Maple Bourbon Smoked Ribs
On August 01, 2023 (Updated December 06, 2024)
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Maple bourbon smoked ribs are simply bursting with flavor. They’re slow-smoked, braised with a maple bourbon marinade, and then glazed with a sinful maple bourbon glaze.
Maple Bourbon Ribs
These maple bourbon ribs are completely and utterly irresistible. Don’t get me wrong, I like good, classic baby back ribs with a traditional BBQ sauce as much as the next person, but these ribs take everything to the next level. The secret to these ribs is the cooking process. Each step adds a new layer of flavor so by the time your ribs are ready to eat, you get to enjoy notes of smoke that are perfectly paired with sweetness and punch from the foiling liquid and glaze.
I love tightly wrapping these ribs with liquid, sugar, and fat to push those flavor profiles deep into the meat. Braising this way creates an amazingly tender rib with notes of bourbon and maple in each bite.
Ingredients for Maple Bourbon Ribs
Ready to make yourself some of these delectable ribs? Here’s what you’ll need to make these ribs.
- 2 racks of baby back ribs
- 4 Tablespoons Hey Grill Hey Sweet Rub or Hey Grill Hey Rib Rub
- 1 cup Maple Bourbon Grilling Glaze
The foiling liquid contains the following 4 ingredients:
- 1/2 cup bourbon
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 8 Tablespoons butter
Sweet Rub, Rib Rub, and Maple Bourbon Grilling Glaze can all be purchased from the Hey Grill Hey Store. If you don’t have any of these on hand, you can make them from scratch using the following recipes on my website:
How to Smoke Maple Bourbon Ribs
These maple ribs aren’t hard to make, they just take a little time and a little bit of love. Follow the steps below, and you’ll be enjoying these sweet, scrumptious ribs soon.
- Get your smoker running. Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees F with your favorite wood. I like using fruit woods with my ribs.
- Season your ribs. Once you remove the membrane from your baby back ribs, season them with some of my delicious Sweet Rub. Rib Rub is also amazing on these ribs, so feel free to try them both and choose your favorite!
- Get smoking! Put your seasoned ribs on the smoker and smoke them for 3 hours.
- Wrap in foil. Lay out two sheets of heavy-duty foil. Put butter and brown sugar on each sheet of foil. Remove the ribs from the smoker, and lay one rack, meat side down, on each sheet of foil. Fold up all 4 sides to create a bowl.
- Add some flavor! Add maple syrup, bourbon, and more butter to the ribs. Bring up the long sides of the foil, so the ends meet over the food. Double-fold the ends and then roll until the foil is tight against the ribs. Double-fold the two short ends to completely seal the ribs in the foil.
- Smoke again. Place the ribs back on the smoker and smoke for an additional 2 hours.
- Glaze. Remove ribs from the foil, and baste with the maple bourbon glaze.
- Finish up. Close the lid on your smoker and smoke for an additional 30-60 minutes or until the sauce is set and the ribs are tender. Remove from the smoker, rest for 5 minutes, and enjoy.
More Smoked Ribs Recipes
Are you a rib fanatic? Do you like your ribs to be unique and packed with flavor? If so, check out more of my delicious smoked ribs recipes below:
Maple Bourbon Smoked Ribs Recipe
This recipe was created to make your life easier, backyard griller! Here at Hey Grill Hey, we’re in the business of helping you make better BBQ, feed the people you love, and become a backyard BBQ hero. You can find more of my smoking and grilling recipes here on my website (browse the Homepage for inspiration) on Instagram, YouTube, or our Facebook Page.
This post was originally published in July 2019. We recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.
Maple Bourbon Smoked Ribs
Ingredients
- 2 racks baby back ribs
- 4 Tablespoons Hey Grill Hey Sweet Rub recipe link in notes
- 1 cup Maple Bourbon Grilling Glaze recipe link in notes
Foiling Liquid
- ½ cup bourbon
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 8 Tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Preheat. Preheat the smoker to 225 degrees F.
