Beef ribs

[Dirtytires]

I just discovered a local source for beef ribs and willneed to throw a few racks on the smoker next time I fire it up. Sad truth is, I’ve never cook beef ribs before. I’ve done pork ribs by the case but have had trouble finding the beef variety....till now.

So, wondering if anyone out there might be willing to pass along a few tips, temps or cook times to get me started on the right track.

[towtruck]

They are a completely different animal and I can never get them the way I like. Very fatty and will shrink up a lot more. They are easy to overcook in my experience as I want to render more fat out and then I dry the meat out too much. I avoid them but know they can be done right ....just not by me

[Dirtytires]

Thanks towtruck....Sorry they have eluded you. I’m hoping to give it shot, tho. My understanding is you cook them to temp and double check by tenderness as opposed to pork ribs that scream finished with a “bend” test. My thought is to treat them much like a brisket and wrap them after 4-5 hours. Also going to use my standard beef rub.

Looking for rough cook times and recommended cook temperature.

[Big T]

I've never had any luck with them either but I think it's because I can't seem to find the really thick, meaty ribs around here. Most of the ones that are available are pretty thin and they have a weird texture when they're finished. Everything I've read says to treat them like a brisket so I believe that you're on the right track.

[Tom_Heath]

Used to be a guy on here named Nick, he was the king of beef ribs. OMG could he cook a mean beef rib.

I want to find them for a good price and experiment with them cause DANG they were good.

[Tom_Heath]

This is not the guy I was talking about but these look pretty good. The ones nick did were a much longer bone. More like they came from a triceratops then from a cow.

https://smokerbuilder.com/forums/viewto ... bs#p106220

[Dirtytires]

Thanks guys....good confirmation I’m in the right track.

Can’t say for sure what these look like (as I’ve not been to the store yet) but description indicates a 4 bone plate of spare ribs weighs about 16 pounds. I’m guessing these are the big ones that everyone wants.

My mouth is watering already......I’d get them tomorrow but I’ve got family in town and I never experiment for company. Afraid of putting out a sub-par meal and ruin my reputation....lol.

[towtruck]

Those should do well. All the one's I have done have been single ribs....probably why they dry out.

[bvbull200]

I LOVE me some beef ribs. Definitely one of my favorite things to cook.





Treat them a bit like brisket and plan on wrapping. I do a nice pepper/salt based rub on them. My go to now is the rub my company makes - On Point. I hope that doesn't sound like a shameless plug - I don't intend it to be. I don't use the rub just because we make it, we now make it because it is what I use.

Anyways, I think you can get away with removing the membrane on the back like you would pork ribs. Some folks leave it on because these bones will separate from the meat much easier than regular pork spares, but it's up to you. A good application of rub, then in to the smoker at about 250-275*. If your rack is 2 or more bones, then it'll all take about the same amount of time. Only if you do 1 bone sections will the cook time be notably shorter.

It usually takes about 3-4 hours to get a nice bark at those temps. Once the color start coming around, I'll set them in a foil pan and place a piece of foil over it, tightly sealing it up, and put it back in the smoker. The braising of the meat does wonders for tenderness and using the foil pan captures a lot of juices for basting at the end, adding to beans, or any other number of uses. It's usually not more than an hour or so in the foil before they start to be ready.

You're kind of splitting the difference between pulling by temp and pulling by feel. There are parts of the meat that will render real nice and feel very soft, very early. You'll usually want it to probe at about 200* in all of the thicker parts of the meat. If parts feel really tender, but some areas not as much and probe at 180*, you need to keep letting them ride.

If you feel you lost too much bark, you can always pull them out of the pan and let sit in the smoke for 30 minutes or so to finish, but I don't think I've ever deemed that necessary.

They should get a short rest, so pull when they are done, vent a little heat from the foil pan, wrap up again and set under a towel in a cooler for 30-60 minutes.

All in all, you can usually be ready to eat them in 5-6 hours from the time they hit the pit, provided you're running 250-275*. As with all BBQ, though, it's an estimate and your experiences may vary. You're better off giving yourself a little extra time and just resting them longer if need be.

I hope that helps!

[Pete Mazz]

[Dirtytires]

Super awesome info.....exactly what I needed and really confirmed that I was so the right track.

Thanks for sharing!

[mp4]

This is DEFINITELY on my 'gotta try this' list!

[PostOak]

I Love Beef Short Ribs. For one reason or another I've always had good luck with them. To me the simplest method is the best, Salt Pepper and Oak. Cook them at 275* until they reach 160+/- and wrap them in butcher paper let them cruise up to right around 200* and pull and rest for at least 45min.

[BurnBern]

I love my beef ribs. I usually get mine from Smithfield meat market. They are about £3,50 - £5 per kg. I bought some really big ones 2 weeks ago.

