Beef ribs help


 
G

Grant Narita

TVWBB Fan
Hello! I have my beef long ribs on the smoker now and temp is rising.... For my baby back pork ribs I cooked around 250-275 for about four hours. Should I cook lower and longer for beef ribs?

Also, should I foil the beef ribs or just let them sit the whole time? I only have one slab in the cooker.

Finally, how can I test if beef ribs are done? I do the bend test with pork ribs but not sure it works with beef ribs. Thanks for any help.
 
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I did a small rack the other day and ran 225F for just under 4 hours.
Just rub, no wrap, no sauce.
When the pull back looked good they were fork tender.

There's a couple of beef rib recipes in here....in general, my cook was most like the Yum Yum
http://virtualweberbullet.com/cook.html#beef


Note:
In my experience it is easier to over-cook and dry out beef ribs as compared to pork ribs.
 
Joe F said:
I did a small rack the other day and ran 225F for just under 4 hours.
Just rub, no wrap, no sauce.
When the pull back looked good they were fork tender.

There's a couple of beef rib recipes in here....in general, my cook was most like the Yum Yum
http://virtualweberbullet.com/cook.html#beef


Note:
In my experience it is easier to over-cook and dry out beef ribs as compared to pork ribs.
Click to expand...

Okay, thanks. I am finding it hard to keep mine under 250... I attempted to but it's up to 266 now.. It seems to always like the 260-275 range. I currently have only one bottom vent open at around 33% and the top is at 50%.

I thought I wouldn't even check till the four hour mark but maybe I need to check it sooner.
 
To see if they're done, try to pull apart two adjacent bones. If there's a lot of resistance keep cooking. If the meat tends to come apart as you pull, you are done
 
Grant Narita said:
Okay, thanks. I am finding it hard to keep mine under 250... I attempted to but it's up to 266 now.. It seems to always like the 260-275 range. I currently have only one bottom vent open at around 33% and the top is at 50%.

I thought I wouldn't even check till the four hour mark but maybe I need to check it sooner.
Click to expand...
I think you need to stop worrying about 266 vs 250 or you are headed for a quick trip to the insane asylum. Sit back and relax. Concentrate on tender meat vs such a small temp range. If you enjoy a cold one every once in a while, do that too.
 
Grant Narita said:
Okay, thanks. I am finding it hard to keep mine under 250... I attempted to but it's up to 266 now.. It seems to always like the 260-275 range. I currently have only one bottom vent open at around 33% and the top is at 50%.

I thought I wouldn't even check till the four hour mark but maybe I need to check it sooner.
Click to expand...
If it's a new smoker it may not seal as well as a seasoned unit.
Choke it down further using the bottom vent and use the top vent as a last resort.
Good advice above on the doneness test and the temp worrying.
 
Dave/G said:
I think you need to stop worrying about 266 vs 250 or you are headed for a quick trip to the insane asylum. Sit back and relax. Concentrate on tender meat vs such a small temp range. If you enjoy a cold one every once in a while, do that too.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think you are right! I am obsessed, staring at the wireless temp readings every 30 seconds! I used to watch the tv while I was bbqing, now I watch a temp gauge! How my life has changed...!

Okay, I am taking a break now..seems to have stabilized at 250. Been on for 2 hrs, 20 min. Thanks for the help!
 
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Grant
Do you use water in water pan?
If not you could give it a try. I use water in the first hours then I pull off water but leave water pan empty
 
Enrico said:
Grant
Do you use water in water pan?
If not you could give it a try. I use water in the first hours then I pull off water but leave water pan empty
Click to expand...

I did not use water in the pan. Just have foil covering the water pan. Also don't have a clay dish. I know some said they wrap a clay dish in foil and put it in the water pan. Not sure if this helps to keep the heat down or not.
 
I checked them at the 4 hour mark...did the pull test, but meat did not tear apart, leaving it for another hour.. Currently at 252..
 
With my 22.5 I find I've got to have water in the pan to keep the temp where I want it. Maybe my smoker is leaky. I don't know. I'm going to get the gasket, the door and the latch and hope my temp control is better. Right now the water works wonders.
 
Success! Was going to post a pic but don't use photobucket or anything. Ended up being 5 hours... No water in pan, no foiling ribs. I did put some apple juice on the ribs a couple times. They were a little too salty though. I had made my own simple rub.. 1 tabls salt, 1 tabls pepper, 1 teas chile powder, 1 teas garlic powder. Put on liberally the night before and let sit overnight in fridge. Wonder if my rub had too much salt, if I put on too much, or maybe I put the rub on too early.... Will be drinking lots of water the rest of the day...
 
Glad to hear they came out Grant.

I have done beef ribs a couple of times. The first time I read on here not to put too much seasoning on them as they can get overpowered (and salty) quickly. I didn't listen and they had way to much seasoning.

The second time I used Weber's steak and chop seasoning and that was it and they came out much better. So I guess everyone was right as usual on here. They have such a good natural flavor, they don't need much
 
Grant Narita said:
Success! Was going to post a pic but don't use photobucket or anything. Ended up being 5 hours... No water in pan, no foiling ribs. I did put some apple juice on the ribs a couple times. They were a little too salty though. I had made my own simple rub.. 1 tabls salt, 1 tabls pepper, 1 teas chile powder, 1 teas garlic powder. Put on liberally the night before and let sit overnight in fridge. Wonder if my rub had too much salt, if I put on too much, or maybe I put the rub on too early.... Will be drinking lots of water the rest of the day...
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Excellent !

Your rub looks to be in balance, but putting it on liberally the night before offers no advantage but will allow the salt to penetrate.
Try putting on the rub just before you start the cook.

What I've done is to shaker on Kosher salt, Tone's restaurant pepper (coarse ground) and granulated garlic (powder) each separately so I can observe coverage.
Even at this point you can go too heavy with the salt if you go too liberally.
This all happens just before the cook.
I may have picked that up from watching the Aaron Franklin brisket videos.

For your pics, try using Tiny Pic (free).
Put your raw images in an easy to find file on your computer, upload the pic to Tiny Pic, then copy & paste the forum code that Tiny Pic spits out, into your post.
No need to register and don't forget to select the size you want before hitting "upload".
Tiny Pic can deal with your non-resized image which is a step-saver.
 
sn2tk7.jpg


Thanks Joe For the posting pics tip...
 
Grant glad to see all turned out well-FYI I have never cooked beef ribs that took less then 5 hours and often closer to 6. It all depends on the thickness of the rib. I use the toothpick and probe test. If it goes in with little to no resistance its done. I don't think beef ribs will pull apart similar to a pork rib and if it does I would have to think its overdone. As for foil that is up to you. I have found that beef ribs do tend to get dark and crusty so you might want to foil and see how you like it.
 
Steve Whiting said:
Grant glad to see all turned out well-FYI I have never cooked beef ribs that took less then 5 hours and often closer to 6. It all depends on the thickness of the rib. I use the toothpick and probe test. If it goes in with little to no resistance its done. I don't think beef ribs will pull apart similar to a pork rib and if it does I would have to think its overdone. As for foil that is up to you. I have found that beef ribs do tend to get dark and crusty so you might want to foil and see how you like it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you are right Steve, they didn't pull apart like pork ribs... I didn't have any toothpicks so I felt the meat and it seemed tender so I took them off. Seemed just right.
 
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