How to Grill Ribs Fast Easy & Simple

by Joost Nusselder | Last Updated:  June 24, 2021

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If you’re fond of serving grills and barbecues to your guests, most especially pork ribs, then it’s crucial that you know how to use your charcoal grill in cooking the ribs properly.

Remember that no matter how good your smoker is or how expensive it is, if you don’t know how to use it or grill it properly, then you still won’t be able to achieve that perfect barbecue rib taste!

Learning how to grill ribs fast and simple.

In fact, anyone can do it, including those who have not tried grilling before. Perhaps, the only major problem is achieving the right smoke flavor. So basically the goal is to transform your charcoal grill into a smoker to achieve the right flavor.

how-to-grill-ribs-fast

Tips for How to Cook Ribs

Prepare the Ribs

You don’t just simply throw the ribs directly into the grill and expect for them to produce the kind of flavor that you expect. Others would say that if you’re grilling the ribs, there’s no longer a need for you to take the membrane off. But this is something that we don’t really recommend. The membrane refers to that thin skin on the rack’s bone side part. This is something that must be removed. When you take it off, your ribs will be tender and it will be much easier to achieve the right flavor for the rib meat.

Prepare the Charcoal Grill

Next, it’s time to prepare the grill. As mentioned, the key is to transform your grill into a small smoker, which you can do by using two aluminum pans. These disposable pans should be around one half the size of your grill. One pan will serve as the drip pan that holds the charcoal in place and prevents drippings from getting into the fire. Another pan must be full of water to help moisturize the grill and regulate the temperature.

Put the Ribs on the Grill

Now that the grill is set for smoking, it’s time to start cooking the ribs! You should be able to cook two baby back ribs into the grill or one sparerib. Of course, this will mainly depend upon the size of your charcoal grill (you might need a bigger one!) or the type of grill that you’re using. Regardless of how many you can cook, what’s important is that you expose much of the rack’s surface to the smoke and heat of the grill.

How to Grill Ribs Fast and Simple About an Hour

  1. Start up your grill
    Light up the coals with a chimney. You are going to use medium heat, so let the coals burn about 10-15 minutes or until ash coating the coals.charcoal-ready-to-grill
  2. Set up your ribs
    Take your baby back ribs here then get rid membrane and skirt out from the ribs, combine together with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic salt, chili powder, and thyme then massage on the ribspull-out-membranerub-the-ribsPro tips:Choose the bigger side membrane and use a spoon to pry and pull the membrane up then take your paper towel to catch it cause it is slimy and slippy. Hold it tight then start to pull out the membrane along the ribs. Get rid all of them out.
  3. Ready the grill
    You will know the coals ready then put the coals one side of the grill then put the grate and brush the oil(option). Your grill ready to go.light-up-charcoal
  4. Grilling the ribs
    Throw the ribs on the grill over indirect heat close the lid. just sit about 20 mins open the lid then elaborate the brush BBQ sauce on the ribs close lid again and continue to cook about 30 minutesput-ribs-indirect-heatbrush-ribs-with-bbq-sauce
  5. Let it rest
    50 minutes passed to take the ribs off the grill then cover with foil let it rest for about 5 minutes. Then enjoyedrest-the-ribshow-to-grill-ribs-fast-1

How Long Does It Take to Cook Ribs on the Grill?

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How to buy a bbq smoker video

Ideally, the ribs must be cooked to direct heat, with a temperature of 250°F to 300°F. Setting the grill in low temperature helps to prevent the barbecue sauce from burning while the ribs are being cooked. Each rack of the back ribs should take around 1 ½ to 2 hours to cook while the lid is closed. They must be flipped after every 20 minutes or so.

Also read: these are the best woods to use when smoking ribs

How Do You Cook Pre Cooked Ribs on the Grill?

There are many ways to cook the pre-cooked ribs; however, the quickest way is to use the oven or put them in the microwave. If you need to cook a small amount of meat, microwaving them would be the best way to go. However, for large quantities, it’s more ideal for putting them in the oven.

How Long Does It Take to Smoke Ribs on a Charcoal Grill?

Place one rack of ribs on the far side portion of the grill, far from the coals. Cook at 225 °F to 250 °F. Close the lid and cook for 3 hours if they are spareribs. But for baby back ribs 2 hours should be enough.

How long do ribs take at 250?

You will need about two hours to cook ribs at a temperature of 250 degrees.

Also read our how to here: How to Cook Chicken on a Weber Charcoal Grill

Joost Nusselder, the founder of Lakeside Smokers is a content marketer, dad and loves trying out new food with BBQ Smoking (& Japanese food!) at the heart of his passion, and together with his team he's been creating in-depth blog articles since 2016 to help loyal readers with recipes and cooking tips.