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Smoked Beef Ribs

Smoked Beef Ribs have become a very popular recipe over the past few years. So popular, in fact, that if you see a platter of smoked meat, you are likely to see some beautifully smoked beef ribs front and center! It’s about time, too. These babies are so tasty; if you love beef, you are going to love this smoking recipe!

Honestly, the best way to cook beef ribs like this is to smoke them; if you have beef short ribs, you can also braise them. These are not inexpensive cuts of meat, so you definitely want to take your time, in this case, hours. Low temp and cooked slowly is the style that produces the best results. It takes a long time, but the results are amazing!

How long does it take to smoke a rack of beef ribs?

How long does it take to smoke a rack of beef ribs? A great question! In fact, this is often where people get off track when smoking a side of ribs. It’s not necessarily about the exact time, it’s about the internal temperature. As with any smoked beef roast, boneless or not, pork ribs or beef, back or side ribs you have to cook them to the correct internal temperature, not a specific time.

Your best friend when smoking meats is an instant-read thermometer. I have a couple of different ThermoWorks probes and they all work great!

How do you prepare beef ribs for smoking?

How do you prepare beef ribs for smoking? The first thing you have to do is remove the membrane. The easiest way to do this is to use a paper towel. You can use a small knife to lift the membrane, grip it with the paper towel, and with steady pressure pull the membrane off, re-gripping as needed until it has all been removed.

Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees F so it is ready to go. Next up, your dry rub. Combine paprika, chili powder, brown sugar, kosher salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic powder, and onion powder. Cover your ribs, use as much or as little as you like, but make sure you do both sides of the ribs.  

Place your rack of ribs in the smoker with the bone side down. I like to use a combination of hickory and applewood chips for bbq beef ribs. You are going to want to smoke the ribs for 4 – 5 hours, but remember it’s the internal temperature that is the most important thing.

Ingredients

• 1 rack of beef ribs
• paprika
• chili powder
• brown sugar
• black pepper
• cayenne pepper
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• kosher salt

How do I know when the ribs are done?

Your ribs will be done when the internal temperature reaches 200 – 203 degrees F. Insert your instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, making sure you avoid touching any part of the bone. Once they reach this temperature the meat will be tender and will pull away from the bone with very little effort. You don’t want your meat to “fall off the bone” it should come off with a very gentle pull.

Make sure that you allow your ribs to rest for 20 – 30 minutes before you cut them up and serve them. Some ribs recipes ask you to wrap the ribs in butcher paper for the last hour or so in your smoker, or once they are done when they are resting.

I know this is something that is recommended for beef brisket as it can dry out because it is in the smoker for so long. I’m not sure it is necessary for beef ribs, but I will leave it up to you if you would like to do this with your ribs.

I like to serve my ribs with a dish of bbq sauce on the side. Some people like to dip the meat into the sauce. I have also been asked if I had any hot sauce when I served up my ribs, so be prepared to serve yours with a few condiments, it all depends on who you are serving!

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