Barbequed Beef Ribs

After a couple of failed attempts at making beef ribs, I was a little hesitant to try again but since I had already purchased them I decided to take a chance and try again. I read up on different methods of cooking beef ribs as much as I can. From what I gathered, the primary difference in cooking beef ribs (pork doesn’t seem to be as bad) is getting the connective tissue to soften and melt into the meat to make it tender, almost falling off the bone. I really wanted a one-stop recipe without having to boil them first; it was a super hot and humid day and I didn’t want the extra heat and humidity in the house! I found a few recipes that baked the ribs in foil pouches, sealing in the flavours from the dry rub that was applied the night before. Bingo! But just in case the beef ribs failed again, I repeated the recipe with pork ribs and they were just as good!

The spice-blend can be altered to your preference. Or even use a bulgogi rub, or a tandoori rub, to change it up entirely! I love that the ribs steam in the pouches with the spice rub, sealing in the flavours. To be honest, you really didn’t need the BBQ sauce at the end, but it did allow the meat to caramelize and not dry out. This recipe will definitely be repeated before the summer ends.

Barbequed Beef Ribs

Serves 2-4 people

Ingredients:

• 1.5 kg beef ribs
• 30 mL olive oil
• 12 g granulated garlic
• 10 g dehydrated onion
• 5 g chile powder
• 35 g brown sugar, packed
• 5 g smoked paprika
• 10 g paprika
• 5 g smoked sea salt
• 2  g oregano
• Your favourite BBQ Sauce (I used about 125 mL)

Directions:

1. Remove the membrane from rib backs and cut the ribs to a length that will fit all of the ribs in your BBQ without overlapping.
2. Combine all of the spices in your spice grinder and grind to a fine powder; add the oregano and stir well. Place the ribs in a zip-lock bag and pour in the spice mix. Rub the spice mix into the ribs well and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight.
3. Preheat the BBQ to 250° F with indirect heat (we used our Medium-sized Big Green Egg with a cast iron diverter and stacked grills).
4. Lay a long piece of foil on the counter. Lay each rib section onto half of the foil so it doesn’t overlap, fold over the length of foil and seal the edges so it is entirely contained. Repeat until you have all the ribs in the foil pouches.
5. Place pouches on the grill with indirect heat and cook for 3.5 to 4 hours or until ribs are fork-tender and almost falling off the bone (ribs will cook at different rates depending on the thickness and whether they are beef or pork, so check around 3 hours). Remove the ribs when they are ready (at this point, you may hold them in a warm oven on a baking sheet in their pouches).
6. Increase the BBQ temperature to 375° F and remove the diverter so heat is now direct.
7. Carefully remove the ribs from the pouches and brush them with your favourite BBQ sauce. Place the ribs directly on the BBQ and grill until the sauce is slightly caramelized, sticky and delicious. Serve immediately.

These beef and pork ribs turned out fantastic!