321 Method Smoked Baby Back Ribs

Smoking baby back ribs in the pellet grill is SUPER EASY with the 321 ribs method you’ll learn in this recipe guide. This smoker main dish has quickly become one of my go-to Traeger ribs for family dinners and BBQ parties where I want to feed a crowd. Let’s smoke ‘em…

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Why this 321 baby back ribs smoker recipe is so good…

• Half-day cook time – This 3 2 1 bbq ribs method is ready in about half a day. It’s a fast smoker recipe that’s easy to make for a BBQ party. 
• LESS MATH – It’s really easy to remember the time it takes to smoke using the 321 method!
• Baby back ribs in smoker always turn out tender inside, with a light crunch, using this low and slow method.
• New to pellet grill cooking? See my step by step video for beginners for this 3 2 1 method for smoking ribs (scroll to bottom of page). 

Ingredients

Here’s what you need to make easy Traeger 321 ribs.

• Baby back ribs
• Mustard (optional, for flavor and use as a 3 2 1 rib rub seasoning binder)
• BBQ rub – any pork dry seasoning you’d like (see my homemade pork rib rub)
• For spritzing: water and apple cider vinegar (sub apple juice)
• Beer (sub apple juice for extra moisture while your 3 2 1 ribs are smoking)

For the BBQ honey sauce for the final hour of smoking ribs

BBQ ribs smoke for the final hour in a tasty, sticky sauce that’s easy to make…

• BBQ sauce
• Honey

How to smoke baby back ribs with the 321 method

Now I’ll walk you through it…

Quick look at this smoked ribs recipe

1. Prep and season ribs.
2. Smoke 3 hours uncovered, spritzing regularly with water and apple cider vinegar. 
3. Smoke 2 hours wrapped in foil with beer.
4. Smoke 1 hour uncovered with BBQ sauce.
5. Remove when smoked 321 ribs reach 200 degrees F.

Detailed recipe steps

1. Preheat Traeger Grills, Masterbuilt, Pitt Boss or whatever pellet grill you’re using to 225 degrees F. 
2. Prep baby back ribs for smoking by removing the membrane if not already done by your butcher. (To do this, pull off the extra white part on top of the rack of ribs as much as possible to reveal more surface on the actual pork meat, so the seasonings absorb better.) Then pat them dry with paper towels. 
3. Pre-seasoning step (optional): before adding on your seasonings, you can add a “binder” to the ribs. It’s totally optional, and will definitely add more of a vinegar taste from the mustard. To do this, you’ll rub mustard all over the ribs before seasoning them.
4. Season baby back ribs all over with BBQ seasoning.  
5. Make water and apple cider vinegar mixture. Mix the two ingredients together in a spritzing bottle.
6. For 3 hours: smoke the baby back ribs for 3 hours, directly on the grill grates, with the lid closed. Spritz with water and apple cider vinegar mixture every 30-60 minutes. 
7. Wrap baby back ribs in foil before adding them to the smoker for a second cook. Remove partially-smoked baby back ribs from the smoker. Now you’ll wrap them individually in foil. To do this, lay a large sheet of foil on a flat surface with about an extra foot of foil on both sides. Make a rim so liquid won’t spill out of the foil. Add beer to the bottom of the foil. Top with partially-smoked 321 ribs, meaty side facing down and bones facing up. Secure foil all around rims, making sure any seams in the foil are on the top so liquid doesn’t escape as the ribs smoke. Return to smoking. 
8. For 2 hours: smoke foil wrapped baby back ribs (meaty side of the babyback ribs facing down) with the lid closed. 
9. Make BBQ honey sauce by mixing the BBQ sauce and honey in a small bowl.  
10. Unwrap the foil and flip the baby back ribs, so the meaty side is facing up. Brush the tops of the ribs with the BBQ honey sauce. Return to smoking, resting on top of the foil. (Don’t close the foil packet, the top remains open during the final hour of smoke time.)
11. For 1 hour: smoke baby back ribs with BBQ sauce on top for a final 60 minutes or so, with the foil packet open. 
12. Remove baby back ribs from the smoker when the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees F as measured with an internal read thermometer. 
13. Let smoked babyback ribs rest for 15 – 20 minutes and enjoy.

If you like ​​beef ribs, see this guide to making flanken ribs on the Traeger smoker.

