The Rise and Fall of the 3-2-1 Ribs 

Get Entered to WIN this Franklin Barbecue Pit go.getenteredtowin.com/madscientistbbq DEADLINE to ENTER is 09/15/23 @ 11:59pm (PST).

there is only one rule i follow in BBQ, its ready when its ready. aint nothing set in stone.

@MadScientistBBQ Thanks for the shoutout! There is a very good reason why the average Joe backyard enthusiast like myself have much more knowledge. It’s because of you and people like you creating incredibly educational content. So thank you for that.

“. . . It’s a foil boat, but you don’t call it a foil boat to get under Chud’s skin.” 😂😂😂

I never did 3-2-1. I learned to cook ribs from Malcolm Reed's method, so I've basically always just smoked them at 250-275 until the bark is set (typically takes 3-4 hours), wrapped them with pats of butter or something in there and cooked until tender (typically takes about 1-2 hours), then glaze them and put them back on til the sauce tacks up (typically about 15 minutes tops).

I COMPLETELY agree... my 3-2-1 on the Traeger were turning into pulled pork. Now go 2 hours at 225, 1 hour wrapped in foil at 250 for 1 hour, 30-45 w sauce to tack them up. I know Jeremy hates Traegers, but it's good for me!

Best moment of video...21:29 Erica "What's a foil raft?" Jeremy"Same as a foil boat, but gets under Chuds skin" Love it 😂😂😂

I initially did the 3-2-1 method because that was the "conventional" wisdom, but the ribs came out overcooked. Now I'm a proponent of the 4-and-1 (up to 1.5) method. Four hours at 225F uncovered. Then I wrap in butcher paper meat side down with smoked lard in the wrap. It takes another 1-1.5 hours before the ribs are tender enough. It yields a smokier rib without overcooking it.

The “Mad Scientist” method for the win tonight at my house. Smoked for 4-5ish hours (until good color), wrapped with nothing, then “foil raft 😂” to set sauce and win. My family of six destroyed 2 racks of full spares in minutes - even the kid who only eats chicken nuggets loved these ribs. Thank you sir!

Excellent video quality, especially the lighting. Top notch production value. Good BBQ content also 🙂

that 3-2-1 rib you cooked is perfect for me. super tender and almost fall off the bone but there is still enough proteins not completely broken down to keep that big loose piece together at 25:21. the 3-2-1 process is great, you dont have to use all the spices and sugar and other additives of the original 3-2-1 way. Use the process and season as you see fit. you can do it with salt & pepper for the 3 hours, then adding only tallow/shortening in the 2 hour wrap kinda like brisket, and use what ever you want on the final hour cook. Add a dry rub to create a crust, add a glaze to make it sticky and sweet but not too saucy, keep saucing it with bbq if you want that sticky reduced bbq sauce on the outside, do what ever you want. Also, you can make amazing asian ribs subsituting the 3-2-1 ingredients with more asian flavors like soy over woch, adding some mirin and sriracha, use salt pepper and all spice as the base rub. 3-2-1 is a great place to start but there is nothing against the law of you changing a process to fit your tastes. the 3-2-1 is a great mnemonic to make the process easy to recall without much thought.

So glad you made this video! I’ve found myself becoming weary of my 3-2-1 ribs. Been trying different sauces and rubs, trying to spice em up hotter🌶️ but just haven’t got that classic Smokey flavor and now I know why! Time to ditch it. Lol Thanks Jeremy!🙌🏼

New subscriber here and loving your content! I just got a Yoder Pellet Smoker and I’m excited for all your recommendations. I’m doing your ribs today, your pulled pork method tomorrow. Keep up the great content!

Great job at explaining and execution of both slabs of ribs and smoker, me being brought up in Miami Dade Florida, we don't even wrap our ribs down here, we just let them go slow and low,but I have to admit that I tried your smoked lard on them with nothing but salt and pepper and they actually have a better taste, thank you Jeremy for sharing your stream and ideas with us, we appreciate it a lot, and as for your wife she is very slim still, mine has gained 30 pounds eating my ribs..lol shh don't tell her 😂, thank you again and I hope that you have a blessed day or night 🙏

I used to use the 321 I have a pellet smoker and now I do a 4-1-30 at 225° but the one hour I go to 300 wrapped him, and I check him after half an hour works every time nice and firm and plenty of smoke. Great video. Thank you.

