Smokin-It User Forum!
Recipes => Beef => Topic started by: tostitobandito on January 25, 2020, 09:42:41 PM
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Those of you who smoke beef plate ribs (the straight flat bones with a couple inches of meat on top of them, in a slab), what temp do you smoke at and what internal temp do you aim for? I thought the 175F temp in the smokin-it guide seemed pretty low so I went to 185F but they were still definitely not done. Nice and juicy, but not tender. From doing more reading on the interwebs, it seems like a lot of people cook them to an internal temp similar to a brisket, in the 195-205F range somewhere. They also generally cook at higher temps, though I know our electric smokers behave a bit differently in that respect from my experience cooking brisket and can cook at lower temps than an offset smoker in the same amount of time. That said, I'm having trouble seeing how these would ever be done at only 175F.
Thoughts?
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I've not done beef ribs so I can only surmise that there is much more connective tissue that needs to be broken down. I have had beef ribs before and never found them to be overly tender; rather chewy. And tasty!
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I treat these as brisket on a stick, so like you mentioned in further reading, I take them upwards of 200* for finishing temps, or when they are done near that temp. Cook/smoke temp has been 225*-250*. But I have not smoked these in a while and since then I’ve started to increase my brisket cooks up in temp to 250-275*.
So, you are correct in thinking, at least in my opinion. Cook them again but finish higher. They should almost fall off the bone but still have some pull to it, think the sliced brisket hanging over a finger test. Should fall over th finger but pull apart when you pull the slice if that makes sense.
Enjoy the next cook!
Oh, and try some OakRidge BBQ Black Ops rub. It is my favorite on brisket and these ribs!
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I smoke them at 260 degrees and they are done around 201-203, takes about 8 hours. Insert a probe or toothpick, should slide in like butter!
Best Greg
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Ok, thanks for the feedback. I'll definitely take the brisket on a stick approach next time. Will probably smoke at 250F to somewhere around 200F internal. Could probably even go to 260-275F on the smoker. I know Aaron Franklin does his at 285F, but that's in an offset.
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Trying again today. Have two plates this time, one about 5 lb and the other about 4 lb. Smoking at 250F for an internal temp around 200F. Using 4-5 oz of white oak. We'll see how it goes.
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Trying again today. Have two plates this time, one about 5 lb and the other about 4 lb. Smoking at 250F for an internal temp around 200F. Using 4-5 oz of white oak. We'll see how it goes.
If you can take some pics, looking forwarded to hearing about your smoke!
Best Greg
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Ribs turned out great.
(https://i.ibb.co/ZV1hB1L/IMG-2995.jpg) (https://ibb.co/ZV1hB1L)
(https://i.ibb.co/jzjMf0Z/IMG-2996.jpg) (https://ibb.co/jzjMf0Z)
Overall cook time was about 6.5-7 hours I think, but I opened it up a few times to check or adjust the probes. I cooked to an internal temp of somewhere in the 200-203F neighborhood, then wrapped them and threw them in a cooler full of towels for a couple hours.
One thing I learned is that with beef ribs you don't want to bother with the temp probes until well into the cook, at least 3-4 hours at 250F. The reason is that the meat moves so much as it shrinks up the bone that it can move the probe such that it contacts a bone and gives a bad reading. This happened to me on this cook where I was getting readings near 200F much earlier than I expected, but when I probed with a thermapen it was at least 25F lower. I removed and re-inserted the smoker probes into the slabs and the readings immediately matched what the thermapen was showing. Next time I do these I'll just wait until the 4 hour mark and then insert the probes once the meat is relatively stable in terms of shape.
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Looks like a great brisket on a bone or a stick!
Best Greg
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I wish that I had access to nice beef rib, but I have yet to find any that had much meat on them like the ones in your awesome pictures.
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Yeah they're not easy to find. Costco doesn't have them, and none of my many local grocery stores do either. I've thus far only been able to find proper plate ribs at a couple local butcher shops.
They're also not cost-effective at all, which I think is why a lot of BBQ places don't bother with them or only do them as once a week specials (like Franklins). The nice big meaty 4-5lb plates I got most recently were $10/lb. Hard to make money unless you can charge like $25/rib. Compare that to a Costco prime packer brisket which is maybe $6/lb (or less) after trimming (and doesn't have bones in it).
Still, beef ribs are awesome and I will continue to do them from time to time. Similar flavor/texture to brisket with a much shorter cook time and way less hassle in terms of trimming. And most importantly you can go caveman on a giant bone.
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A good place to look for meat like this is the Costco Business Centers. They're different than the standard Costco as they cater to restaurants. We have two in the Seattle area, one north of Seattle and one south of Seattle. Even if you don't buy anything, it's an amazing place to window shop.
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Got a hold of a full uncut/untrimmed plate (about 6 lb) last weekend and it turned out great. My now-refined process for these is as follows:
- Using hot sauce as a binder, rub with equal parts salt and pepper
- Smoke at 250F for 4 hours with white oak or your wood of choice
- Wrap in butcher paper, insert temp probe, and return to smoker
- Continue smoking at 250F until internal temp reaches 200F; usually at least another 2.5-3 hours
- Allow to rest in a cooler full of towels for at least an hour
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Looks great, nice job!
Best Greg
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Just beautiful & super pics. I Gotta do some soon. ;)