Simple and Easy Smoked Beef Ribs Recipe

Half Slab of Smoked Beef Ribs

I picked up a rack of beef ribs yesterday and decided to prepare what my son calls my world famous smoked beef ribs recipe.  It's winter time now, so I picked up the beef ribs very cheap at bargain prices. 

Unlike most folks when winter comes I don't store my smoker or grill away until summer.  

I will be the first to admit during winter months I don't use my charcoal grill often, however, I will use my smoker about a half dozen times.

Since I have an electric smoker I can maintain a constant temperature despite the fact that it's cold outside.  

I have successfully smoked prime rib and turkey at temperatures below freezing so I don't expect I will have any issues smoking my beef ribs today because its 42 degrees Fahrenheit outside.

Smoked Beef Ribs Recipe

Recipe Ingredients:

  • 1 rack of beef ribs
  • 2 tablespoons mustard
  • 2 tablespoons dry rub seasoning

Recipe Instructions:

Some prep work is required before beef ribs are ready to be smoked or grilled. The most important step you can take is to flip the beef ribs over with bone side face up and remove the fatty skin/membrane that is always present. I have never purchased a slab of beef ribs with this step already taken care of, so you'll have to do this yourself. Using a few pieces of paper towel just grab hold of the fatty skin at one end of the bone and pull the skin away.

Here is how the beef ribs will look after you pull away the fatty skin/membrane (also known as silverskin) from the bone side of the ribs.  Ribs are much easier to cook and taste much better when the fatty skin is removed in advance of cooking. Once you have removed the skin go ahead and rinse your meat before marinating or applying dry rub to the beef ribs. The decision to use marinade or dry rub seasoning is yours to make.

Pictured about is my slab of ribs. Before applying my dry rub seasoning, I like to rub my meat with a thin coat of mustard. The mustard provides some awesome flavor and also helps the seasoning mix stick to the meat.

Here is what the slab of ribs look like after applying mustard and my dry rub seasoning...ribs are now ready to cook. At this point the ribs will get refrigerated because I always season my meats a few hours before cooking.

Pictured here is my smoker with beef ribs inserted inside just before I close the door. I set my electric smoker to maintain a temperature of 225 degree Fahrenheit and smoked the ribs with hickory chips for about 3-1/2 hours. Cook longer if ribs have not reached the desired tenderness you want.

At the 3-1/2 hour, I popped open my smoked and tested the ribs for tenderness. The ribs passed the test, so just before serving I transferred the ribs to the cutting board you see here.  Unlike pork ribs, I believe beef ribs are so flavorful that I do not apply barbecue sauce to them directly.  You can serve you favorite sauce on the side.

I hope you have enjoyed the way I smoke my beef ribs.