Great video and love the foil raft!!! l I’m sure Chud will love this lol… keep up the awesome content Jeremy and Erica!

Looking buff dude. Your videos are the best on the tube. Thanks for everything.

Great info. I quit the 321 method probably 3 or 4 years ago. Mainly use a 130gal offset but also use a pellet smoker when busy. And the Snatch reference is gold!

Made them your way yesterday and won’t make them another way. Best I’ve ever made. Thank you for this and thanks for continuing to put out awesome videos!

Thank you very much for the details. On the smoker itself. As well as how you did your cook

Thanks for the tip about adjusting pellet grill temps downwards! I was planning to do a couple of racks of ribs for the first time on my new PB this weekend, so I will roll with 200 deg.

Fantastic timing! Think I’ll run this same experiment this weekend for the birthday party I’m hosting.

I think for the newbie, 321 ribs are perfect! It’s a very clear precise recipe to follow. Once you get that down, the world is your oyster! And you can take off and try a lot of other variations to see what your family prefers. We are team 4 to 6 hours, no wrap. Although I am going to try some lard and wrap on my next cook.

The increased knowledge of barbecue community members is due in large part to good folks like you who make the time to share with us. Thank you! Also, I was fascinated later in the video when you and Erica discuss a method using lard as an option (rather than butter I presume) among your rib recipes. We have lost sight of that key cooking ingredient which was part of our forefather's diet and helped pioneers survive arduous cross country travel and many hungry Americans during the great depression when food was scarce. Thanks again.

I did the 3-2-1 method unintentionally on my Traeger on a set of spareribs, and they turned out great. My wife said that they were the best ribs she’s ever had, and she’s not that big on ribs.

I just started in bbq this summer I have had some failures and success! Really a great hobby I am enjoying to the fullest love doin research with your content it helps tremendously being a greenhorn

You may have already done this or on patreon.... but a video on the process of building a catering business would be awesome seems like your path was at home BBQ, novice, learning, cooking, testing BBQ at home, BBQ classes, BBQ pop-ups leading to catering...etc... history and lessons learned from all that would be fun to hear about...

“Steak before cake” is clearly the T-shirt that Jeremy needs to commodify for the masses

Great video! For those of us that haven't cooked thousands of ribs, it would be nice if you used that Thermapen and gave us a reading on those ribs! It just gives a beginner something to go by so that they know they're kinda on the right track, or not!!

This was a great video. I have a Franklin pit and I cook the best bbq I’ve ever cooked in the last 30 years. The smoke flavor is amazing, but I found that if you use kiln dried wood you don’t get the great smoke that happens when using properly seasoned wood. I really look forward to seeing more videos using the Franklin pit. I used to cook ribs using all the sweet stuff, but I now use salt and pepper only. Your comparison of 3-2-1 to another method was spot on. Thanks for all the videos you do. They are really great!

Great video, I've never tried the 3-2-1 but now I definitely will.

Awesome video, thanks!

Thanks for getting me started.

Jeremy, this method def gave me a better bark than the 3-2-1. Labor Day 3 racks all with different rubs on my Green Mtn Pellet Grill. Smoked at 210 for 4-1/2 ish hours, then wrapped with just a couple ounces of apple juice for 40 minutes. Then took the wrap and turned it into the foil pontoon, glazed and held it there until my peeps were done in the pool. Nice bark, crazy smoke ring, juicy throughout, and a clean bite without falling off the bone..(the bonus of the lower temp, I was able to smoke some yeallowtail for fish dip at the same time Perfect! ) Thanks for the video !

I like your method best. Been following it for a couple years.

It’s a good day because I learned something. Didn’t realize the offset in temp between the large offset and the PitBoss. That explains a lot how my first set of ribs using your method were drier than expected! Used the lard as well. I also over salted a lot! They were ok, but a tad dry and salty. I also prefer the neat bite mark clean bone doneness test. And I prefer to sauce ribs myself after. Thanks! And Snatch was an amazing movie!

