Smoked Beef Short Ribs

Impress July Fourth guests with smoked short ribs!

Smoked foods are wildly popular. The unique flavor that smoking imparts to anything from beef to poultry to seafood to vegetables is impossible to replicate with other cooking methods, which perhaps contributes to its popularity.

As hosts prepare to welcome friends and family for a July Fourth barbecue, they can cook to impress with this recipe for “Smoked Beef Short Ribs” courtesy of Allen Kiezel of Fatty Butts BBQ and KamadoJoe.com.

Smoked Beef Short Ribs

Serves 3

Spritz

1⁄4     cup beef broth

1⁄4     cup soy sauce

1        spray bottle

1⁄2    cup water

Main

5       pounds beef short ribs

2       sheets butcher paper

11⁄2   tablespoons mayo

Dry Rub

3       tablespoons black pepper

11⁄2   tablespoons garlic powder

3       tablespoons seasoned salt

1. Remove the beef 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. Trim off any extra thick fat and silver skin from the top of the short ribs. You can remove all of the fat, but I keep a thin layer for protection and added flavor. Slather the mayonnaise evenly over the entire surface of the beef ribs. Mix dry rub ingredients in a bowl and sprinkle evenly over the ribs. You’ll want a heavy coating of the rub to help build a nice bark on the outside of the beef short ribs. The ribs are thick, so even a lot of rub won’t overpower them.
2. Preheat the grill to 250 F.
3. Place short ribs on the grill and smoke at 250 F until it hits an internal temperature of around 175 F in the thickest part of the meat, approximately 5 to 6 hours depending on the size. I recommend using a good leave-in meat thermometer so you don’t have to constantly check the short ribs. We’re looking for a nice bark to have formed before we wrap the short ribs. If your bark isn’t where you’d like it to be yet, keep smoking for an additional hour or so to help the bark form.
4. Combine the spritz ingredients and place in spray bottle. Each hour after the first 3 hours or once the bark starts looking dry, open up the smoker and spritz the beef short 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. When the bark has formed and the smoked short ribs hit our target temperature of at least 175 F, remove them from the smoker, lay them in the center of 2 pieces of partially overlapped butcher paper (lengthwise), 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 short ribs. If you don’t have butcher paper, you can use heavy duty aluminum foil instead. Just note, the bark will be a little mushy when it’s done, as it’s not permeable like butcher paper and will partially steam it.
6. Return to the grill, insert the meat probe again, and smoke at 250 F for approximately 4 more hours. The smoked beef short ribs are done when the internal temperature is around 205 F to 208 F and the meat thermometer slides in and out like a knife slicing through room temperature butter —barely any resistance. I find that this usually occurs around 205 F, but all meat is different. Remember to take the temperature in a few places as the short ribs tend to cook slower in larger areas.
7. Remove the smoked beef short ribs from grill 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. Slice the short ribs between each bone and serve with the bone or slice into smaller portions and share. Enjoy!