Bacon Ribs (Cured and Smoked)
Smoked Bacon Ribs are pork ribs cured with salts, honey, and spices to give you that signature sweet and salty bacon flavor, then smoked until tender. It’s a savory, smoky mashup of everything you love about pork, and yes, it’s worth the effort.
They look like ribs. They taste like bacon. They will disappear faster than your kids when it’s time to do chores.
Bacon ribs are freaking delicious, and thankfully, not very difficult to pull off. You can use either baby back ribs or spare ribs for this recipe — just make sure you’re using pork ribs, not beef ribs!
Why This Process Works
- Bacon-Forward Flavor. You’re curing the ribs like bacon, so you get that savory-sweet, salty bite with the texture of tender smoked ribs.
- Simple Brine. Mix the salts, sweetener, and spices together to prepare the brine for the pork in just a few minutes. The hardest part is finding room in the fridge.
- Smoked Low and Slow. The brine sets the flavor, but the smoker brings it home — rich bark, juicy meat, and that wood-fired smell.
Ingredients Needed for the Brine
- Kosher salt – Use this over other salts for the cure.
- Honey – Any kind, even hot honey, would work very well.
- Pink curing salt (Prague Powder No. 1) – Key ingredient, this cannot be substituted.
- Hot water – Used to dissolve the salts and honey.
- Cold water – This brings the brine back to room temperature (you don’t want to poach the ribs!)
- Whole cloves – These are nice aromatics to pair with pork.
- Cinnamon stick – Warming flavors work well with the honey and pork.
- Bay leaves – Adds a savory flavor.
Substitutions & Variations
- Sweeteners – Try molasses, brown sugar, or maple syrup for different flavors.
- Add chiles, such as jalapenos, diced up in the brine for a spicy bite.
- Use other aromatics such as star anise, black peppercorns, coriander seeds, fennel, and more.
How to Cook Bacon Ribs
- Make the brine. Whisk the hot water with salt, curing salt, honey, cloves, and bay leaves until fully dissolved. Then add cold water and let it cool to room temperature.
This is your flavor foundation. Don’t rush it — warm water helps everything dissolve, but you need it cool before adding the ribs.
- Prep the ribs. Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs. You can use a paper towel to grip and peel it off.
Spare ribs or Baby Back ribs? Use either one, and the curing time and smoke time will be similar. The main difference will be the fat content — spare ribs have more, baby back ribs are leaner.
- Cure the ribs. Place the ribs in the cooled brine, fully submerged. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Want a bolder bacon flavor? Go up to 48 hours. Just know the flavor will be saltier and sweeter.
- Pat dry & season. After the curing time, pull the ribs out of the brine and pat them dry with paper towels. No need to apply a BBQ rub — just crack some black pepper over the top.
Rest in the fridge for more smoke flavor. If you’re patient, this extra step is worth it. Place the ribs on a sheet pan with a wire rack and let them rest in the fridge for a few hours, drying out the surface even more. This will increase the smoke penetration and help create a better bark on the outside. It’s optional, but delicious.
- Smoke the cured ribs. Set your smoker to 250°F. Smoke the ribs for 3-4 hours until they reach an internal temp of around 170°F.
You’re looking for bark to form and the color to deepen. Resist the urge to peek too often!
- Wrap with butter & brown sugar. Wrap the ribs in heavy-duty aluminum foil with a few pads of unsalted butter and a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar. Return them to the smoker for 60-90 minutes until probe tender (200–205°F). Make sure you’re using a great internal meat thermometer!
Switch up the flavors. You don’t have to use brown sugar — don’t skip the butter — try other sweeteners like maple syrup, honey, or agave. This step really helps build a nice glaze for the outside of the bacon ribs, almost making them taste like smoked ham ribs. It’s an extra touch that really shines.
- Finish cooking & rest the ribs. When the ribs reach the target temperature, you can unwrap, flip over, and smoke for another 10 minutes if you want to set the bark.
This is optional — make sure they are fully wrapped in the foil and have at least 30 minutes of resting time before slicing.
Top Tips for Bacon Rib Success
- Baby back or spare ribs both work great — baby backs will be a little leaner.
- Brine for longer if you want a deeper flavor. 24 hours is the minimum; 48 hours will give a saltier, sweeter flavor without overwhelming the pork.
- A BBQ sauce glaze at the end brings out the sweetness — try Maple Chipotle BBQ Sauce, or Sweet Honey Bourbon BBQ Sauce.
- Don’t skip the rest. It’s the difference between juicy ribs and BBQ regret.
