1st Beef Ribs


 
M

Mike-Ohio

New member
Thanks to this forum I had my 1st attempt at beef ribs today.

Smoke: minion method with cherry chunks on top of cowboy lump.

Seasoning : Salt, Black&White pepper, colemans mustard powder.

I loosley followed the instructions on the virtual bullet for a 1:30 - 6 pm smoke. temp was mostly between 220-275 with one big dip where I had to shuffle and stack the coals. I'll be glad when im out of cowboy lump, always seems to need re-stacking halfway.

Result:
Made it to 190F but dinner called so I pulled em. Bit tough but the flavor was awesome, mustard mellowed into subtle sweetness and the salt & peppers were as expexted. I definitely need to find a meatier cut next time but pretty good as a 1st attempt. Even had the neighbor compliment me on the smell!

Would taking them to a higher temp help with the toughness or was that just due to the cut?
 

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275° all day on those. Not much benefit being in the 220°-250°F rage except add more time. Around 275°F and you should get to 200 IT in around 4 hours. If you need to accelerate in the last hour to get to 200°, wrap in butcher paper and your temps will climb faster and still maintain moisture.

Your pics look great. You just might be 10° shy on your cook. Looks like you did this right.

It sounds like each rib had bite to get the meat off? If so, then it’s a final temperature issue.
 
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Definitely not bad for a first effort. Did you skin them?

Good luck finding meatier ones; they seem to be pretty scarce sometimes. If there's a sale on rib roasts you might want to buy one and cut your own ribs to get the thickness you want.

Sometimes I'll direct-grill beef ribs to medium-rare for "steak on a stick", and other times I smoke them well-done for barbecue. I don't think there's any wrong way to fire-cook them.
 
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My first attempt at beef ribs was similar. Only thing I could find were back ribs that were “shiners”—more bone than meat. Then I found out about Wild Fork Foods, an online delivery service that has some brick and mortar locations as well. Their beef ribs are amazing, very meaty! Did them on the WSM, took around 5~6 hrs at roughly 275, just S&P. This was a rack of 3, a little over 6.5 lbs. One of the best things I’ve ever smoked…

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I like to cook beef ribs but I like to cook plate ribs. They're the longer version of short ribs so some butchers don't carry them. But if you find them season them whatever you like. Then cook them at 250 or so could take six hours or more then use the probe method which I found on this website. Basically it means if you can stick a toothpick at home without much or any resistance they're done. Believe me they're like prime rib on a bone.

Enjoy
 

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Richard Garcia said:
Did you poke the ribs before pulling them to determine the doneness to your taste? With beef ribs “it’s done when it’s done” in order to have a satisfactory “chew”.
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No poke, went more for time and temprature as those are metrics I can hit. Being a 1st attempt I didnt know what I was looking for exactly so I went by numbers. Definitely stabbing the next ones.
 
Brad Olson said:
Definitely not bad for a first effort. Did you skin them?

Good luck finding meatier ones; they seem to be pretty scarce sometimes. If there's a sale on rib roasts you might want to buy one and cut your own ribs to get the thickness you want.

Sometimes I'll direct-grill beef ribs to medium-rare for "steak on a stick", and other times I smoke them well-done for barbecue. I don't think there's any wrong way to fire-cook them.
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If by skin you mean remove the membrane then no. I don't mind leaving it on with pork so I didnt here either.
 
The phrase "beef ribs" is kind of generic and can be confusing. I see this all the time in many different bbq forums.

Some knowledgeable pitmasters will sometimes use the phrase "beef ribs" but from what I've seen, they are always referring to short ribs. If you go to youtube and search "beef ribs" you get a long list of videos of short ribs. And it appears the vast majority of them are of a short rib plate.

Nonetheless, IMO it's best to use a more descriptive phrase. A photo helps, but a more descriptive phrase is better.

The phrase "beef ribs" usually refers to short ribs because back ribs are beef back ribs even if they are also technically ribs of beef. Re back ribs, saying "Beef back ribs" would be redundant because everybody knows back ribs are beef, but you can add beef if you want. If I want to talk about back ribs I say "back ribs." Everybody knows exactly what I'm talking about and there is no confusion. If I want to talk about short ribs, I would say short ribs. But there are various cuts of short ribs, so it's better to be even more clear. For example, a short rib plate are also short ribs even while the ribs are very long, so I would say "short rib plate." But some might mix it up and say "plate short ribs." It's fine as long as the word "plate" is in there somewhere to distinguish. Randy, above, referred to his cook as "plate ribs." That's fine because it includes the word plate. Everybody knows he's referring to short ribs which are from a cow.

Grocery stores will usually cut up a short rib plate and sell them in packages. The ribs are short because they've been cut in half or thirds but that's not why they are called short ribs. Flanken style ribs would be cut even shorter but in longer strips. They're still short ribs.

Note that the photo in Post #1 and the photo in post #5 are two entirely different cuts of beef. And yet, in both cases, they are referred to as beef ribs and the implication to someone who is not in the know is that they are the same - except one has more meat on it. But they are not the same. They are not even close to the same. The two cuts are from two different parts of the cow. The truth is, the photo in post #1 is back ribs and the photo in post #5 is short ribs.

Take a look at Chris' BBQ Glossary. IMO it's the best BBQ glossary on the internet. I've seen none better. It clearly explains the differences regarding short ribs and back ribs. Look under "B" for beef.

tvwbb.com

Barbecuing, Grilling, and Weber Glossary/Acronyms

Hi all Don't suppose you guys have a glossary somewhere do you? As an Aussie noob, I keep running into expressions I've never heard of! "Q", "Mr Brown", "fatties". Maybe we need a Smokey Wiki :) Heh heh Philip
tvwbb.com tvwbb.com
 
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Whatever you call them, those look like some serious caveman food. I've never cooked beef ribs. The only time I eat them is at a restaurant/caterer, and while delicious, they are sawed into bites and braised and sauced to make them fancy.
 
Congrats on your first and terrific attempt! I too would assume your concern with tenderness is time-related. And I also do my short ribs in the upper 270's.
 
Mike-Ohio said:
If by skin you mean remove the membrane then no. I don't mind leaving it on with pork so I didnt here either.
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The membrane of beef ribs is usually pretty tough and thicker/more dense than that of pork ribs. The next time you cook up a batch, consider removing it - I think you might like the results.
 
Scott Smith said:
Whatever you call them, those look like some serious caveman food. I've never cooked beef ribs. The only time I eat them is at a restaurant/caterer, and while delicious, they are sawed into bites and braised and sauced to make them fancy.
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Yeah the massive size in the butcher case is what drew me in at first. it was a 2 rib maximum meal for sure.
 
So in conclusion for all who find this thread. The consensus seems to be this; beef ribs need higher temp over a shorter period, the membrane is tougher than pork so remove/score it, and a meaty cut is key before you even start to smoke.
 
They look great Mike. The only advice I can offer is don’t cook to temp, cook to tenderness. Which is easier said than done when the dinner bell is ringing
 
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