Feature - Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce

Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce Recipe

By: Andrea Alden

Deep and earthy, coffee is the flavor that we associate with waking up. But what if you used it to create the most insane ribs you have ever tasted? Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce will be a wakeup call for you. What brining does is equalize the salinity of the meat and the liquid it is submerged in. Imagine all of that coffee flavor infusing the pork! Add a little fine-grind coffee grounds to the pork rub, and you will have some bark that is darker than the blackest coffee, and follow that up by caramelizing the coffee infused, sweet barbecue sauce onto the surface. What you wind up with is a meal beyond compare. Try this recipe over the weekend and be blown away!

Prep Time
25 min
Cook Time
300 min
Yield
4
Difficulty
Medium

Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce Recipe

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Ingredients

Method

Photos

Ingredients

2

racks ribs

1 carton (1L.)

cold-brewed coffee

¼ cup

kosher salt

¼ cup

brown sugar

2 cloves

garlic, sliced

Apple juice

Your favorite wood smoking chips


COFFEE RUB

Your favorite rub

¼ cup

brown sugar

¼ cup

finely ground coffee 

 

COFFEE BBQ SAUCE

1 tbsp.

butter

½ 

onion, minced

2 tbsp.

cumin

2 cloves

garlic, grated

½ cup

black coffee

1 cup

ketchup

¾ cup

brown sugar, packed

¼ cup

apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp.

sambal olek

2 tbsp.

soy sauce

Method
  1. In a large, non-reactive container pour the coffee, sugar, salt, and garlic. Whisk until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Submerge the ribs, meat-side-down in the coffee brine. If they’re not completely submerged, add a little cold water until the ribs are covered. Set the brining ribs into the fridge for 4 to 6 hours.
  2. Set your Apollo® Smoker up and preheat it to 225°F.
  3. Remove the ribs from the brine, rinse them and pat them dry. Rub the ribs with the rub mixture, ensuring everything is nicely coated. Using skewers to hold them in place, fold the ribs into spirals so that they will sit up on the cooking grids.
  4. Smoke the ribs with your favorite smoker chips for 3 hours at 225°F.
  5. Remove the skewers and wrap the ribs in foil, pouring about ¼ cup of apple juice into each foil packet. Continue cooking the ribs on the top rack of your smoker for another 2 hours.
  6. While the ribs are cooking in foil, make the sauce. In a saucepan, melt the butter. Sweat the onion until it becomes slightly translucent. Add the garlic and cumin continuing to cook for another few minutes. Then add the coffee, ketchup, brown sugar, cider vinegar, sambal olek (hot pepper sauce) and soy sauce. Bring to a simmer until slightly thickened and then let it cool.
  7. Remove the middle stacker of your Apollo® and bring the ribs down a level. Brush them with the BBQ sauce, and continue to cook at 225°F for another hour so that the sauce caramelizes to the ribs.
  8. Slice and serve with your favorite sides.

These Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce were amazing. You may want to consider saving this recipe for a day when you can sleep in because you may be a little bit caffeinated after eating them. I don’t have a large capacity coffee maker at home. In fact, I only have a little coffee press, so making 1 liter of coffee for the recipe would have taken a little while. Instead, I found cartons of cold brew at the grocery store and they worked perfectly. Have you tried this recipe? Tell us how it went on our social pages like Grills Facebook and Instagram using the hashtags #SmokedRibs and #NapoleonGrills.

Happy Grilling!

Step - Mix Ingredients - Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce

Mix coffee, sugar, salt and garlic together in a large, non-reactive container

Step - Rub Ribs - Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce

Remove ribs from brine, rinse, pat dry, and nicely coat with the rub mixture

Step - Fold Ribs - Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce

Fold ribs into a spiral and use skewers to hold them in place

Step - Smoke Ribs - Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce

Place ribs sitting up on the smoker, and smoke for 3 hours

Step - Smoke 2 - Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce

Don't forget to use your favorite smoking chips when smoking the ribs

Step - Sauce Ribs - Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce

Make the BBQ Sauce, bring the ribs down a level, and brush with the sauce

Serve 2 - Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce

Remove from the smoker and serve with your favorite sides

Serve 3 - Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce

The coffee flavor infuses the pork for a deep and earthy meal

AndreaAlden
Andrea Alden

I used to be the Sultana of Sizzle, but you can call me Andrea. I have always been passionate about food. Even though I was majoring in Art and Graphic Design, I would frequently be found cooking for my friends and family.

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Step - Mix Ingredients - Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce

Mix coffee, sugar, salt and garlic together in a large, non-reactive container

Step - Rub Ribs - Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce

Remove ribs from brine, rinse, pat dry, and nicely coat with the rub mixture

Step - Fold Ribs - Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce

Fold ribs into a spiral and use skewers to hold them in place

Step - Smoke Ribs - Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce

Place ribs sitting up on the smoker, and smoke for 3 hours

Step - Smoke 2 - Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce

Don't forget to use your favorite smoking chips when smoking the ribs

Step - Sauce Ribs - Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce

Make the BBQ Sauce, bring the ribs down a level, and brush with the sauce

Serve 2 - Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce

Remove from the smoker and serve with your favorite sides

Serve 3 - Coffee Brined Smoked Ribs with Coffee BBQ Sauce

The coffee flavor infuses the pork for a deep and earthy meal