Whether you’re a seasoned chef or a home cook looking to impress, mastering the art of cooking succulent pork ribs on the grill can be a daunting task. With the right techniques and a dash of creativity, you can achieve mouthwatering results that rival your favorite barbecue joint. Take a hint from master grill experts at the American Royal World Series of Barbecue: No matter what other spices or sauces you normally use with ribs, consider adding a spoonful of bacon fat to your grilling process to baste the ribs with smoky bacon flavor for a doubly rich rack that just might win you an award.
Bacon grease is kitchen magic for many reasons, and it makes the perfect flavor addition to ribs — it adds a layer of salty, umami taste along with some additional fat to moisten lean rib meat. Don’t waste this flavorful ingredient when you make bacon! If you are careful to cook your bacon properly and strain out any burnt bits, you can save bacon grease for up to three months in the refrigerator.
How to level up your ribs with bacon fat
Depending on your preferred method for cooking ribs, there are several ways you might want to incorporate bacon fat for flavor and moisture. The first choice is to rub the meaty side of an uncooked rack of ribs with a spoon or two of cold bacon fat before sprinkling on a simple 3-ingredient dry rub to get the flavor started. The fat helps the spices cling to the meat and adds that signature bacon flavor to the meat. The melting bacon fat will also wake up aromatic spices to allow them to permeate the meat.
Another way to add bacon fat is during the slow and low baking part of a rib recipe. Many grill masters foil wrap each slab of ribs with their own special set of flavorful ingredients and cook the wrapped ribs with an initial slow bake before grilling. Others prefer to do the wrap after an initial bronzing on the grill. Either way, adding a bit of bacon fat inside the foil wrap along with the other seasonings, such as barbecue sauce or spiced honey, allows the flavors to blend and mellow into an irresistible glaze on the meat.