More Pork Recipes to Make
We’ve got plenty of delicious smoked pork recipes, here are some of the fan favorites:
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Bacon Ribs (Cured and Smoked)
Smoked Bacon Ribs are pork ribs cured with salts, honey, and spices to give you that signature sweet and salty bacon flavor, then smoked until tender. It’s a savory, smoky mashup of everything you love about pork, and yes, it’s absolutely worth the effort.
- Total Time: 30 hours
- Yield: 1 rack of ribs
Ingredients
- 1 rack pork ribs (spare or baby back)
- 3/4 cup kosher salt
- 3/4 cup honey or hot honey
- 1 ½ teaspoon pink curing salt (Prague Powder No. 1)
- 3 cups hot water
- 3 cups cold water
- 8 whole cloves
- 3 bay leaves
- Cracked black pepper
- Butter + brown sugar (for wrapping)
Instructions
- Make the brine. Whisk the hot water with salt, curing salt, honey, cloves, and bay leaves until fully dissolved. Then add cold water and let it cool to room temperature.
- Prep the ribs. Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs. You can use a paper towel to grip and peel it off. Place the ribs in the cooled brine, fully submerged. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
- Pat dry, season, and smoke. After the curing time, pull the ribs out of the brine and pat them dry with paper towels. No need to apply a BBQ rub — just crack some black pepper over the top. Set your smoker to 250°F. Smoke the ribs for 3-4 hours until they reach an internal temp of around 170°F.
- Wrap with butter & brown sugar. Wrap the ribs in heavy-duty aluminum foil with a few pads of unsalted butter and a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar. Return them to the smoker for 60-90 minutes until probe tender (200–205°F).
- Finish cooking & rest the ribs. When the ribs reach the target temperature, you can unwrap, flip over, and smoke for another 10 minutes if you want to set the bark (optional). Rest the ribs, wrapped up in the foil, for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
Notes
- Baby back or spare ribs both work great — baby backs will be a little leaner.
- Brine for longer if you want a deeper flavor. 24 hours is the minimum; 48 hours will give a saltier, sweeter flavor without overwhelming the pork.
- Don’t skip the rest. It’s the difference between juicy ribs and BBQ regret.
- Prep Time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 5-6 hours
- Category: Pork
- Method: Smoking
- Cuisine: Ribs, BBQ, Appetizer
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 rack of ribs
- Calories: 593
- Sugar: 11.7 g
- Sodium: 422.3 mg
- Fat: 41.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 13.7 g
- Protein: 43.5 g
- Cholesterol: 166.6 mg
Brad, I was intrigued by this idea and have been smokin’ a while. Made them for an in-law reunion. Even they liked them! Anyway, I smoked them with sugar maple. Kept all the leftovers. 🙂 Thanks much for the delicious recipe!!!
That’s great to hear! So glad everyone enjoyed them
I’m not sure if it was my brine method (all I had was sealed bag) or if I needed to rinse them off, but holy hell they’re GOOD but SALTY.
I can definitely taste what’s supposed to be there but it was I just stuck my tongue deep into a salt lick.
100% going to make these again, but I think I’ll give them a good rinse under cold water before I throw them on the smoker next time. Going to also buy something to brine them a little easier next time too.
That’s super interesting – we’ve made this recipe a number of times and it hasn’t come out with a heavy salt flavor. I’m wondering what type of salt you used, as different brands will give different results.
If you do stick with the recipe, give them a soak in clean water for about 2 hours after they come out of the brine. That will remove a lot of the excess salt flavor.
Keep me posted!
Did you use kosher salt? If you used regular table salt instead then that would be the cause. When substituting table salt for kosher salt, you will need to reduce the amount by about 25%. So a bit more than a half cup.
This is correct, and a great observation. Swapping salts will make a huge difference. Difference brands of Kosher salt may impact it too.
Hello. Has the taste been polarizing among those who try these ribs or universally loved? Do you like them better then uncured ribs?
If you like bacon or ham, that’s what it tastes like. Most people that enjoy BBQ would enjoy a bacon-flavored rib. The meat is a little more firm, similar to ham, so don’t expect it to be fall-off-the-bone tender for grandpa. We’ve had nothing but positive results from testing and serving over time.
If you don’t have a smoker, but you only have an oven…what do you suggest one should do try and get close to the intended flavor??
Great question! I would use smoked salt for the brine, which will give it that smoky flavor without actually burning any wood. I don’t like the acrid taste from liquid smoke.
Preferred wood for smoking?
Great question – I’ll have to add this section in. I prefer maple, hickory, or apple. Basically the same favorite flavors you’d have for bacon. I used hickory mostly in testing.