How To BBQ Ribs On A Gas Grill

For as long as I’ve been doing this blog, I’ve been getting the question, “How can I make ribs on a gas grill?” Plenty of people are under the impression that you need a charcoal grill or smoker to make great barbecue ribs. That’s simply not the case.

I love cooking with charcoal, adding wood, creating smoke and tending a fire. But I also realize plenty of people don’t own a charcoal grill, and you shouldn’t need to buy one just to make a great rack of ribs.

The trick is learning how to use your gas grill differently. By setting it up for two-zone cooking and adding a little wood smoke, you can essentially turn it into an outdoor oven with smoke. The ribs cook low and slow over indirect heat, get wrapped once the color is right, then finish with sauce until they’re tender, smoky and tacky.

The process is simple: Smoke. Wrap. Sauce.

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Gas Grill Ribs at a Glance

Cook time will vary depending on the size and thickness of the ribs and how well your grill maintains temperature. Use the clock as a guide, but let the color and tenderness of the ribs tell you when they’re ready.

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Why This Technique Works

The key to making ribs on a gas grill is treating the grill more like an outdoor oven than a traditional grill. One burner provides the heat while the ribs sit on the opposite side where there’s no direct flame.

Adding wood chips or pellets over the active burner brings smoke into the equation. With the lid closed, the ribs cook slowly in that indirect heat while taking on smoke flavor.

Wrapping the ribs later in the cook helps tenderize them without letting the outside get too dark. Once they’re nearly done, the wrap comes off and the sauce goes on for the final few minutes.

How To Set Up a Gas Grill for Ribs

To barbecue ribs on a gas grill, you need at least two burners so you can create two separate cooking zones. Three or more burners make this even easier.

Light one burner and leave the burner or burners directly beneath the ribs turned off. By doing this, you’re essentially turning your gas grill into an outdoor oven, with the added element of smoke.

Place the ribs over the inactive burner so they cook with indirect heat. Put your wood chips or pellets over the active burner so the heat produces smoke.

Because there’s no direct heat under the ribs and the temperature is being kept low, the ribs can come up to temperature slowly, rendering fat and breaking down connective tissue along the way without burning.

Close the lid and let the temperature at the cooking grate stabilize at 255°F. Once the wood starts smoking and the temperature is steady, you’re ready for the ribs.

If you’re new to this style of grilling, my guide to two-zone cooking takes a deeper look at how and why this setup works.

How To Add Smoke to a Gas Grill

You don’t need a built-in smoker box to add smoke flavor to ribs on a gas grill. Wood chips or pellets work great in a smoke box, smoking tube, or even a homemade aluminum foil packet like the one below.

Whichever method you use, place the wood chips or pellets over the active burner. The heat from that burner gets them smoking while the ribs stay safely on the indirect side of the grill.

And let’s dispel one myth while we’re here: don’t soak wood chips in water. Water doesn’t make them smoke longer. They just steam until the water evaporates before they can actually start smoking. Wood chips are cheap; let them smoke and add more if you need them.

Finally, don’t assume more smoke is better. You don’t want thick white smoke rolling out of the grill like something’s on fire. Good smoke is light, clean and sometimes almost hard to see. That’s the smoke you’re looking for.

How Long Does It Take To Grill Ribs on a Gas Grill?

Plan on about 3½ hours to cook ribs on a gas grill using this method. That’s about the same amount of time they’d take on a charcoal or pellet grill.

That 3½ hours isn’t absolute. The type and thickness of the ribs, how many racks you’re cooking, and your grill’s ability to maintain a steady temperature can all affect the cooking time.

More importantly, don’t cook ribs strictly by the clock. Use time as a guide, but let the color and tenderness of the ribs tell you when they’re ready.

What Temperature Do You Cook Ribs on a Gas Grill?

You’ll actually cook the ribs at two different grill temperatures.

Start at 255°F while the ribs are unwrapped. This lower temperature gives the ribs time to take on smoke and develop that deep mahogany color, but there’s another important reason for cooking them low and slow: tender meat is a function of both time and temperature.

You could cook ribs over high heat and get their internal temperature above 200°F much faster, but that doesn’t mean they’d be tender. Cooking them slowly gives the collagen and connective tissue time to break down as the internal temperature rises.

Once the color is right and the ribs are wrapped, increase the grill temperature to 285°F. At this point, we’re less concerned about adding smoke and more concerned about getting the ribs tender. The wrap and slightly higher temperature help speed that process along without letting the outside get too dark.

One important thing here: don’t blindly trust the thermometer built into your grill lid. Even if it’s accurate, (it’s likely not, but let’s assume it is) it’s measuring the temperature high in the lid, not down at the cooking grate where the ribs are sitting. That difference can easily be 50°F or more.

Use a reliable leave-in thermometer with the probe positioned near the ribs in the indirect cooking zone. That way, when I say 255°F or 285°F, you know you’re actually cooking the ribs at those temperatures and not whatever the lid thermometer happens to be telling you.

Should Ribs Be Wrapped in Foil When Grilling?

