SmokeBarbecue
Smoked rib tips
The cartilaginous end cut off a spare rack when it becomes St. Louis. Chewy, sticky, a Chicago snack if you glaze them.
Made it?
3 hr 30 min · 25 min hands-on · pull 195°F · rest 10 min
Ingredients
3.5 lb on the fire · ~1.9 lb to the table · 4 plates at 8 oz
- pork rib tips3 1/2 lb
- kosher salt2 tbsp
- rib rub1/4 cup
- barbecue sauce1/2 cup
Method
- 1
Separate long strips along the cartilage lines if the butcher left a slab. Rub well — lots of surface.
- 2
Smoke 275°F for 2 hours. Wrap with a splash of vinegar 45 minutes until a probe hits little resistance.
- 3
Unwrap, sauce, 15 minutes to set. Rest 10 minutes. Chop through the cartilage into snack pieces.
If you don’t have it
- Rib tips → Country-style strips or spare rib trimmings. Tips have cartilage. If your ‘tips’ are all meat, you bought something else — still smoke them.
- Hickory → Cherry or apple. Chicago tips often ride hickory. Fruitwood is cleaner.
Same cook, different day
Hot sauce glaze
A snack tray. Thin sauce with vinegar and chili in the last 15 minutes. Chop small.
Dry
No glaze. Rub only. Cartilage still needs to go tender — do not pull them early because they look dark.
On a spare cook
You squared your own racks. Park the tips next to the St. Louis racks. They finish sooner — pull them first.
On the plate
With this, try
- With this dish, try making pinto beans.
Start when a packer wraps, or at the beginning of a shoulder. Soaked beans, smoked hock, onion, chili. Simmer until creamy. Salt late.
2 hr 30 min
- With this dish, try making vinegar slaw.
Anytime. Better after an hour in the fridge. Cabbage, carrot, cider vinegar, a pinch of sugar, salt, pepper. No mayo if the meat is already rich.
20 min
- With this dish, try making skillet mac.
In the oven while a roast rests, or the last stretch of a smoke. A real béchamel, cheddar, a breadcrumb top. Do not start it at the same time as a packer and expect timing to match.
40 min