Smoked Beef Short Ribs

My Smoked Beef Short Ribs are cooked low and slow to make each bite melt in your mouth deliciousness. Seasoned with a simple beef rub, your whole family is going to love the rich beefy flavor of these incredibly tender smoked short ribs.

My smoked beef short rib recipe couldn’t be easier to make. But, like most smoked meats, it takes time to create bone-tender, juicy beef short ribs that any pitmaster would love. The cooking process takes about six hours, so make sure to give yourself enough time to make the magic. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

If you love delicious smoked ribs, make sure to check out my Smoked St, Louis Style Ribs.

Ingredients to make Smoked Beef Short Ribs

Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Smoked Beef Short Ribs. In Chef Speak, this is called the “Mise en Place,” which translates to “Everything in its Place.”

Not only does setting up your ingredients ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.

What are beef short ribs?

There are three types of beef ribs, and they each come from three different primal muscle sections of the steer, the rib, chuck, and plate.

Beef Short Ribs can also be found in four different styles,  English cut, Flanken ribs, rib fingers, and boneless ribs. English cut and Flaken style are the two most common types of beef ribs you’ll find in your local grocery store.

I prefer English cut for most of the recipes I prepare for my friends and family. English-cut short ribs can come from three different primal muscles, the plate, rib, and chuck. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell where they were cut from, looking at the end result.

Beef short ribs are cut into individual bones, and those bones are usually cut in half, so they’ll be about 4 inches long. The bones are flat and wide, and the meat is a rectangular chunk that sits on top of the bones.

Chuck short ribs are my first choice for smoking and grilling. Chuck comes from the shoulder of the steer; it has good marbling and magically turns into a tender, delicious, rich piece of meat when cooked low and slow.

How to make smoked beef Short Ribs

• Add the kosher salt, garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, black pepper, and smoked paprika to a small bowl.
• Mix the dry rub ingredients together until well blended.

Can I use other seasonings in my dry rub?

Yes, you can. The key to making delicious smoked meats that you and your family will love is to use seasonings that you enjoy eating. Changing up the spices in this simple dry rub is easy and definitely something you can do each time you prepare smoked beef, pork, or chicken.

Other seasonings you could add to your spice rub are cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, ground ginger, turmeric, and coriander. You can also use your favorite seasoning blend. Cajun seasoning, jerk seasoning, barbecue seasoning, and Old Bay seasoning can be used instead of making your own dry rub. You can also add brown sugar to the seasonings to make a sweet rub.

• Preheat the smoker to 225 degrees F.
• Add the wood chips of your choice to the smoker. I used mesquite chips for the short ribs.

• Rub the short ribs with olive oil (the oil helps the dry rub penetrate the meat more fully). Then spread the dry rub generously on top of the meat and all the sides of the ribs for a well-balanced flavor.
  *If time permits, let the ribs marinate for at least a half hour before placing them in the smoker. This gives the rub time to soak into the surface of the ribs. It also gives the meat time to come to room temperature before beginning the smoking process. This helps the meat cook more evenly.
• Place the short ribs on a rack in the smoker and cook for 3 hours.
• After 3 hours, remove the short ribs from the smoker and wrap them in aluminum foil (or use a foil pan covered with foil).
• Return them to the smoker for an additional 2 hours or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the short ribs reaches an internal temperature of 200 -205 degrees. *If the short ribs are rubbery or spongy, they are not quite cooked through, recheck the temperature and keep smoking until they reach 200 – 205 degrees.

*If you use a pan covered with foil, you can add a little bit of apple juice, red wine, or beef broth to the pan to help keep the short ribs moist.

Slather the short ribs with your favorite brand of barbecue sauce (or my semi-homemade bbq sauce) and return them to the smoker to cook for an additional 30 minutes.

Remove them from the smoker and allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving. Serve with your favorite sides and more barbecue sauce. My coleslaw recipe and Macaroni Salad are two of my favorite side dishes.

When it comes to barbecue, you can’t beat smoked meats, and an electric smoker takes all the work out of preparing your favorite smoked recipes. All you need is time and a few basic seasonings to make the best Smoked Beef Short Ribs you ever had!

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