I picked up some beef ribs and going to give it a go on Tuesday. If they turn out good I may do some more on Easter but don't know if I will do beef or pork then. I'm heading to memphis bbq supply to pick up some dry rub and maybe some sauce

Grind them very fine and use a strong paper.

On the off chance you meant smoking them to eat, then never mind. You wouldn't want my advice on that. Too bad kpig isn't around.

I smoked about 5 or 6 racks of beef ribs for the Super Bowl. I got my ribs at Charlie's Meat Market, they were pretty thick. The beef ribs will have some fat on them. From what I know you don't smoke them as long like you would with pork. I think I smoked mine about 5 or 6 hours. And I think I might have dried my ribs out just a little bit.
Everybody said they were good but I had a lot of other food also. I had some left over and we put them into a pot of white or pinto beans and that was some good eaten.

Just don't over cook them,

I'm all ears, I have never been very successful at that. Probably need a smoker but don't want two grills.

If you are using a propane grill, then go buy a couple of bags of wood pellets. Either get a pellet box or wrap a bath soap sized pile in aluminum foil and poke holes in it.

Put the pellets on the grill a few minutes before the meat and let them get smoking. The smoke is all the difference. Can't go wrong with Hickory pellets. Add some apple pellets in there two or go all apple for a different but delicious flavor.

And cook low and slow.

Dude said to cook for about 3 hours and then cover in foil and cook for at least another hour and check them to see how they are coming along...I'm assuming he was probably talking about pork ribs?? He said 225 and 250 at the most. You have to play with your recipes and figure out what you like. One rack I have a dry rub and the other is a marinade, both came from the store. So I will give it a whirl and go from there. Next time I will do pork ribs. Just wanted to give the beef ribs a try and see what they are like. I will be using a electric smoker though...and before has a cow and rips themselves a new butthole we were given this a couple of years ago. Lol. I know it's not the real deal and would like to get one one day but if someone wants to give me a brand new electric smoker I'm sure not going to say no. Lol. Anyway I've smoke quite a few chicken wings and those have been awesome

Nothing wrong with an electric smoker if it makes smoke.

(03-21-2016 05:59 PM)mphstiger79 Wrote:  Dude said to cook for about 3 hours and then cover in foil and cook for at least another hour and check them to see how they are coming along...I'm assuming he was probably talking about pork ribs?? He said 225 and 250 at the most. You have to play with your recipes and figure out what you like. One rack I have a dry rub and the other is a marinade, both came from the store. So I will give it a whirl and go from there. Next time I will do pork ribs. Just wanted to give the beef ribs a try and see what they are like. I will be using a electric smoker though...and before has a cow and rips themselves a new butthole we were given this a couple of years ago. Lol. I know it's not the real deal and would like to get one one day but if someone wants to give me a brand new electric smoker I'm sure not going to say no. Lol. Anyway I've smoke quite a few chicken wings and those have been awesome

That sounds like the 3-2-1 method, typiccally used for pork ribs. I'm not sure how it'd work for beef. May not be too different, but not sure.

I've smoked dozens of racks of pork ribs. Just never tried beef.

Here's a tip. go to http://www.smokingmeatforums.com. They have forums full of recipes and guys who love to talk about meat. You can peruse the forums or search for key words (such as 'beef ribs'). I'm confident you can find a recipe that will interest you.

(03-21-2016 09:40 PM)Claw Wrote:  Nothing wrong with an electric smoker if it makes smoke.

Yep... Electric smokers are fine. You may get a tab-bit less of a smoke flavor, but very few will notice the difference. Just keep the wood tray stocked, if it has one.

I don't recommend the 3-2-1 method. It produces a rib with a slightly "washed out" flavor. The outside is good, but the inside just kinda tastes and feels like boiled meat.

I smoke my ribs at 250 degrees for 4-5 hours. No foiling, no basting, no mopping, no opening the lid, no checking, no peeking, no nothing. Add sauce the last 30 minutes if you want wet ribs. I also don't recommend using a rub with a high sugar content as it will caramelize early in the smoke and seal off the pores of the meat. Ribs usually do better with fruit woods. Your heavier smoke woods can be overpowering for something with as little meat as a rack of ribs.

I tried beef ribs for the first time a few weeks ago and the I plan to do them again soon. I used Aaron Franklin's method. Use a rub of 1 part salt to 1 part cracked black pepper, and apply 30 min before smoking. Make sure to remove the membrane on the back. I smoked for about 5 hours at 250. To test doneness, take a therm probe and push it between the bones of two ribs; it should slide through relatively easily with very little pressure exerted.

Don't use marinade, don't wrap in foil, don't spritz or mop. Use whatever wood you want, I used pecan and I would use it again in my next go.

(03-22-2016 12:18 PM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  I tried beef ribs for the first time a few weeks ago and the I plan to do them again soon. I used Aaron Franklin's method. Use a rub of 1 part salt to 1 part cracked black pepper, and apply 30 min before smoking. Make sure to remove the membrane on the back. I smoked for about 5 hours at 250. To test doneness, take a therm probe and push it between the bones of two ribs; it should slide through relatively easily with very little pressure exerted.

Don't use marinade, don't wrap in foil, don't spritz or mop. Use whatever wood you want, I used pecan and I would use it again in my next go.

Franklin is my BBQ messiah. I love the simplicity and science of his methods. It's such a refreshing take compared to the over the top world of competition cooking.

FWIW, I have found that the 1-1 salt-pepper ratio is good on brisket but a little salty on things like ribs. I think his book recommends 2-1 pepper-salt for smaller pieces of meat and I would concur.

For my first time I think they came out ok. I did not get to check out the forum today so I didn't see all this before I got started. To me they tasted like "ribs". Haha. Funny enough that y'all said no marinade and those were better than the ones with the rub. But, I think I had too much rub. Also, the guy said it was a rub that went with e erything. But he Memphis rub I got tasted a lot better but he said those are mainly for pork. So I'm ready to get some pork ribs and give those a try and starting playing around and find a recipe that I like.

So if y'all say no marinade do you do a dry rub?

For beef ribs follow the advice above and just use a simple salt and pepper rub. Think of it like a steak. It doesn't need much help, just proper cooking.

For pork ribs you can certainly use a dry rub. I would be careful and not use one with a ton of sugar in it. I like to make my own rubs, so I will make one version with sugar and one version without. I put the without version on the raw ribs and then sprinkle the sugar version on during the last hour or so if you want dry ribs. Sugar caramelizes very quickly and will seal off the pores of the meat, preventing smoke flavor from soaking into the meat, and leaving you with a burnt taste on the bark.

Ah ha. Got ya