From our pit to yours

Recipes from the Pit

Good BBQ doesn't need a lot of fuss. It takes good ingredients, a steady fire, a little patience, and knowing when to leave things alone. These are the methods I use at my own smoker. Make them yours. That's half the fun.

Recipe 01 · Low and slow

Baby Back or St. Louis Ribs

I like ribs with a good bark, a little shine, and a clean bite. Tender? Absolutely. Falling off the bone before you can pick one up? Not what I'm after. Here's a straightforward starting point for getting them right.

Sliced and glazed Papa La Rue’s BBQ smoked ribs
Pit temperature250°F
Cook timeAbout 4¾ hours
WoodHickory
Season ahead30–60 minutes

What you'll need

Baby back or St. Louis-style ribs, Papa La Rue's Original Rub, Papa La Rue's Sweet Heat Sauce, hickory smoke, and heavy-duty foil. Have a thermometer and a good pair of tongs handy.

Let's cook

  1. Get the ribs ready. Remove the membrane from the back of the rack if it's still there. A paper towel gives you a good grip. Season all sides with Papa La Rue's Original Rub. No binder needed. Give the seasoning 30–60 minutes to settle in; keep the ribs refrigerated until you're ready to cook.
  2. Build the bark. Bring the smoker to a steady 250°F. Add hickory and set the ribs bone-side down. Give them roughly 2½ hours unwrapped. Let the smoke and heat do their job. Every peek costs heat, so resist the temptation to babysit them.
  3. Wrap and tenderize. Once the color and bark look right, wrap the ribs tightly in foil and return them to the smoker. Figure on about 1¾ hours, but check tenderness before committing to the full time. Every rack is different.
  4. Finish with sauce. Unwrap carefully. Brush on a light coat of Papa La Rue's Sweet Heat Sauce and return the ribs to the grate for roughly 30 minutes, just long enough for the glaze to set. We're looking for a beautiful finish, not ribs swimming in sauce.
  5. Rest, slice, enjoy. Give the rack about 10 minutes to settle, then slice between the bones. You want meat that bites cleanly and stays on the bone until you take that bite. That's a rib worth serving.
Brushing barbecue sauce onto racks of smoked ribs
Papa's pit note

You'll hear plenty about the 3-2-1 method. It's a useful reference, not a law. At 250°F, especially with smaller racks, six hours can be more than you need. Watch the color, feel the bend, and adjust your wrap time. The pit doesn't care what the clock says.

Recipe 02 · Feed the crew

Smoked Pork Butt

If I'm feeding a crowd, pork butt is one of my favorite things to put on the smoker. It's forgiving, full of flavor, and it gives you time to enjoy the day instead of hovering over the pit. Just don't rush the finish.

Whole smoked pork butt with mahogany bark on Papa La Rue’s BBQ smoker
Pit temperature250°F
Cook timePlan 10–14 hours*
Finish temperatureOften 203–205°F
WoodHickory

*Timing varies with the size of the butt, your smoker, and whether you wrap. Give yourself a generous cushion.

What you'll need

A bone-in pork butt, Papa La Rue's Original Rub, hickory smoke, heavy-duty foil if you choose to wrap, and a reliable probe thermometer.

Let's cook

  1. Season it like you mean it. Cover the pork butt evenly with Papa La Rue's Original Rub, getting into the seams and around the edges. No binder needed. Season about an hour ahead and keep it refrigerated until it goes on the smoker.
  2. Settle in at 250°F. Get your pit steady and add hickory. Put the butt on with the fat cap positioned for your cooker's heat source. Now let the smoke work. The outside will darken and build that beautiful bark we're after.
  3. Don't let the stall rattle you. Somewhere around 155–165°F internal, the temperature may seem stuck. That's normal. You can ride it out for firmer bark, or wrap once the bark is where you want it to help move things along. Either way, patience wins.
  4. Cook until it feels right. Start checking tenderness as the internal temperature approaches 200°F. Many butts finish around 203–205°F, but the number is only a guide. When the probe slides into the thick meat with very little resistance, you're there. If it's bone-in, the bone should loosen easily.
  5. Give it a proper rest. Rest the butt before pulling so the juices have a chance to settle. If you're holding it for a crowd, use a method that keeps the meat at 140°F or hotter and verify with a thermometer. Pull it, mix in those flavorful juices, and serve.
Close-up of Papa La Rue’s BBQ pulled pork with juicy strands and pieces of bark
Papa's pit note

Cooking for a crowd? Work backward from serving time and build in a cushion. Pork butt is much easier to hold hot than it is to rush at the last minute. The thermometer tells you where you are. The probe tells you when you're done.

Ready to fire it up?

Start with good meat, bring a little patience, and let Papa La Rue's rubs and sauces handle their part.

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