Bone-In Country Style Pork Ribs on the Grill

Bone-In Country-Style Pork Ribs on the Grill (or in your oven) is an inexpensive fall-off-the-bone easy BBQ dinner with fantastic bark from your favorite dry rub and tender meat.

Jump To:

• 🐖Ingredients
• 👨‍🍳How to Cook Bone-in Country Style Ribs on the Grill
• ✔️Tips and Options
• ♨️Oven instructions
• 🐖About Bone-In Country Style Pork Ribs
• ❓FAQs
• Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
• 📖 Recipe

Bone-in country-style pork ribs, grilled on your backyard BBQ grill (or in the oven), is an economical BBQ dinner. They are cut from the junction of the pork loin and pork butt. They have various muscles and bones similar to pork butts making them harder to cook.

But it is simpler than you think, cook them like pork butt, starting with a dry rub, then indirect long-and-slow grilling using an endpoint of 200° plus for moist and tender results.

They are often confused with their boneless name-sake, but other than confusing people with the names, they have nothing in common and pity the poor cook who gets confused. One is lean (the boneless), and one is full of fat and connective tissue (bone-in).

Serve on a plate or pull the meat off the bone for a pulled pork sandwich. Top with Memphis BBQ sauce, and add a side of Baked French Fries or Macaroni Salad.

Check out some recipes, like Grilled Smoked Pulled Pork Butt, Oven Pulled Pork Butt, and Crock Pot Pork Butt. For the boneless variety, start with Grilled Boneless Country Style Ribs, and don't miss 30 Minute Boneless Pork Ribs.

🐖Ingredients

• Bone-in country-style pork ribs—not boneless country ribs, which are different
• BBQ rub—use yours, or mine uses brown sugar, kosher salt, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper.
• BBQ sauce—use the BBQ sauce of your choice, or use Memphis BBQ Sauce.
• Wood chips—for smoking, optional. Type of your choice, I prefer hickory.

👨‍🍳How to Cook Bone-in Country Style Ribs on the Grill

1. If you don't have a pork dry rub, mix dry rub in the recipe card.
2. Coat the ribs with rub on all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours if you have time.
3. Set up the grill for indirect grilling and wood smoke. Preheat the grill to a stable temp of about 250° in the indirect area.
4. Place the pork on the indirect side of the grill. Flip every 60 minutes until an internal temperature is measured with an instant-read thermometer of 200° to 205°. It will usually take 2 ½ to 3 hours.
5. Cover with foil and rest for 10 minutes before serving.

✔️Tips and Options

• I have set the recipe for two ribs (two servings), but you and make any number you want.
• If you have a pork rub you like, use it. Most people will not, so I provided a version of my 8:3:1:1 BBQ Dry Rub. You could also use Memphis BBQ Dry Rub or Chipotle Dry Rub.
• You can use a cooking temperature anywhere between 225° and 300° if you pay attention to the final internal temperature since the cooking time will differ.
• Indirect grilling with smoking is best for bone-in country-style ribs. If you know how to set your grill up for this, great. But I have a detailed post, How To Set Up Your Gas Grill for Smoking and Low and Slow Cooking, which covers all the details.
• A charcoal grill may be used, but you need to control the grill temperature, which is much harder on a charcoal grill.

♨️Oven instructions

Give the ribs a coat of good-quality liquid smoke before the rub. This is optional, but if used, the quality of the liquid smoke is critical. I use only Wright's™ brand. There are ways to smoke in the oven, but not for most home cooks. Alternatively, skip the liquid smoke.

Use a baking tray with the sides with foil to help clean up and a rack to keep the meat out of the melted fat. Use a heavy coat of PAM cooking spray. Do not cover it in the oven.

The cooking time and temperature will be approximately the same as the grill—about 2 ½ to 3 hours at 250°. Cook to a final internal temperature of about 200° with a range of 190° to 205° but 200° plus is preferred.

Remember, you cook to a final internal temperature, not by time. This will vary by the thickness of the meat and your oven.

🐖About Bone-In Country Style Pork Ribs

The bone-in country-style pork ribs are cut from the pork shoulder ("Boston Butt") and the pork loin junction. The bone is from the scapula, and the meat comes from various muscles.

Boneless County Style Ribs are the tail end of a pork loin. It is very lean and cooks quickly, like pork chops. They are very different things—do not get confused.

This meat of bone-in-country ribs is not lean and variable because different muscles are included, much like the Boston butt. It must be cooked slowly for best results. Done correctly, it will be like a slice of "pulled pork" with melt-in-your-mouth tenderness.

This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

You can use the dry rub of your choice. I have included my standard pork dry rub if you don't have one. It will make more than needed for this recipe. Use what you need and save the remainder for later.

My Standard Pork Dry Rub: ½ cup dark brown sugar, 3 tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, and 1 teaspoon pepper. You can save the extra sealed tightly for up to 2 months. If using Morton salt, use 2 tablespoons.

Give the ribs a nice coat of rub on all sides.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours if you have time.

Set up your grill for low-and-slow cooking with smoking. Preheat the grill to a stable temp of about 250° in an indirect heat area. An accurate surface thermometer is a must for this. See How To Set Up Your Gas Grill for Smoking and Low and Slow Cooking if you need help. Clean and oil grill well.

Add the wood chips to a smoker box a few minutes before the meat goes on. You can use a foil pack of wood chips instead.

Place the pork on the indirect side.

I usually do about 20 minutes of hickory smoke just for taste—but smoke is optional. Flip about every 60 minutes until an internal temp of 200°-205*. The flipping may not be needed, but it makes me feel better.

Move to a plate and cover with foil for 10 minutes before serving.

📖 Recipe

Editor's Note: Originally Published May 28, 2012. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.