Very helpful.Thank you.

The look of pure joy on Jeremy's face when he bites into the ribs makes the video worth watching all by itself .

I'm 77 years old and many years ago I used and off-set smoker. Then I was watching Cooking with Ry when he was using an electric smoker (among many other kinds) and I thought well he gets very good results so I'll try an electric cooker so I didn't have to fiddle with adjusting the temperature so much. But I didn't like the results. So I started smoking my ribs on a Weber grill. The temperature still needed a lot of TLC and while great for burgers and steaks, it wasn't the smoker I wanted. Then I bought a Trager smoker. I had OK results but everything seemed over cooked even though I was following BBQ recipes. But it had a lot more smoke flavor than either the Weber or the Electric but not as good as the off-set I used to cook on. Maybe if I had cooked a thousand ribs on the off-set I could have managed the temperature better, but I always ended up in a chair near the smoker to keep the temperature where I wanted it and when it got too high it took a long time to bring it back down and then it would get too low and it took a long time to get it back up. The same thing with the Weber grill. So I thought a pellet smoker would help manage the temperature more consistently and according to the gauge it did, but everything seemed a bit over cooked. I'm glad you mentioned that pellet smokers tend to cook higher than the indicated temperature, so next time instead of setting the temperature at the recommended 250, I'll set it to 225, etc. We'll see, but so far my old off-set smoker of many years ago made the best ribs with the most amount of attention during the cook. I'll see if lowering the temperature on my pellet smoker makes them more tender instead of over cooked. I would buy another off-set, but my wife is diabetic and doesn't like meat with fat, so that is a limiting factor since we don't have kid and almost all of our friends have died. But she did like the smoked salmon I made on the pellet smoker but it too was a little over cooked but enjoyable. So when I smoke ribs or anything else, it's basically for myself as my wife will only have like one rib or just a small piece of salmon. As far as I'm concerned left over ribs or anything else isn't nearly as enjoyable. Here is a recommendation / challenge for you. Whether it's your channel, Cooking with Ry, How to BBQ Right, etc. not one of them has ever addressed left over anything and all of the channels cook for what seems like a family / friends of a dozen people. What do you all do with the left overs????????? To by the looks, you all eat everything you cook. You / they all look overweight. Maybe I'm biased and I'm certainly not a nutritionist, but I served 21 years in the US Marine Corps as an infantry officer with 3 years in combat. I had to be in top physical condition those entire 21 years and so after I retired from the Marine Corps, I had a habit of staying in shape by working out and watching what I eat. As I grew older, I cut my calories and changed my diet. As I said, I'm 77 years old now and I still weight the same as when I was a captain in the Marines. It's not all distributed the same and I've lost muscle mass, and I have arthritis and other issues, but I'm it pretty good health for what I've gone through in life. I not only was a Marine for 21 years with 3 years in combat, but I was a private pilot with commercial and instrument ratings, I took basic / medium / advanced aerobatic. I was a glider pilot. I was a sky diver. I was a wreck diver and underwater photographer. I was a sailor. I was a motorcycle touring enthusiast. I was a free rock climber. I was a X-country skier and winter camper. I enjoyed target practice with both pistols and rifles including muzzle loading black powder pistols and muskets. I played golf and finger picking Mississippi Delta Blues on guitar. I was a military historian and found relics of the Revolutionary and Civil War based on historical documents and studies of the maps of the time (Note: I never recovered relics on government parks nor on no trespassing posted lands. Perhaps the most difficult part of my life were my two marriages. My first wife cheated on me. My second wife has been difficult to please sometimes, but we've been married for 44 years. BTW, you wife is beautiful and you really need to lose a few pounds to compete with her. You giving the paleo diet a bad name.

Last time I did heavy pepper and a little salt and pork red rub, but cut out the butter, brown sugar and honey, just glazed in last hour and liked it best

I hooked onto Heath Riles method of ribs number of years ago with his butter bath and I can't see it getting better. But hands down I reference your video when I do Brisket, Your methods rock, I have never made a bad brisket. I like your approach and reasoning behind your tips and methods you recommend. Huge fan here!

