Grilling Season '12: Cherry Rubbed Spareribs

Montana is currently experiencing record high temperatures, so in an apartment without air conditioning we try to avoid using the oven as much as possible - which means more opportunities for backyard grilling. Our horizons in the BBQ department have been greatly expanded this summer, as we've tried everything from grilling pizza to pork southwest salad and much more.

We've also done several variations on pork and beef ribs and now really hit our stride in preparing a great rack of spareribs that are the perfect match of tender, flavorful, and moist.  One of the best we've made so far used a non-traditional dry rub we made ourselves, along with a homemade cherry cola BBQ sauce.

Our new dry rub is also currently our favorite, as it mixes in sweet cherry flavors with spicy and savory rub standards. Here's a look at all our base ingredients:

The rub is based around two large scoops of brown sugar, which adds the hint of sweet necessary to counterbalance the savory for great BBQ.

Next we threw in mustard powder, paprika for color, and some cayenne for an undertone of strong heat.

Chili powder goes in next, both for the strong red color and for the addition of some extra flavor that isn't too hot.

Some of the old standbys have to also go in to round out the rub, such as garlic and onion powder and a few dashes of salt and pepper.

Finally comes the star of the show - cherry jello mix! It sounds strange, but it adds in a huge cherry flavor with minimal effort and makes the rub a very pretty reddish pink. We ended up making about four batches of this rub and keep it in containers in the cupboard so it's always on hand for any meat that needs a flavorful and slightly sweet rub.

Like with our first attempt at pork babyback ribs at the beginning of the grilling season, we covered both sides of these spareribs with the seasonings and gently rubbed them in.

After being completely coated, the ribs are tightly wrapped up to soak in the flavor and smells from the rub.

While the ribs refrigerate and take in all that amazing cherry color, we cooked up a batch of cherry cola BBQ sauce. The process for this one was nearly identical to our root beer BBQ sauce chronicled here, but with cherry cola instead.

With the sauce complete, the ribs are unwrapped and then injected with the sauce - which means the outer layer and the actual meat itself will be equally flavorful and moist. To see the injecting process, check out our previous pork sparerib blog from when we were experimenting with store bought sauces.

As usual, a rack of ribs like this requires using indirect heat with the hot coals spread out onto two different sides of the grill.

After being turned and then flipped at regular intervals during the cooking process, we baste the top side with more cherry cola BBQ sauce, keeping the outer layer moist and tender.

Between half and two-thirds of the way through the cooking process we carefully lift the ribs up and slide tin foil underneath. This not only makes the ribs easier to remove from the grill and carry, but also prevents burning on the bottom side and keeps all the juices packed in.

Hot off the grill the ribs are sliced apart in-between each bone for a hearty helping of BBQ you need to pick up and get messy with.

There are a million different possible side combinations for these, from potato salad to other traditional sides like macaroni salad, baked beans, or corn. We like to have a side salad (with my thousand island dressing of course!) topped with diced veggies, along with a hearty baked potato.

After having made smoky raspberry sauce and several soda based BBQ sauces, we're moving onto some different recipes that completely change up the formula. Coming soon we'll be making a coffee based sauce and rub, so stay tuned for more ways to grill fabulous pork!