Smoked beef ribs
Ok I have to admit I have been a horrendous slacker lately in the cooking department. It is springtime here and I have been spending nights outside working and by the time I am done it is 8ish and I have zero desire to cook.
Friday I was staring at the freezers trying to figure out what I needed to buy on Saturday when I went to the meat market. Then I noticed that still have way to many beef ribs and I really should start thinning them out. Ok how can something that is a great winter comfort dish turn springy? Ohhh….just add fire and wood (yeah my neighbors from time to time do hate me especially when the smoker gets fired up at midnight).
Sunday I was home all day so after waking up and getting some coffee I fired up the smoker and let the ribs smoke for 6 hours. For the record you can get a lot accomplished in 6 hours such as thin out a garden, put up a fence around said garden, find a place for a couple more vegetables that you want to plant, mow, cuss at said mower that decided it wanted to die halfway through the backyard, edge the mulch beds, and most importantly stare at the ceiling.
If you have a favorite dry rub that you like to use feel free to use that and if not fear not here is a simple easy one that works great with beef and adds some great heat along with flavor.
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tb garlic powder
- 1 tb onion powder
- 1 tb salt
- 1 tb black pepper
- 1 tb whole chili (I used 1/2 ancho and 1/2 new mexico chili powder)
- 2 teaspoon cumin
- 2 teaspoon coriander
- 2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne (if you like it spicy jump this up)
Combine all the ingredients.
For the beef ribs the only things you need are:
- dry rub
- worcestershire sauce
Take the beef ribs and cover them in the worcestershire sauce.
Finally toss the beef ribs in the rub.
Place the rubbed beef ribs on a 200-225 degree smoker (see http://www.culinarydisaster.com/wordpress/minion-method-for-lighting-a-wsm/ for the easiest way to light a smoker and http://www.culinarydisaster.com/wordpress/21/pulled-pork/ for a basic overview of how to use a smoker).
Beef ribs expect to take anywhere from 4-6 hours on the smoker. The meat is done when you grab a rib it tears away easily (I wish I could be more specific but well there are to many variables to give an exact time).
Once again good BBQ needs no cute plating just a big pile of meat that people can grab what they want.
this doesn’t have anything to do with the awesome spice rub, but i’m gonna write it anyway–kroger cottage cheese!!! i DESPERATELY miss kroger since i moved from va to ny, and i just wanted to tell you that i’m jealous.
Oh those are some awesome sized ribs, holy cow! I was laughing about the smoker firing up at 12 and just imagining my windows open and getting a whiff of that. But if you don’t know or care about your neighbors I guess it doesn’t matter!
man oh man those look great!
Oh man that looks good. That’s the unfortunate thing about living in NYC, we’re not allowed to have grills much less a smoker.
I have no good excuse for not owning a smoker. These look awesome…feel free to come be my neighbor and smoke these at midnight. I’ll happily keep you company
Those ribs look good!
Ok the pull pork the other night went well. Time for my second smoking with some large beef ribs. I will be doing 3 slabs.
Here is the dry rub I used.
4 tablespoon(s) Kosher salt
2 tablespoon(s) Paprika
1 tablespoon Black pepper, coarsely ground
1 1/2 teaspoon(s) Onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoon(s) Garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoon(s) Cayenne pepper
1/2 cup Brown sugar
1/4 cup Sugar, granulated
1 tablespoon Oregano, dried
1 tablespoon Thyme, dried
2 tablespoon(s) Dry mustard
I smeared my ribs with yellow mustard then applied the rub to front and back of each rib.
4:45 Started up the smoker using the Minon method, this time I added 4 hickory wood pieces and 2 mesquite.
5:30 Lid Temp was at 225 and I added to slabs to the bottom rack and one to the top. It was a tight fit.
6:30 Lid Temp was at 228 nice small smoke coming out of top
7:30 Lid Temp was 227 added two more little blocks of hickory.
8:30 Lid Temp 230 nice smell of smoke coming out lit
10:00 Lid Temp 231. I opened to check on ribs, they looked nice took a sampler piece in house. Very nice smoke ring, cooked all the way through, great taste. I think I will pull them off at 11:00. That will have been 5 1/2 hours slow and low cooking.
11:00 Lid Temp was 231 when I opened the lid nice smoke. Pull the ribs off took and let them set for about 20 mins, They were great and full of flavor. I would have like to see them a little more tender. Not sure if this was meat quality or they could have used another hour on the grill. The ribs had a great smoke rink and were cooked all the way through. \
Any advice would be great.
None of them went to waste and the dogs loved the big bones.
Don: I read once where Mario Batali said with beef ribs make about 25% more than you think you will need. I have noticed on braises using them some ribs will be perfectly full of meat and other will be nothing but gristle, fat, and a little meat even though they look very similar before going into the pan.
The ribs fall under that tough and nasty section that is difficult to judge and get perfect everytime. So much of them are dependant upon the cow and even where the ribs came from on the cow. I believe and hopefully someone can correct me but the further back you go on the cow the tougher, shorter, and nastier the ribs get. If you had gotten some that came from more of the back they won’t be as tender as some that may have came more from the front.
Your method was pretty dead on from what I would have done.