Best wood for beef ribs?


 
M

Mary M

TVWBB Fan
Meyall,

Subject says it all -- I've got hickory, mesquite, apple, cherry and alder to choose from. Which would you use for some nice beef ribs?

TIA,
 
Mary,
I'm partial to an oak/cherry blend with beef. If I was limited to the choices you have, I think I would try a hickory/cherry blend, maybe even an apple/cherry. I don't use mesquite, and alder is a pretty mild wood, more of a wood for fish. I don't have access to alder so I'm going by what I have researched. If it is anything like birch, it may be good with beef.
I'm sure someone else will chime in with other ideas as well.
It really all comes down to personal preference in the long run.
 
I cook them every so often...they're so cheap, sometimes I just can't resist. Anyway, I usually just use hickory with them but the other day I tried cherry which worked pretty well. I guess mesquite is supposed to be the 'go to' wood for beef, but I've just never tried it.

One thing i've found from beef ribs...they definately need to be cooked low and slow to render all the fat. If they aren't cooked right, they can be downright nasty (in my experience, at least). Also, make sure you take the membrane off. Their is a thin layer of fatty tissue just under it that you definately want to render off as it is not very appetizing. Chris has a good recipe here.
 
Beef ribs stand up to a heavy smoke taste, IMO, so the stronger hickory or mesquite are usually what I use. I don't usually use these for anything else, well, maybe a chunk or 2 with BB's.
 
My preference is Hickory and Maple or Apple. My experience w/ Cherry was not too good, as it seemed to give a bit of a bitter taste. To me ribs+Hickory=BBQ.
 
Mary
As Phil R, Jason and M D say, hicory is the best wood to use.

I use either Hickory or Melaluka (Ti Tree, commonly called paper bark tree which is a unique tree to Australia) which has a very similar taste to hickory. Beef ribs tend to take the strong smokey flavour better and IMHO are best served with a tomato, onion & chilli based sauce.

As Phil R rightly points out they need to be done low and slow, you may want to consider foiling using the 3-2-1 method as used for pork ribs.

Regards
 
I personally love the taste of light mesquite with beef. I really believe that mesquite has enough robust character to hold its ground with the strong flavors of beef. Be careful with mesquite though as its very powerful. I would only use a piece the size of your fist on your pile of charcoal.
 
To me, beef just isn't the same without a touch of mesquite. The trick is to know how much is enough.

Try one small chunk - you can always use more the next time. Pair a little mesquite with some hickory, and you'll be in fine shape.
 
Texas is the home of BBQ beef, and their preferred wood is mesquite. But then, I ask you to consider the Alamo incident. They got gumption, but their actions should be thought through before being blindly followed.

I like mesquite for a high heat shorter beef cook, like doing a roast on the kettle when I need to get the smoke in there quick. Going longer on the smoker, I like hickory with a touch of apple or cherry.
 
Thanks for the words o' wisdom, y'all. I ended up using two chunks of hickory, one chunk of black cherry and a handful of maple chips. The results were really very good -- I thought it was going to be kind of bland, because I've had some bland-ish beef ribs in the past, but the combo of rub (yeah, I don't hate rubs any more) and the smoke made for some tasty dino-ribs!
 
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