If you're a sucker for sticky, saucy ribs, I've got an easy recipe queued up for the Super Bowl that'll slam your taste buds into a different dimension.
Frankly, you couldn't pay me to do any type of moving on Super Bowl Sunday. I am sweating bets and preparing food in the comfort of my own home.
That means it's time to fire up the Traeger 22 pellet smoker for some honey hot, bourbon-glazed BBQ ribs that will absolutely crush it on your Sunday menu. This recipe is easy and will hit a bunch of different flavor profiles for Sunday's big football game.
Smoked Honey Hot, Bourbon BBQ Ribs for Super Bowl 59
Ingredients
- Baby back or pork back ribs
- Honey hot seasoning (Meat Church or Tastefully Simple)
- Big Green Egg's Sweet Kentucky Bourbon BBQ Sauce
- 1/2 stick of butter
- Can of root beer
- Yellow mustard for coating (optional)
- Aluminum foil
Cook Time: 6 Hours
The ribs will go into the smoker at 12:30 p.m. ET and be ready to serve about 6:30 p.m. ET, when the Super Bowl kicks off.
Let's talk about the seasoning and prep that goes in beforehand.
Prep
Prep and seasoning can be done either the night before or Sunday morning.
For those who prefer more fall-off-the-bone ribs, turn your ribs over to the backside and peel off the first thin layer of skin before seasoning. Plenty of videos show how.
Though not mandatory, it is common to use a binder such as yellow mustard to help the seasoning stick better; once the ribs are done, you won't taste the mustard.
Season both sides of the ribs generously with honey hot seasoning. Both Meat Church and Tastefully Simple produce excellent honey hot seasonings, and I'm using the latter for this rack.
Place ribs on a tray or foil and place back into the fridge, uncovered.
Cook Instructions
It's Sunday afternoon. Here we go.
12 p.m.: Take the ribs from the fridge about 30 minutes prior. Fire up the smoker to 250 degrees.
12:30 p.m.: Place the ribs in the smoker at 250 degrees. They should cook for 1.5 hours.
2 p.m.: After 1.5 hours, spritz the ribs with root beer.
2:30 p.m.: 30 minutes later, spritz again with root beer.
3 p.m.: It's time to wrap the ribs in aluminum foil and turn the heat up after about 2.5-3 hours.
Stack 2-3 long sheets of foil or butcher paper for the ribs to wrap in. Place about two tablespoons of butter in the middle of the foil, with a light drizzle of root beer. We don't want a lot of butter and root beer, just enough for the ribs to retain some moisture while cooking in foil.
This is key: When taking the ribs out of the smoker to foil, place them upside down on the butter in the foil wrap, then add one more drizzle of root beer on the bottom of the ribs, which should be facing up.
Close the foil tightly and return the ribs to the smoker at 275 degrees for 2.5 more hours.
5:30 p.m.: After 2.5 hours, open the foil, use tongs to flip ribs over to right-side up, and place back onto the smoker. Then, baste ribs with your choice of barbecue sauce (I'm using Big Green Egg's Sweet Kentucky Bourbon BBQ glaze, which can be found at Ace Hardware; it's amazing.).
6 p.m.: Give the ribs one more baste of sauce.
6:30 p.m.: Take ribs off the smoker and let sit for 15-20 minutes.
Because it's the Super Bowl, you know the game won't start on time anyway! Enjoy.