I use as most have said SPOG rub. Get the smoker between 250-275 and use oak also. I have done the butcher paper method and have left them unwrapped also. If i wrap it usually at 160-170 and pull at about 200 ish. Before i pull though i do the toothpick test. I then wrap in butcher paper or foil if I didn’t wrap them earlier and use a towel to wrap again and leave it for when we are ready to eat. I then open it and let it cool to the temp I want to serve at. The cook is normally about 7 hours. The thing i always remind myself is not to panic that it’s taking so long and not to pull too early because of being impatient.
Don’t be nervous about giving it a go. They are really worth the try

[dacolson]

I Love Beef Short Ribs. For one reason or another I've always had good luck with them. To me the simplest method is the best, Salt Pepper and Oak. Cook them at 275* until they reach 160+/- and wrap them in butcher paper let them cruise up to right around 200* and pull and rest for at least 45min.

I wrap in pink paper too. I’ll rotate them so the meat pulls back from both sides of the bone and neither end gets scorched. Salt and pepper only. Trim most of the fat. Peal the silver skin. 250 - 275°. Wrap once I get a good bark. Rest for an hour. Bla bla bla. Now I want beef ribs. Damn it.

[Roadsterguy]

I love the beef ribs as well. The texas style beef rib can't be beat.... There are two types of beef ribs that work the best for long cooks. There are the 4 or 5 bone ribs that come from the chuck and then there are the plate ribs... sometimes called Dino ribs. These will always be 3 bones and could weigh in uncooked at around 5-7lbs. I like the plate ribs seasoned with Salt, Pepper, and Garlic Powder and cook them for about 6 hours with an additional 1 hour rest in a cooler, they've always turned out great. These plate ribs are where the english short rib comes from as well, the bones are just cut into 3 inch or so lengths, but left intact, they are the quintessential Dino beef rib. The temps are 250-275 and the last hour of cook, I wrap them in peach paper. You want to pull them when the internal temp is 203-206 with an instant read, them rest them for an hour.

[Dirtytires]

Great info...appreciate you reviving this thread as I never did make any. I was at my meat supplier yesterday and picked up a 16 pound cryo-pack of ribs so gonna give them a try tomorrow.

Good excuse to make beans as well....I have some “bits” from my last round of homemade bacon that will need to get used.....

[Roadsterguy]

Great info...appreciate you reviving this thread as I never did make any. I was at my meat supplier yesterday and picked up a 16 pound cryo-pack of ribs so gonna give them a try tomorrow.

Good excuse to make beans as well....I have some “bits” from my last round of homemade bacon that will need to get used.....

How did your beef ribs turn out?

[Dirtytires]

Thanks for the reminder....I forgot to post...

While I was at the store, I almost bought 2 packages as it just looked pretty tiny. However, upon opening the cryopac, I realized that one was plenty. The package had 4 racks of 4 ribs each or 16 ribs at 1 pound each.

I trimmed a little fat off them but left the bottom membrane on and then cut them into 2 rib sections. A quick dry salt brine overnight followed by a pretty heavy in pepper beef rub the next morning and they were ready for the pit. Leaving the membrane on was a good idea or the meat would have fallen off the bone completely and it was easy to eat around it.

I had and oak fire and just let them cook at 225 till they reached 202 degrees internal. I didn’t wrap, flip or rotate anything and they turned out absolutely amazing. Nice bark, juicy and full of flavor.

So it turns out that we could only eat 1 rib each so, even after sending a couple to a few neighbors and having “leftovers” the next day, I still managed to get a few vacuum sealed and in the freezer. I think I’m going to bake up a loaf of French bread and try a rib sandwich when I pull them out.

All in all, it turned out great. I’m still amazed that they are so expensive but the flavor is incredible and I will definitely be putting them into my rotation. Can’t believe it took me this long to try them.

[Roadsterguy]

Glad they turned out great. I love them! I just bought some at Costco and if you go in and ask for short ribs that have not been cut, they usually have them in the cryo- pack. They usually come to plates to a pack three bones to a rack. They only had prime the last time I purchased them, but it was only $5.99a pound.

[dacolson]

That’s still a great price. Last time I purchased was 6.99 for choice.


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[SheffSmoker]

We love beef ribs, and same we can only eat one each as they are so rich. Need to do some more again soon.

[rschust]

I love me some beef short ribs!! The best advice I can give is, use Plate End beef short ribs instead of chuck end. You can tell the difference by the bone shape, if not specified on the label. Plate end has a wide flat bone where chuck end ribs have a more rounded bone. When I cook them, which is quite often, I use salt and pepper only. Smoke at 230 degrees for 5 to 7 hours. Beef short ribs can expensive because of the bone content, but if done right they are like Brisket on a stick.