General Tso Smoked Spare Ribs (Inspired by Phoenix Kitchen)

General Tso’s chicken, meet the smoker. This fusion takes American low-and-slow spare ribs and finishes them in a sweet, tangy, gently spicy General Tso glaze – the flavors you love from takeout, lacquered onto bark-crusted pork. The idea comes from Phoenix Kitchen; below is our own smoked-ribs take on it, plus a calculator that schedules the entire cook to your dinner time.

Schedule this cook to the minute

Spare ribs at a steady 250°F with no wrap run about five hours. Set your serving time below and the calculator works backward through trim, rub, smoke, glaze, and rest, so the ribs hit the table exactly when your guests do.

What you’ll need

For the ribs

• 2 racks of pork spare ribs (St. Louis cut glazes most evenly)
• About 2 tbsp of your favorite pork or BBQ rub – keep it simple, the glaze is the star
• A light binder (yellow mustard or oil), optional
• Sesame seeds and sliced scallions, to finish

For the General Tso glaze

These glaze quantities are from Phoenix Kitchen’s recipe:

How to make General Tso smoked spare ribs

1. Trim and prep. Pull the membrane off the back of each rack and square them to a St. Louis cut if you like a tidy shape. Pat dry.
2. Season. A thin swipe of binder, then an even, not-too-heavy coat of rub. You want the pork and the glaze to lead, not the rub.
3. Smoke at 250°F, unwrapped. Run them meat-side up for about five hours, until the meat pulls back from the bone tips and a probe slides into the thickest part like warm butter (around 203°F). Cooking unwrapped builds a firmer, glossier bark that grabs the glaze.
4. Make the glaze. Whisk everything except the corn starch in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Stir the corn starch into a splash of cold water, whisk it in, and simmer one to two minutes until the glaze coats the back of a spoon.
5. Glaze and set. In the last 20 to 30 minutes, brush the ribs with the glaze and let it tack up in the smoker. Brush a second coat for a thicker, shinier lacquer.
6. Rest, slice, finish. Rest 10 to 15 minutes, slice between the bones, then hit them with a little more glaze, a shower of sesame seeds, and sliced scallions.

Rubs and gear we’d reach for

The video keeps the rub simple so the General Tso glaze leads. If you want to grab one, here are rubs we like on pork ribs:

• Meat Church Honey Hog – sweet and savory, a rib-day classic.
• Kosmos Q Killer Bee – honey and pepper, builds a great bark.
• Heath Riles Honey Rib Rub – made for exactly this kind of cook.

Disclosure: some links above may be affiliate links, meaning we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only list gear we would actually use.

Frequently asked questions

Do you wrap the ribs?

No. This cook runs unwrapped the whole way at 250°F, which builds a firmer bark that holds the glossy General Tso glaze. You can wrap for an hour in the middle for softer ribs, but the glaze grabs best on unwrapped bark.

How long do spare ribs take at 250°F?

About five hours unwrapped, give or take, until the meat pulls back from the bone and a probe slides in cleanly. The calculator above schedules it to your serving time.

Can I use baby back ribs?

Yes. Baby backs cook a little faster, roughly four hours at 250°F. Everything else stays the same.

Is this the same as the Phoenix Kitchen recipe?

The General Tso glaze and the fusion idea come from Phoenix Kitchen; the smoking method here is our own. Watch their original video for their full technique, and subscribe to support their channel.

New to spare ribs? See our smoked spare ribs time and temp guide and the rib smoking methods compared.

How much spare ribs do I need to buy and cook?

Cooking this for a crowd? Set your headcount and get the raw weight to buy.