I get this email from Kingsford with recipes. Today, it had this recipe for " Texas style baby back ribs " .
I've always thought that Texas style ribs were whole spares. And I thought the seasoning was pretty basic, mostly S/P, 16 grain pepper, with maybe some seasoning salt or spice , maybe lightly sauced at the end of the cook.
I've never thought of baby backs as a Texas rib. It seems that about anything, these days, can be called Texas style. Does this Kingsford recipe qualify ?
This is another contradiction I see often. In Aaron Franklin's Masterclass, he sauces his ribs just before he wraps. Then he puts sauce in the wrap. But he uses his original sauce and cuts it 50/50 with ACV.
And lately, I've also seen some drizzle a light glaze on the ribs at the very end. Right off, I don't recall where I've seen that.
I think Kingsford is just using that as a marketing ploy. In all my years of doing ribs with friends or family, we’ve never referred to them as Texas style. We just say……hey, you wanna do some ribs today or……whatcha cooking on the smoker? Ribs! In all the BBQ joints I’ve visited, I don’t recall ever seeing, “Texas style ribs” on the menu. We just call them…..ribs…either BB’s, spares or beef ribs. In the BBQ world in general though, Texas style would refer to smoking with just salt, pepper and maybe garlic, and using post oak or oak as the wood…..and would include brisket, ribs and sausage…no sauce.
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
I thought it was very unusual, cuz they wrapped in foil before cooking indirect. My first thought, is why fire up a grill/smoker, just go to the kitchen oven. Then move them to the smoker, or Kettle, or whatever they're using.
Not going to be very smokey if they wrap for the first three hours. Definitely not how we do it here in Texas. That recipe will make good ribs but there is nothing Texas style that I can see.
I'm good friends with two Top 50 pitmasters here. They cook indirect and only wrap towards the end with some butter or other fat and maybe a little sauce but not much. 1701 BBQ does a simple sugar baste at the end for the shine. Redbird does a hot honey baste.
Last edited by 58limited; January 1, 2026, 08:41 AM.
We don't call them that as PJ posted. We mostly cook pork spareribs with a dry rub, no sauce. However, many of the younger pitmasters are wrapping with a sauce now. By and large Texans don't use sugar in the rub but it is gaining acceptance. Beef ribs have become a big menu item and some places are offering baby backs too.
Probably the best ribs I've ever had were from Snow's. For some reason they couldn't source spareribs that week so they cooked baby backs. When I ordered one slab of ribs they gave me two slabs of baby backs. Man, those were good and I'm usually not a baby back rib fan.
Last edited by 58limited; January 1, 2026, 08:32 AM.
I've always used (and heard) the phrase "Texas Style" to refer to a rub that is (usually) equal parts kosher salt and 16-mesh black pepper and is independent of the meat. So you have have Texas-style brisket, Texas-style turkey breast, and Texas-style ribs.
I like it on brisket (obviously) and turkey, but didn't really care for it on ribs. It was a bit one-dimensional. Even though I am not a fan of "meat candy" sweet BBQ, ribs for me needs just a hint of sweetness.
I think we've also all noticed that in the past decade or so, in the commercial and craft establishments, Texas-style has evolved to include other stuff, usually garlic and usually a "coloring" spice (paprika, etc). It's still salt and pepper forward, but these places needed a way to distinguish themselves from each other.
Kinda like anything with spices and blackened looking is "cajun?" It is called, "marketing," or possibly a click-bait word to get you to look at the recipe.
Last edited by Carolyn; January 1, 2026, 08:17 PM.
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