BEEF RIBS - A hobbyist's musings on the least common "common" barbecue item

Cheers, Brothers.

Well, as many of you may have seen from the thread on my Labor Day cook, you know I just finished up a huge (variety-wise) cook for my extended family. (Becoming an expensive hobby -- now I'm firing up the pit every Memorial Day, 4th of July, AND Labor Day!) And I know I've got the bug, because one day later, I spent the entire day watching BBQ shows, reading my new Aaron Franklin hardback book, posting on this forum, and planning my NEXT cook.

I've tried everything commonly smoked except fish (no thanks -- no interest) and beef ribs. I've seen beef ribs in stores, but always pooh-poohed the idea because of a less-than-pleasant experience early in my life.

Those of you who live in or have visited Fort Worth, Texas may well know of an old BBQ institution called Angelo's. (and my deepest apologies if you happen to know the owners -- but this review is coming from a 7-year-old me.) I grew up in the 70's and 80's. And at least in my family, if you wanted barbecue in this area, you went to Angelo's.

Angelo's never pulled their membranes on their pork ribs, leaving a parchment-like papery surface to deal with while eating. They also served up dry brisket, passable chicken, and fairly bland turkey. For years, this defined barbecue for me. So as a child, when I heard we were going out for barbecue, I groaned.

However, one thing Angelo's *did* have that perked my interest was beef ribs. I always ordered them. Not because I loved them -- indeed, they were also dry, papery, and somewhat bland.

. . . but they looked like the dinosaur bones that Fred Flintstone ordered. THAT . . . was cool. So, ordered them, I did.

Since then, I've had great brisket, pork ribs, smoked turkey, etc. -- so had no fear about trying to smoke 'em up myself. But the beef ribs -- never found them anywhere else except Angelo's. And I'm sure if I had Angelo's BBQ now, I might review it more favorably. But the little kid in me wasn't so forgiving. And now, every time I think about smoking beef ribs, I think of Angelo's.

All that being said, I recently saw a PBS episode of "BBQ with Franklin" that showcased his beef ribs. Now, I'm not saying I think Aaron Franklin (or Myron Mixon or Tuffy Stone or Johnny Trigg, for that matter) makes the end-all be-all beef ribs . . .

. . . but maaaaaaannnn, they looked gooooooood . . .

SO -- I'm temped to try making them myself now. Not the ones I've seen Aaron make -- which are the short ribs. The kid in me wants to be redeemed and smoke up some killer Fred Flinstone brontosaurus ribs. I want them to be ridiculously good -- with no membrane, and full of flavor, so my kids will have *good* memories of them in their childhoods.

I have an 8 lb. reserve brisket sitting in my deep freeze, just taunting me to smoke him up. So maybe I'll use it as an excuse to do up some beef ribs, too. But for those of you with the experience here, I'd like to list a few concerns that are rummaging through my head:

1. Do you cook beef ribs exactly as you would a brisket? (i.e., rub, time, injection, etc.) I know cooking bone-in is an entirely different beast than cooking bone-out. Just wondering what the specifics might be.
2. Most places that sell raw beef ribs sell them chopped-up into smaller ribs. Where could I get the ribs uncut?
3. Any special techniques for cooking these that you don't do for anything else?

I just looked back over this post and saw how long it was. So, for those of you whom enjoy a Tolstoy-length novel, I thank you for reading up to this point. For those whom do not, I apologize in hindsight, but not really because you're not reading this anymore, so who cares. :-D


Thanks, guys.
- Clint

jbounds286 said:

as a fellow native of fort worth...im sorry u grew up on angelos and not cousin's on mccart.....brisket heaven!

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Me too!!