Smoked Beef Back Ribs

Stack of sliced beef back ribs on a cutting board.

4.77 from 13 votes

Juicy and tender, these smoked beef back ribs are a BBQ bucket list, must-try item. Beef back ribs are best smoked low and slow until they melt in your mouth.

Prep Time15

Cook Time5

Resting Time30

Total Time5 45

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Beef Back Ribs, Smoked Beef Back Ribs

Servings:

Author: Susie Bulloch (heygrillhey.com)

Ingredients

1 rack beef back ribs
3 Tablespoons yellow mustard
2 Tablespoons Hey Grill Hey Beef Rub or equal parts salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat. Preheat your smoker to 275 degrees F for indirect smoking using oak wood.
Prep the ribs. Remove the ribs from the package and place them bone-side up on a large work surface. Use a butter knife to loosen the membrane attached to the ribs and then pull the membrane away with a paper towel. If the membrane is already removed by your butcher, move on to seasoning.
Season. Slather the ribs with yellow mustard and then season liberally on all sides with Beef Rub or equal parts salt and pepper. This step will help the rub adhere to the ribs and create a nice dark bark.
Smoke. Place the ribs bone side down on the smoker grates, close the lid, and smoke for about 3 hours. At this point, the exterior of the ribs should have darkened significantly. If you take a read of the temperature with an internal thermometer, it should be near 165 degrees F.
Wrap the ribs. Once the ribs hit 165 degrees F remove them from the grill. On a large work surface, roll out a large piece of peach butcher paper (foil will also work, but it will soften the bark in the end). Place the ribs on the butcher paper and wrap tightly.
Finish smoking. Return the wrapped ribs to the smoker and continue cooking for approximately 2 hours, but start checking the ribs after 90 minutes of being wrapped (you will be going by temperature and feel, not by time).
Cook to temperature. Continue to smoke the wrapped ribs until they reach an internal temperature around 202 degrees F. You want your ribs to be very flexible and the meat to have pulled back significantly from the end of the bones. When you insert your meat thermometer, it should glide into the meat like it is softened butter.
Rest, slice, and serve. Remove the beef back ribs from the smoker and allow to rest for 30 minutes before slicing into individual ribs and serving. (Serve with a side of BBQ sauce, if desired).

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