Now I've got to smoke me some ribs today! I love how you explain the science and reason behind things so that I can truly understand why I am doing something. I have both a stick burner and a pellet smoker and you just explain to me why I need to lower the temp on my pellet smoker and why I have to use a lower temp than somebody who's using a 500 gallon smoker since my reverse flow stick burner is only 36 inches long.

You are the only chef who has ever mentioned that there is a difference in heat between an offset and pellet grill. Sure wish I knew that back in the day! Haha I started smoking 6-7 years ago and I found Malcom Reids Channel, How To BBQ Right and thats were I learned the 3, 2, 1 method. But like ALL recipes I had to mode it for taste and grill. Tossed many a rib back in the day while learning. You are 1000% right, there is so much more information out there to help people get started. I only remember Macon and Franklin back when I started. Great job as always!

I've been doing your 4 hour, wrap + smoked tallow version since I saw it. LOVE. I also love the BTS movie quotes and general personality weirdness; nice addition to your vids.

Snatch is one of my favorite movies along with Lock Stock and 2 smokin barrels!! Love the video as well. I’m entered and ready to get my Franklin pit. 😅😅

Good to see you do your ribs the way I've always been doing them 😁

Fantastic Info

Another great, informative video. I'm very interested in your no sugar rub recipe. I can't have sugar so it would be perfect for someone like me. Any chance you would share it? Or even just a basic one with ratios? I want to get the salt/pepper/garlic ratio right. Thanks for everything you do.

I tried so many times to do that method on my first smoker and it just overcooked the heck out of the ribs. I thought it was me, and after several failed attempts realized that it was the method/smoker combination. I never wrap more than an hour now and only do maybe 15min to dry out/tack up

i started with 3-2-1 but always thought it was just a guideline. It's shifted over the years to now about closer to what you described- minimal seasoning- no sugar 3-4 hrs open, 1hr max wrapped, open again with glaze until tacky. so in practice that is about 4-0.75-0.5

Your best video ever! Thank you. And I agree.

The 3-2-1 is great for someone new. Give them a good starting point, then they can adjust depending how their cooker works and or what they are going for.

I still use the 3-2-1 but rather than foil I wrap them in butcher paper to let them breath a bit. I swear by my CharGriller Akorn low and slow!

Excellent, Jeremy! Great rib method presentation. Someday I hope you'll compare the Franklin pit with the Workhorse 1969. The 1969 is much more like the Franklin than is the 1975 in your earlier video.

It's funny that i've been doing this lately before this video was out. I started experimenting with lower temps, and longer in the smoke. I too love the smoke, so I wanted to get as much as I could without drying out the ribs. After wrapping, I tend to let the ribs get up between 205 and 210, as I feel it gets the tenderness that my wife likes. But it doesn't turn them into mushy ribs. I also use Blacks BBQ seasoning and add in a little bit of extra pepper. Salt + Pepper + Smoke is preferred for me, and Blacks BBQ rub fills that while giving it an extra bit of a kick. The simple rubs are my favorites now, it really does let the meat and smoke flavors shine when it's not overpowering the taste.

Enjoy all the great content in your videos, trying to learn. The ribs I have done in the past that I liked the most I didn't even put salt and pepper on them I just use heat smoke and ribs.... Medically I'm not allowed much salt but I use pepper

"It wuz ata funny angle. Tyrone, it wuz right behind you." Love that movie. Great video.

I began using 3-2-1 with my pellet grill and after the third time I decided it was way too long and ribs were over cooked. Definitely agree with your assessment regarding pellets.

My first time ever smoking anything I tried the 3-2-1 method with my dad's Bullet style smoker (cheap amazon unit). I have to admit, it turned out great! I used a savory, commercially made BBQ rub, wrapped in foil for the 2 hr portion with nothing else, and then glazed with a home blended bbq sauce (generic kraft bbq, added mustard and apple cider vinegar. I followed the 3 and the 2, but on the 1 I probably went about 35 min as I felt the sauce had reduced, and darkened and the ribs were feeling tender when I probed it. Without using a very sweet sauce or any sugars/etc, it had a very good savoriness

The 3-2-1 method is good for beginners and some that are learning to cook ribs for the first time or the first couple of cooks, once you learn your smoker and how to use it the 3-2-1 method can be used simply as a guideline.

