Ribs can make a perfect meal or snacks for everyone; in fact, the taste of good grilled ribs is super delicious – everyone wants it.
However, preparing or grilling ribs the wrong way can lead to embarrassingly burnt ribs at a family get together or that friends-out picnic.
To avoid this and ensure that you get it right, here is what you need to know about cooking ribs on a gas grill for the tender, juicy ribs you know and love.
Health benefits
Besides the excellent taste you get from pork ribs, it also offers certain health benefits; ribs contain a high protein and fat level because they are naturally carb-free (minus any carbs in added sauces, of course). Hence, all of their calories come from protein and fat. A 3-ounce portion of ribs – about 210 calories- can be exploited to meet your body’s calorie requirement.
Furthermore, one ribs’ worth of meat – supplies 24 grams of protein and contains 12 grams of fat. That protein is a great way to fuel up your muscles because pork ribs provide all the amino acids you need to rebuild muscle tissue. However, the fat present in ribs is a mix of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids.
Each serving of ribs has 5 grams of saturated fat. Nutritionally, that’s less than ideal since saturated fat increases the levels of “bad” cholesterol in your bloodstream; as such it is recommended to make an occasional treat rather than an everyday staple.
Cooking Ribs on a Gas Grill
To get that delicious rib with the barbeque flavor can be challenging, especially when you cook ribs on a gas grill. Gas grills are designed for fast and hot cooking. It is not the perfect appliance for preparing ribs because getting delicious and tender ribs requires slow grilling at a low temperature.
However, it is not totally impossible to prepare that perfect and tasty ribs on your gas grill; all you will need is to follow specific steps to ensure that you grill it low and slow. Whatever steps you are following, you must ascertain that they all make you cook your ribs indirectly. That way, the grill’s heat is not directly under the baby back ribs but instead on the grill’s other side.
Otherwise, the ribs may burn with high temperatures. Also, low and slow cooking works best for grilling pork ribs because you can quickly turn up or turn down the burners to make adjustments. Finally, using gas grills for cooking can be much easier compared to traditional charcoal grills.
Preparing and cooking ribs on a gas grill
What you need
- Gas for your grill
- Grill with two burners
- One rack of pork ribs
- A sharp knife
- Meat thermometer
- Chili powder
- Tongs to maneuver the ribs while in place
- Ribs rub
- Salt to taste
- Aluminum foil
- Wood chips or smoke balls
- Get a nice sauce
Before you start grilling, ensure that the gas grill you intend to use has at least two burners and is spacious enough to hold the rack of ribs on one side, and still has sufficient space on the other.
While preparing your ribs for grilling, you need to ensure that it is cut evenly, irrespective of the rib’s size, the instruction and preparation are the same. Get your racks of baby back ribs from the store, and start by opening it up, clean and pat dry it with a paper towel.
For a stress-free grilling process, get pork ribs with a uniform thickness, inspect the ribs properly to see if there are any loose pieces of meat, scraps, bones, or excess fat, and cut them off the rack, you do not want to cut off all the fat as it may be used to keep ribs well moist during grilling; in the same vein, too much fat will not enhance perfect flavor and is not ideal for your health.
Remove the membrane that covers the rib’s bone so that the rub can penetrate the meat thoroughly. You can do this properly by inserting the end of a knife on top of the rib bone, push it in an upward direction so that you can get a hold of it, and pull it off.
Prepare the gas grill for a few minutes till it reaches about 200 degrees F. Afterward, put in smoke bombs made from wood chips in aluminum foil to get the smoky barbeque flavor you want. Raise the grill temperature higher until you start to notice smoke coming out of the smoke bombs.
Now return the grill temperature to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the ribs on the grill in a way that the grill heat does not touch it directly to avoid getting burnt ribs. Place the ribs horizontally or diagonally as required by the rack. Let it stay on the grill for about two hours, then check if it is ready.
How to Determine When Your Ribs Are Ready
The three things you want to search for to check your meat’s doneness is an instant-read temperature between 200 to 250 degrees Faherient. Also, seeing the ends of rib bones start to stick out, and when the tongs crack some part of the meat when you hold them up about ⅓ of the way.
Serving Suggestions
Though Pork ribs have specific health side effects, they are not entirely bad on their own, as long as you practice portion control and only enjoy them once in a while. But be mindful of the sauces and seasonings you use on your ribs since they can add hundreds of calories, not to mention salt and sugar. Choose homemade sauce over commercially available sauce to cut calories; remember ribs supply many calories to the body. To maintain body weight, avoid excess calories.
Setup For Grilling Ribs On A Gas Grill
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to cook ribs on a gas grill?
The time it needs to cook ribs on a gas grill depends on the size of the ribs in question, and as such, there is no hard and die rule. The estimated time to cook a small-sized rack of ribs on a gas grill is about hours. To cook a medium-sized rib, you will need to spend close to 3 hours, and a cooking time of about 4 hours is required for a large-sized or a thick slab of ribs.
What temperature should I cook ribs on a gas grill?
The perfect temperature for cooking ribs on a gas grill is between 200 degrees to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything below that will give you undercooked ribs, and anything above will provide you with overcooked or burnt ribs.
Conclusion
Though cooking ribs on a gas grill may not be as perfect as desired, you can still get that smoky barbeque flavor from using a gas grill. It requires that you cook slow and low; so, remember to adjust the gas grill’s temperature since it cooks faster. By following the steps above, you can be sure you are cooking your ribs the right way even though you are cooking them on a gas grill.
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