For indoor cooking ribs, see this beef back ribs recipe…

321 ribs with Meat Church Texas Sugar Rub on the smoker

Here’s another version of this 321 ribs recipe, but I wanted to show you how it turned out with this new Meat Church rub…

Shop Meat Church Texas Sugar BBQ rub…

So again, this is the 3-2-1 ribs recipe from Sip Bite Go but with the popular new Meat Church rub.

Shop Meat Church Texas Sugar BBQ rub…

I love this half-day smoker recipe because it’s easy to season with any BBQ rub flavor you’re looking to try…

And it cooks so fast…

You can pop this in the pellet smoker around 11 or 12 and they’ll be ready for dinner around ⅚.

One rack is good for 2-3 people. 

FAQs 

An easy 3 2 1 BBQ smoked ribs dinner idea

Wondering what goes with smoked ribs for dinner?

Check out this meal showing the kind of sides that go with smoked ribs…

That smoked asparagus is so tasty!

And the other vegetable side dish is a salad recipe from Sip Bite Go. It’s the tabouleh salad recipe, coming soon.

More Tasty Grill + Smoker Recipes

• Smoked mac and cheese
• Smoked cream cheese
• Smoked brisket flat
• 321 ribs
• Beer can chicken on the smoker
• Smoked wings
• Smoked tomahawk steak
• Traeger tri tip
• Smoked turkey breast
• Smoked turkey legs
• Whole smoked turkey
• Smoked Traeger pizza
• Smoked onion rings
• Traeger smoked ham
• Smoked whole chicken
• Smoked jalapeno poppers
• Smoked corn on the cob
• Traeger beef ribs
• Smoked leg of lamb
• Smoked shrimp
• Grilled chicken wings
• Grilled skirt steak
• Flank steak marinade
• Grilled potato wedges
• Smoked pulled pork
• Want more? See my lineup of easy smoker recipes

See this Traeger Flatrock grill review.

See my favorite smoker tools and seasonings in my Amazon Storefront.

Meat thermometer recommendations

Every home chef needs a reliable meat thermometer to cook food perfectly. 

On Sip Bite Go, you’ll often see me using:

1. Meater thermometer – a fancy wireless thermometer that connects to a phone app – gifted to me from a Traeger partnership.
2. ThermoPro digital thermometer – which has a wire that connects the thermometer to a display box outside the oven/grill. 

It’s like being psychic! The great thing about either of the thermometers above is that I don’t have to take the food out of the oven to know the temperature. 

How to use ‘em… What I do is stick the digital thermometer in steak, pork, chicken, whatever… Then put the food in the oven, on the smoker, or grill.

While the meat cooks, it reads the temperature so I know exactly what temp meat is as it’s cooking. Without having to take it out and check. It’s really difficult to overcook food when you know exactly what temp it is inside!

Why I wrote this recipe

My husband doesn’t usually shop much for himself. 

But something comes over him when he walks past the section of ribs during our monthly Costco haul. 

A voice within him says, “Hey Patrick… hey dude, bro, rib fanatic… you know you want me… just pick up one little pack of ribs so you have another excuse to fire up the Traeger this weekend…”

And so, after a series of perfected 321 baby back ribs in a row, we thought it was time to record the Sip Bite Go video and finally share it as part of the beginner smoker recipes series.

Once you get the hang of it, you can confidently add this 321 cooking ribs method to your BBQ menus all summer long.

Rotate this main dish with this guide to smoking bone-in pork with pineapple and you’ll be eating good for a while!

Serve them with smoked corn on the cob, a smoked appetizer salad topped with smoker peaches, this super easy smoked mac and cheese with gouda, or an easy potato side dish you bake in the oven while the ribs smoke. 

Are you a foodie, too?

Hey home chefs, hope that answers all your questions about trying the 321 rib method for the first time. Soon, I’ll share my smoked spare ribs recipe and DIY 321 ribs smoker rib rub recipe for when you want to make your own.

Another way I like to cook ribs on a busy night is in the crock pot.

So what to try next?

Learn how to cook tri tip, one of my favorite cuts of beef, a variety of ways on Sip Bite Go.

In addition to oven-roasting tri tip roasts, which feed 2-4 people, this cut of meat can be cooked deliciously on the grill, prepared as sous vide tri tip, or smoked on a Traeger.

Connect…

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• Browse the Sip Bite Go recipe collection.