I had a hankering for some real beef ribs, but beef ribs in the supermarket are pretty skimpy. All the meat is trimmed and sold as Rib Eye steak. I get it, why leave meat on the bone when you can sell it for $7/lb? To remedy the situation, I bought a whole beef short rib. Tell your favorite butcher you want the whole short rib and he’ll hook you up. Scroll to the bottom of this post for the big bad beef rib recipe and instructions.

Trim fat & silver skin off the rib. Then salt rib with Kosher Salt and refrigerate for 4 hours up to overnight. This is dry brining. During this process, the salt pulls the moisture out of the meat and dissolves, the meat then reabsorbs the saltwater and seasons the meat. I use this dry brining trick on my steaks, too.
Remove the rib from the fridge and coat it with rub mixture. After rubbing the rib I like to leave it sitting at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour. This is not a textbook food safety procedure and it’s purely optional.
Smoke over indirect heat at 250-275º to an internal temp of 205º, about 5-6 hours.

Last 30 minutes of cooking brush with mop sauce every 10 minutes.

Remove rib from smoker and let rest for 20 minutes before cutting.


The Big Bad Beef Rib
- 1 Whole Beef Short Rib
Rib Rub
- 2 tablespoons AlbuKirky Seasonings Red Chile BBQ Rub
- 1 tablespoon Ground Black Pepper
- 1 tablespoon Dark Brown Sugar
BBQ Mop Sauce
- ¼ cup AlbuKirky Seasonings Red Chile BBQ Sauce
- 2-4 tablespoons Apple juice
Instructions
- Trim fat & silver skin off the rib.
- Salt rib with Kosher Salt and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Remove rib from the fridge and coat with rub mixture. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Set up smoker for indirect cooking.
- Smoke at 250-275º for 6-8 hours, internal temp of 205º.
- During the last 30 minutes of cooking, brush with mop sauce every 10 minutes.
- Remove rib from smoker and let rest for 20 minutes.
- Slice & enjoy!
Hey Kirk. I’m down in Los Lunas but work in ABQ at the VA. Where did your source your beef ribs from? Thanks – Dave
I had a local butcher at the Albertson’s store tell me to look for beef short ribs on sale. go to the butcher and ask for the a whole rack of short ribs uncut. They will let you have them at the sale price. This also works with brisket when you only want the point cut for burnt ends.