Smoked Rib Tips with Sticky Glaze

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Rib tips are the cheap, cartilage-rich strip trimmed off spare ribs — and with a long, gentle cook they turn into the best few dollars in the butcher case. A heavy paprika-and-brown-sugar rub goes on the night before, then the tips cook for hours at 275°F (on a grill with wood chunks if you have one, or in the oven with a smoked-paprika-and-tea shortcut) until the cartilage goes soft and gelatinous. A quick vinegar-forward barbecue glaze and a hard blast of heat at the end lacquers the outside into sticky, chewy-edged cubes you eat with your fingers.

Ingredients

• 3 lb pork rib tips (spare rib trimmings), in 1 or 2 long slabs
• 2 tsp yellow mustard
• 3 tbsp dark brown sugar, packed
• 2 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

• 2 cups wood chips or 2 fist-size chunks hickory, oak, or apple (grill method)
• 1 tsp liquid smoke (oven method)
• 2 bags lapsang souchong tea, opened (optional oven method boost)

• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3 tbsp molasses
• 2 tbsp dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp yellow mustard
• 1 tsp reserved dry rub
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp hot sauce, or to taste

• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar mixed with 2 tbsp water, in a spray bottle or small bowl
• 2 tbsp sliced scallions
• white bread, pickles, and sliced onion

Instructions

1. Pat the rib tips dry with paper towels. Trim away any large, floppy pieces of surface fat and any loose flaps, but leave the knobby cartilage intact — that is what turns silky over a long cook. Cut the slabs crosswise into 3- to 4-inch-wide strips so they fit your grill or a half sheet pan.
2. Whisk together the brown sugar, smoked paprika, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, dry mustard, chili powder, cayenne, and cumin. Set aside 1 teaspoon of the rub for the glaze. Smear the tips very thinly with the 2 teaspoons yellow mustard, then coat them all over with the remaining rub, pressing it in. Refrigerate uncovered on a rack for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours; the surface should look tacky and dark.
3. Take the tips out of the fridge 45 minutes before cooking. GRILL METHOD: set up a charcoal grill for indirect heat with a chimney of lit coals banked to one side, add a wood chunk, and hold the lid vent to keep the grate temperature near 275°F; on a gas grill, light only the outer burners and put chips in a foil packet over the lit burner. OVEN METHOD: heat the oven to 275°F, whisk the liquid smoke into 1/2 cup water, and pour it into a small pan set on the oven's lower rack; if using lapsang souchong, sprinkle the loose tea into that pan too.
4. Set the tips fat-side up on a rack over a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet (oven) or directly on the cool side of the grill grate. Cook uncovered for 2 hours, spritzing or brushing lightly with the vinegar-water mix every 45 minutes and adding a fresh wood chunk to the grill once at the 1-hour mark.
5. After 2 hours the outside should be deep mahogany and dry to the touch. Slide the tips into a foil pan or wrap them tightly in a double layer of heavy foil with 2 tablespoons of the vinegar-water splashed in. Return to the 275°F oven or grill and cook 60 to 90 minutes more, until a toothpick or paring knife slides through the cartilage with almost no resistance and the meat pulls back from the bones. Internal temperature will read 200 to 205°F.
6. While the tips are wrapped, make the glaze: combine the ketchup, cider vinegar, molasses, brown sugar, Worcestershire, yellow mustard, and reserved 1 teaspoon rub in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring, for 8 to 10 minutes until glossy and thick enough to coat a spoon. Off the heat, stir in the butter and hot sauce. Keep warm.
7. Unwrap the tips and pour off the rendered fat, saving 2 tablespoons of the dark juices to stir into the glaze. Raise the oven to 425°F, or open the grill vents and rake the coals for direct high heat. Brush the tips generously with glaze on all sides.
8. Cook the glazed tips 8 to 12 minutes total at high heat, turning once and brushing with a second coat halfway through, until the glaze is bubbling, tacky, and just starting to char at the edges. Watch closely — the sugar goes from set to burnt in about a minute.
9. Rest the tips on a board for 10 minutes, then cut between the cartilage into rough 1 1/2-inch cubes with a heavy knife. Toss the cubes with any remaining glaze in a bowl, scatter with scallions, and serve straight from the board with white bread, pickles, and raw onion.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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