We are going to start by firing up the smoker. You want to build a big enough fire to hold a temperature between 225 and 250 degrees F. for the whole cooking time. Beef ribs have plenty of fat so we won't worry about wrapping these ribs like we would with pork ribs. If you do choose to wrap them (to get the meat to fall of the bone) then you will want to do that for the 4th and 5th hour of the cooking time. I recommend a good dose of smoke, particularly in the first two hours so have wood chunks on hand. I suggest a fruit wood like apple or cherry but what you have on hand will work fine.
Beef ribs tend to get cut rather creatively by many butchers. Typically I find them cut into 4 to 5 bone sections running about 8 inches in length. For this tutorial I am using 4 of these sections or about 18 bones.
The supplies you will need for this are:
- Several racks of Beef Ribs
- A good Rib Rub
- Fuel for your smoker (like charcoal or whatever your smoker burns)
- Wood Chunks
- Barbecue Sauce if you intend to sauce your ribs
- A dull knife (like a butter knife)
- A large, sharp knife
