Slow Grilled Bone-In Country Style Pork Ribs

Grilled slow for that fall apart tenderness of pulled pork, but you don't need to cook a huge chunk of meat. Just follow these easy step-by-step photo instructions.

Introduction

These bone-in country style pork ribs can be though of as a slice of a pork butt with a variety of different muscles and bones making them harder to cook right than most cuts of meats.

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.

For the bone-in variety, I start with a pork rub and then the mandatory 100% indirect heat long and slow cooking technique using an endpoint of 200° plus. Excellent results for a cheap cut of meat.

My Rating

Very nice. I'm saving a 5 for real pork butt. Because this is a mixture of different meat textures, it will be dependent on the exact cut you get.

🐖Bone-In Country Style Pork Ribs

This is "the other" country style pork ribs to me. I frequently do boneless country style ribs, and this is a totally different cut.

The boneless is the tail end of a pork loin. It is very lean and cooks quickly.

The bone-in country style pork ribs are cut from the pork shoulder  (also called "Boston Butt") and have cuts of bone from the scapula.

This meat is not lean but is variable because different muscles are included, but much of it is like the Boston butt. It must be cooked slow, or the results are terrible.

♨️The Grill Setup

The grill needs to be set up similar to how we do pork butts. We want to do indirect heat with some smoke if possible.

If you know how to do 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.

👨‍🍳The Dry Rub

You can use the dry rub of your choice. If you don't have one, I have included my standard pork dry rub. It will make way too much for this recipe. Use what you need and save the remainder for later.

📖BBQ Recipes

sPulled Pork on a Gas Grill - Not That Hard

sMemphis Barbecue Sauce - A Wonderful Thing

sHow to Grill Boneless Country Style Pork Ribs

sHow to Grill Baby Back Ribs on a Gas Grill

🖼️Step-by-Step Instructions

You can use the dry rub of your choice. If you don't have one, I have included my standard pork dry rub. It will make way too much 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 kosher salt, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder and 1 teaspoon pepper.

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

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours.

Preheat grill to a stable temp of about 250° for indirect cooking.  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 with this. Clean and oil grill well.

Add the chips a few minutes before the meat.

Place the pork on the indirect side.

I had good smoke but it is OK if you don't want to smoke. Flip about every 30 minutes until an internal temp of 200°. It took just under 3 hrs for me. 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.

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📖 Recipe

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