I think it's cool that you did point out that the quality of meat is very important and also the cooker that you're using each one as individual just as each person is and 321 has never been a method that I choose to use thank you for the help or information you did an excellent job on video

Jeremy, you are the GOAT! I’ve learned more about BBQ from you than anyone else on the internet. I never wrap. Always a great bark & bite, although your 4.5/.5/.5 look great! IF I sauce, its highly acidic and not sweet (apple cider vinegar, a little brown sugar, puréed Muir Glenn fire roasted tomatoes, garlic, onion). Agree on the simple rub. S-P-G + a little paprika for color can’t be beaten.

I’ve settled on 3ish hours in smoke then wrapped in butcher paper until around 190 IT…which usually takes around 3 hours depending on the size of the rack.

I'm not an American style BBQ guy, although I love American BBQ. I'm from South Africa and travelled some, and learned a lot along the way... I have long ago given up on the 3-2-1 method... it can work sometimes, but as a rule of thumb, it's a no go.

A method I’ve been using lately is to cook on the grill/smoker unwrapped until I have them at the tenderness I like and then resting them in a large Rubbermaid container with a lid for about ten minutes before slicing. They come out really good.

I do 185 for the three or four before wrap. So many ways to get there with ribs. Thanks for your advice.

Jeremy, on top of the BBQ vids, I enjoy your random imitations and movie references. I loved the "Snatch" reference. I gotta say I'm terribly partial to the periwinkle blue.

my first ribs on a pellet grill I seasoned and then went to temp and "butter" feel that seemed way more simple than trying to cook to time and my first time ribs were awesome (Lousiana Grills SL1000)

Good video and really appreciate the high level of detail. I think the only thing that might be left out here, or maybe you said it and I missed it, was the kind of ribs. There are Pork Ribs... St. Louis style ribs and baby backs... and depending upon how much of the belly strap is left on the back of the rib... how thick they are... your finish time is going to vary. Part of the art here is looking at the ribs before going on the smoker and knowing beforehand what your target time is likely to be. And plan accordlingly. You are spot on about the Issues in that section also. I can confirm everything you said there. Now I gotta get out and do some serious experimenting...

When I was new to smoking I found 3-2-1 to be a great base point to get started. Having no idea on how to smoke I needed a starting point. 3-2-1 was that starting point. It gave a me a specific way to reach the same result time after time. From there I started experimenting. Now, just like you, I have my owe preferred way of smoking my ribs. But I would not have gotten there without 3-2-1.

What you just described is what I developed doe my pellet smoker this summer. 180 for 3 hours, wrap with foil with cider vinegar and another 3 hours at 225. Then 15 min unwrapped or until the sauce starts to glaze.

Nice video Jeremy. I have been leaning more to butcher paper for the wrap lately. I like the bite better. Any thoughts?

I agree, the 321 method under smokes, and over cooks ribs. Two hours wrapped turns them into mush. I just smoke as long as it takes to just start to get some pull back( generally 4-5 hours ), wrap for 45 minutes or so, and then back in for 30 minutes or so unwrapped to finish. Sauce if you like.

The ribs we get here don't generally have that much meat on them (just an Aussie thing I guess), but on a pellet I have found that ~4 hours unwrapped at 200 then wrap and another 1-1.5 hours at 250 has produced the best results for me. I either go a dry rub or overnight marinade, but no sauce in the wrap or glaze - I want to taste the smoke and pork. At the end of the day, as long as it's not dry/overcooked I'm happy.

I typically had a different variation but i always do baby backs 2-1.5-.5 cook wrap sauce

That conversion from stick burner to pellet is priceless….thank you

I use the Carwash Mike recipe for ribs on my BGE, they are fantastic.

Both Erica and Jeremy looking great, guys gotta be working out lots. Erica's arms seriously on point !

This is a great video! I thoroughly enjoyed your side by side comparison with your honest, up-front opinion and evaluation. Personally, I really like 3-2-1 ribs, cooked on my Traeger at 180° for the first 3 hours, then up to 225° for the 2-1. I also appreciated the very pretty lady's opinion. Great video! I'll be trying your 4.5 -.5 -.5 method again. Best wishes to you and the success of your channel!