- Prep and season. Remove the membrane from the ribs and season on both sides with Hey Grill Hey Sweet Rub (you can buy this from the Hey Grill Hey Store, or make your own using the recipe linked in the notes section below).
- Smoke. Place the seasoned ribs on the smoker and close the lid. Smoke the ribs for 3 hours.
- Prepare the braise. Lay out two sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil side by side on a large work surface. Put 2 Tablespoons of butter on each sheet of foil. Sprinkle each with 1 Tablespoon of brown sugar.
- Make the braise. Remove the ribs from the smoker, and place them meat side down onto the butter and brown sugar. Fold up all 4 sides of the foil without crimping to create a bowl (this is going to hold in the foiling liquid). Pour the maple syrup, bourbon, and remaining butter onto the ribs.
- Seal and continue smoking. Bring together the long sides of the foil so the ends meet over the food. Fold the foil together and then roll until the foil is tight against the ribs. Double-fold the two short ends to completely seal the ribs in the foil. Place them back on the smoker and continue to smoke for 2 more hours.
- Glaze. Remove the ribs from the foil. Return them to the smoker and baste them with the Maple Bourbon Grilling Glaze. Close the lid and smoke for additional 30-60 minutes or until the sauce is set and the ribs are tender.
- Rest and serve. Remove the ribs from the smoker and rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Purchase it from the store HERE: Sweet Rub
- Make it from scratch using this RECIPE: Best Sweet Rub Recipe
Rib Rub
- Purchase it from the store HERE: Rib Rub
- Make it from scratch using this RECIPE: Best Dry Rub for Ribs
Maple Bourbon Grilling Glaze
- Purchase it from the store HERE: Maple Bourbon Grilling Glaze
- Make it from scratch using this RECIPE: Maple Bourbon Glaze
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Absolutely the best rib recipe I’ve tried yet in my smoker. I doubled the glaze recipe to be sure I had enough, and of course I had too much. I made burgers the next day, brushed the glaze all over them just before I was done grilling them. Added Cheshire cheese. Amazing!
May be a dumb question, but when you wrap the ribs with the sugar etc, do you put them back on meat side down or up?
Meat side down
Can I use boneless country style ribs for this ?
Amazing and so simple. By the time I got back to the table the ribs were gone.
Just made these yesterday. Phenomenal. I have a question though. The ribs came out with too much of a rich butter taste—which are never words I thought I’d say—so I am wondering what happens if I reduce or eliminate the butter in the basting liquid or if there is something I can substitute. Thanks!
You can just leave it out if you’d like!
HEY!!!! I use your sweet rub for EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!! Baked chicken, veggies, steaks..EVERYTHING…this stuff is WONDER DUST! THaNKS TOM
Made them yesterday, 5/14/21. This is now my go-to recipe for ribs. My wife loved them, said it tasted like candy with a coconut undertone.
Hey Susie,
I plan on making these this weekend. Can I use the St. Louis style ribs using the 3-3-1 method? Don’t currently have baby back available to me.
Thanks
You absolutely can!!
If I’m smoking several racks, should I wrap each rack tightly in foil or might braising work if I put them all with liquid, sugar, and fat in an aluminium pan sealed with foil?
I would wrap them individually if possible. You really want to get the foil as tight as possible to the ribs.
Question – first of all this recipe looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it. I literally just made ribs this past Tuesday and I want to make more just to try this.
Now my question, why do you add the bourbon, syrup and additional butter to the bone side of the ribs when you wrap them? I usually do butter, brown sugar, honey on the meat side, then wrap the top and one side which leaves the other side to act as a funnel where I usually use apple juice. Could I essentially do the same thing just subbing syrup for the honey and bourbon for the apple juice?
Just wasn’t sure if there was something with adding it to the bone side that I was missing.
I add it to the bone side just so what little meat that is there gets just a little exposure. I’m sure it doesn’t really make a difference.