindulge or use the hashtag #vindulge on all the social media handles. And consider subscribing to our newsletter where we drop all our favorite ideas and inspirations every week.

    This post may contain affiliate links. This means if you click on the link, we may receive a small commission if you purchase through the link. We partner with brands we know and love and use and it helps keep the blog going!

    two racks of hot honey ribs on butcher paper

    Hot Honey Ribs Recipe

    Whether Baby Backs or St. Louis style cut, this Hot Honey Rib Recipe is going to be your new favorite way to smoke ribs. Slightly sweet, mildly spicy, sticky, and packed with flavor after a hot honey glaze.
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    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 5 hours
    Servings: 2 racks
    Calories: 2040kcal
    Author: Mary Cressler | Vindulge
    Cost: $24.00

    Equipment

    • Aluminum Foil

    Ingredients

    • 2 racks baby back ribs (Alternatively you can use spare ribs, or St. Louis cut. Silver skin trimmed and remove membrane along bone.)
    • ¼ cup Dijon mustard (Or yellow mustard if that's all you have.)
    • ½ cup Ultimate Dry Rub
    • 1 cup hot honey
    • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter

    Rib Spritz

    • ½ cup apple cider vinegar
    • ½ cup water
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Prep: Prepare smoker for indirect cooking targeting 275 degrees Fahrenheit using a fruit wood. Coat the top and bottom of each rack of ribs with mustard and liberally apply the seasoning (2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard and ¼ cup of dry rub per rack).
    • Smoke for 3 hours: Place the seasoned ribs into the smoker uncovered. After one hour spritz the ribs every 30 minutes until 3 hours have passed. By then the bones should start to poke out of ribs which indicates it's time to wrap.
    • Wrap and Continue Smoking 2+ hours: Place a large sheet of aluminum foil on a cutting board. Remove each rib from the smoker and place on the foil. Top the ribs with ¼ cup of honey and 2 tablespoons of butter (on the meat side). Wrap the ribs tightly and place the ribs top/flesh side down back in the smoker and continue cooking for 2 hours.
    • Remove: Remove from the smoker and unwrap the ribs. You can expect a fair amount of liquid from the honey and the rendered fat. Apply the remaining honey to both ribs, slice, and serve.

    Notes

    Hot Honey Portions: Use ½ of the honey for wrapping and be sure to reserve the other ½ to glaze when the ribs are done.
    If using Spare Ribs or St. Louis Cut Spare Ribs plan six hours roughly using the 3-2-1 method.
    Optional: You can spritz the ribs to get more smoke flavor. Combine the following in a food safe spray bottle.
    • ½ cup water
    • ½ cup apple cider vinegar
    How to Spritz: After the first hour of smoking, spray the top of the ribs liberally with the mixture. Do this every 30 minutes until you wrap the ribs.
    Find the perfect wine pairing at the Vindulge Wine Shop

    Nutrition

    Calories: 2040kcal | Carbohydrates: 151g | Protein: 111g | Fat: 117g | Saturated Fat: 48g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 16g | Monounsaturated Fat: 45g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 451mg | Sodium: 508mg | Potassium: 1615mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 140g | Vitamin A: 1285IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 367mg | Iron: 11mg
    Tried this recipe? We would love to see!Mention @vindulge or use the hashtag #vindulge
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    Mary-Cressler-Sept-2015-smI'm Mary, a wine/food/travel writer, Certified Sommelier, mom of twins, former vegetarian turned BBQ fanatic, runner, and founder of Vindulge and author of Fire + Wine cookbook.  Thanks for stopping by!

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