So I decided to try a new method. I saw somewhere recently where it was postulated that some rubs can inhibit the smoke from penetrating the meat. As such, it was recommended to only use salt and pepper as a rub in order to maximize the smokiness. And in fairness, my wings, which usually do not get a rub, do come out smokier than my ribs which do get a rub. But I also didn't want to miss out on the flavor my current rub of choice provides. So I decided to do a little experiment using the 3-2-1 method of cooking with the only variation being that the ribs only had salt and pepper while they were in the smoke.
First I seasoned the a rack of St. Louis cut last night with only kosher salt and fresh black pepper and allowed them to sit on a wire rack, uncovered overnight. Then this morning, I fired up the smoker like I normally would and placed them on for 3 hours at ~250-275. After 3 hours, this is what I had:
Now I decided to wrap them with a bit of a mop sauce I made. The mop sauce contained 1tbsp of dijon mustard, 1/4 cup of ACV, 1 tbsp of bacon grease, 2 tbsp of Killer Hog's, 1 tbsp of brown sugar, and about a tbsp of Sweet Baby Ray's to help mellow out the ACV. I lightly brushed that on both sides of the ribs, wrapped them meat side down, and cooked for 2 hours. After the wrap period was up, I dusted them with some more Killer Hogs, and continued on for that final hour of cooking.
After that hour, I let them sit, covered, for about 30 minutes before slicing and sampling.
There was definitely a more pronounced smoky flavor, and I still got to enjoy the dry rub too. I'm probably going to do all of my ribs like this going forward.
First I seasoned the a rack of St. Louis cut last night with only kosher salt and fresh black pepper and allowed them to sit on a wire rack, uncovered overnight. Then this morning, I fired up the smoker like I normally would and placed them on for 3 hours at ~250-275. After 3 hours, this is what I had:

Now I decided to wrap them with a bit of a mop sauce I made. The mop sauce contained 1tbsp of dijon mustard, 1/4 cup of ACV, 1 tbsp of bacon grease, 2 tbsp of Killer Hog's, 1 tbsp of brown sugar, and about a tbsp of Sweet Baby Ray's to help mellow out the ACV. I lightly brushed that on both sides of the ribs, wrapped them meat side down, and cooked for 2 hours. After the wrap period was up, I dusted them with some more Killer Hogs, and continued on for that final hour of cooking.

After that hour, I let them sit, covered, for about 30 minutes before slicing and sampling.


There was definitely a more pronounced smoky flavor, and I still got to enjoy the dry rub too. I'm probably going to do all of my ribs like this going forward.