Servings4
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time8 hours
Skill Leveleasy

Smoked Beef Back Ribs Video

In this recipe I’m going to show you how to make incredibly delicious and smoky beef back ribs that rival short ribs and brisket! They’re much more affordable and will have heads spinning at your next BBQ.

Beef Back Ribs Rub Recipe

If you don't want to purchase our best-selling beef rub, you can use our beef back ribs rub recipe instead to get amazing results!

  • 3 tablespoons black pepper, coarse
  • 3 tablespoons seasoned salt, like Lawry's
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder

Ingredients

Main

  • 1 rack of beef back ribs
  • 2 sheets of butcher paper, substitute for aluminum foil
  • 1/4 cup Beefy Beef Rub, optional recipe in notes

Spritz

  • 1 cup water
  • 1/4 cup beef broth
  • 1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 spray bottle, food grade

BBQ Tools

Steps

  1. Prep the beef back ribs

    Remove the beef back ribs 1 hour prior to smoking. This will give the meat time to reach room temperature for more even cooking and allow the rub to adhere better. Mix dry rub ingredients in a bowl and sprinkle evenly over the ribs. You'll want a solid coating of the rub to help build a nice bark on the outside of the ribs. 

    Smoked Beef Back Ribs Seasoning
  2. Prep the smoker

    Preheat smoker to 275°F. Most pellet grills don’t need it, but you can add a pan of water in the corner of the smoker to keep moisture inside.

  3. Smoke the beef back ribs

    Place beef back ribs on the smoker and smoke at 275°F until it hits an internal temperature of around 165°F-175°F in the thickest part of the meat, approximately 3 hours depending on the size.

    Smoke the beef back ribs at 275°F
  4. Spritz the beef back ribs every hour

    Combine the spritz ingredients and place in spray bottle. Every hour, open up the smoker and spritz the beef back ribs. Make sure your spray bottle is set to spray in a light, even mist and not a direct blast of the liquid. You just want to moisten the short ribs, not soak them.

  5. Wrap the smoked beef back ribs in butcher paper

    When the ribs hit our target temperature of at least 165°F, remove them from the smoker, lay them in the center of 2 pieces of partially overlapped butcher paper (see video), and then wrap tightly around the ribs. You can spritz the butcher paper a few times to help it form a tighter wrap around the beef back ribs. If you don't have butcher paper, you can use heavy duty aluminum foil instead.

    Wrap the smoked beef back ribs in butcher paper or aluminum foil
  6. Continue smoking the ribs

    Return the wrapped ribs to the smoker and smoke at 275°F for approximately 4-5 more hours. The smoked beef back ribs are done when the internal temperature is around 202°F and the meat thermometer slides in and out like a knife slicing through room temperature butter - very little resistance. I find that this usually occurs around 202°F, but all meat is different. Remember to take the temperature in a few places as the beef ribs tend to cook slower in larger areas.

  7. Rest the smoked beef back ribs

    Remove the smoked beef back ribs from smoker and keep wrapped while it rests for a minimum of 1 hour. If you need to keep the meat warmer even longer, place them inside of a good cooler for up to 4 hours.

  8. Serve the smoked beef back ribs

    Slice the beef ribs between the meat of each bone and serve with the bone. See the video above for additional slicing options. Enjoy!

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