For this method, absolutely. Wrapping the ribs helps preserve that beautiful mahogany color, but more importantly, it helps break down the connective tissue and get the ribs tender.

You’ll often hear that ribs should be wrapped when they reach an internal temperature of around 160°F to 165°F. If that’s what you’re comfortable with, roll with it. I prefer to let the ribs tell me when they’re ready to be wrapped.

I’m looking mostly at color and bone pullback. When the ribs have developed a bright red to deep mahogany color and the bones are just starting to peek out, it’s time to wrap them. For me, that usually happens at around the two-hour mark.

Leaving them unwrapped a little longer won’t ruin the ribs, but eventually they’ll get darker than a bag of smashed assholes, and most people don’t find that particularly appetizing.

How To Tell When Ribs Are Done

Ribs shouldn’t be cooked until the meat simply falls apart when you pick them up. You want ribs that are tender and juicy, but still have enough structure to give you a clean bite from the bone.

Internal temperature is useful, but it’s only part of the equation. I start checking the ribs around 195°F, looking for bone pullback and probing the meat between the bones for tenderness. If the probe doesn’t slide in with very little resistance, keep cooking. Depending on the rack, that may not happen until closer to 203°F.

Remember what we talked about earlier: tenderness is a function of both time and temperature. Hitting 200°F doesn’t automatically mean the ribs are done.

I go much deeper into internal temperature, probing, the bend test and bone pullback in my guide on how to tell when pork ribs are done.

Tips For Making BBQ Ribs On a Gas Grill

The Wrap: In order to get the ribs tender, and to save the beautiful color, be sure you wrap them tightly with foil or butcher paper.

The Thermometer: Don’t trust your grill’s thermometer, use a reliable leave-in thermometer so you know the temperature at the grill grates where the ribs are cooking.

The Smoke: Pellets or wood chips, fancy box or foil packet, just leave it over the direct heat of the grill and it will produce a nice smoke for your ribs.

The Moisture: Gas grills tend to offer a pretty dry cooking environment, because they don’t seal like a Kamado style grill. This means you’ll need to spritz the ribs often to keep them moist.

The Zones: Two zone cooking is a must, if you want more information about two zone cooking, I encourage you to read that blog.

The Lid: Keep it closed as much as possible. Once you close the lid, don’t be peeking in on the ribs, no matter how tempting. That lets the heat and smoke out.

The Doneness: Check here for an in-depth look into how to tell when pork ribs are done. The bottom line, they should be super tender and juicy, but not “fall off the bone.”

The Plan: Don’t just buy some ribs, and dive in. Do a test run with your grill and thermometer first. Know what position of the gas knob will achieve what temperature in the indirect zone of the grill. Don’t try to figure that out with ribs on the grill.

Overall: This blog is about the technique of setting up the grill. It’s not about the bbq sauce, the dry rub recipe, or the rib preparation or removing the membrane. For that information, I’d encourage you to read this blog about how to make barbecue ribs.

Smoking Ribs on a Gas Grill FAQ

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How To BBQ Ribs On A Gas Grill

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 3.5 Hours | Serves: 4

Ingredients
2 racks of spare ribs
1/4 cup Grillseeker BBQ Rub (or your favorite bbq rub)
3/4 cup favorite barbecue sauce, I prefer my easy homemade sauce
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Step 1: Light one burner of your grill, place the pellets or wood chips over the active burner and close the lid. Allow the temperature to stabilize in the grill at 255°F as indicated with a reliable leave-in thermometer.

Step 2: Place the seasoned ribs, bone side down on the grill over indirect heat. Close the lid and let them go for 45 minutes without peeking.

Step 3: While the ribs are on the grill, mix the apple juice and vinegar into a spray bottle. After 45 minutes on the grill, spritz the ribs for the first time. I like the flavor this combination adds, but the main purpose of the spritz is keeping the surface of the ribs moist. Plain water will work too.

Work quickly and close the lid as soon as possible. Then, spritz the ribs every 20 minutes until the ribs have been on the grill for about two hours total. This can change by a few minutes either side of two hours, depending on the color of the ribs.

Step 4: Remove the ribs from the grill, close the lid and adjust the heat to maintain 285°F. The ribs should have a nice color and should bend slightly when held.

While the grill is heating up, wrap the ribs tightly in aluminum foil or butcher paper. Before sealing up the wrap, add a couple tablespoons of the juice and vinegar mixture to the ribs. This helps to get them tender.

Tip* If you like a sweeter rib, also consider adding some butter, honey, and brown sugar to the wrapped ribs. This is pretty common in the world of barbecue.

Step 5: Place the wrapped ribs back over indirect heat and close the lid. Cook for about one hour, then start checking for tenderness around 195°F. The ribs are ready to unwrap when a probe slides easily between the bones. If they aren’t tender, let them go, and check again every 15 minutes.

Step 6: Remove the wrapped ribs from the grill and close the lid. Unwrap the ribs, and return them back to the grill over indirect heat. Brush the ribs with your favorite barbecue sauce, close the lid and let them cook for about 20 minutes, or until the sauce has set and become tacky.

Step 7: Remove the ribs, lets them rest for 10 minutes, then slice and serve.