On pellet grill, I like 4 hours on the smoke at 250, then sauce and glaze for 30min at 375. Then wrap and let rest at 160 for an hour.

"Do you know what Nemesis means"? Love the movie reference. Great video as well!

Great video. I tend to cook to my guests pallets. I find some prefer the fall off the bone and others the method Jeremy prefers (haven’t tried lard yet). I do a few racks of each and everyone walks away happy. Added fun is puzzling people on how you produce variety with the same cut of meat.

I started with doing 3 2 1. Now I just do 3-4 hours in the pellet grill. And then however long wrapped in the oven to get to 202 degrees.

The presentation at the end! chefs kiss 10 /10

13:49 love the word association that came from "Gorgeous" that lead into a little bit of movie info into Snatch. Great movie if you've not seen it! Great video per usual! I've moved into much better Mathias than 3-2-1 myself. Great for those who just want to smoke some ribs

Awesome stuff! I woukd definitely go for the non 321 all day long I like tender but with a bit of a tug and as much smoke flavor as possible. The smoke is the sauce baby! Those 321 ribs sure do look pretty though!

Local place in upstate New York completely uses charcoal grill direct heat. There lemon garlic ribs are even better than the barbecue ones. Got that charred taste.

Thanks for the tips. I found this video very informative. I have the Weber Smokefire ex4 and learning how to cook on it has been a challenge, coming from my Kamado egg grill. I like the info on temperature changes btw pellet and offset grills. I usually cook with Lumberjack brand competition blend pellets but it's a little light on the smoke flavor. Did u say u cook ribs w Hickory? Also what's Ur thoughts on cooking 3-4hrs on the grill for smoke, then finishing, wrapped on the oven? The whole btu is btu . Thanks for the help. I think I'll order the Mad T-S shirt.

I started cooking 3-2-1 ribs years ago. Great way to dip your toes into ribs, and easily adaptable. These days I seem to run around 4.5-5 straight hours on the smoke (pellet smoker) then wrap for 30-60 minutes until it gets a little tender. Pull out long enough to get the sauce tacky then they're done. But I prefer more of a smoke flavor on my ribs, which is harder on the pellet smoker

I did start with the 3-2-1. but they were falling apart too much. so i reduced it to 2-2-1 which helped. Always looking at improvements and methods.

After trail and error I settled on 3-2-1/2 for baby backs and they are great with just the right amount of tug but very tender

Still waiting for you to come to Lexington 💪🏾

I don't wrap, rub only, pellet smoker, and prefer to do baby backs. Generally sprits on the hour with apple cider vinegar. I check them for being done by lifting at around 5 hours and a trmp probe, not by assuming a time. No wrapping, no binder, no need.

Traeger also pushed the 321 ribs on their website back when I got my first pellet smoker. So a bunch of newbies with their new traeger like me probably latched onto this method.

Hey so I bought a cheap upright or vertical smoker and I cook around 150 to 200°F and I can get it to smoke for about 4 to 5 hrs smoking and then I wrap till tender and then I pull and firm the bark and sauce

321 always seems to work for me and my guests so as long as it's easy, I'm going to keep using it

3-2-1 on Traeger produced dry ribs for me. After experimenting I have settled on 2 hours at 180 unwrapped, 2 hours at 325/350 wrapped, 20 to 30 minutes unwrapped with sauce applied. Juicy

I used to try the 3 2 1 but every slab is different, relying on looks, feel sometimes temp but usually not. I've almost stopped wrapping ribs at all and cutting out the sweetness. Sweet has it's place at times but savory to me makes a better rib. I do like the bourbon, apple cider vinegar, sugar glaze at the end of the cook I seen you do with Leroy and Lewis, very different but really good.

This was from Bill Milroy, Texas Rib Rangers. He posted this on The BBQ Forum about 25 years ago. He posted this after Jumpin' Jim out of Iowa posted his award winning chicken recipe.

I have a Vision Kamado Grill. How is the smoking temperature range different from your offset smokers? Thanks