Whether you prefer using a charcoal smoker for a traditional BBQ or you like the convenience of an electric smoker or propane gas smoker instead, this cooking method offers you a great deal of versatility. How about cooking short ribs in a smoker, though? We’ll outline this smoking beef ribs you today after some beef short ribs basics.
What’s the Problem with Beef Ribs? How Long Does it Take to Smoke Beef Short Ribs? What Is The Best Internal Temperature for Smoking Beef Short Ribs? Beef short ribs are super-short sections of ribs that comes from various areas of the cow.
Short ribs range from 3 to 6 inches long, and these ribs are packed with meat. The most common ribs you’ll find in the grocery store are 3-inch ribs with individual bones. The larger 6-inch ribs comes with 3 bones attached. These ribs, then, come from the rib, chuck, brisket, and plate of the cow. To qualify as true short rubs, there should be parts of a specific muscle, the serratus ventralis muscle, visible throughout the meat. As a rule, ribs from the chuck and brisket tend to be more expensive. Now, while short ribs are usually extremely meaty, they can also come out too tough.
When you’re cooking ribs, you need to pay close attention to the smoking time and smoke temperature, as well as the internal temperature. You should make sure you have a good smoker thermometer for this purpose. Assuming you take care of all these elements, though, smoking short beef ribs should give you a flavor-packed treat next time you host a cookout. In some ways, beef short ribs have very little in common with pork ribs. They have much more flavor and meat to start with, and they also have far more fat and connective tissue. This is one of the reasons that makes these ribs prone to toughness. Get the cooking right, though, and there’s no need for this.
Beef short ribs have one thing in common with pork ribs, though: they respond most favorably to coking at low temperatures. This allows the fat and connective tissue to melt. Beyond this, cooking your beef short ribs slow and low will ensure the protein doesn’t knot up. This can make rib even tougher.