4 COOK’S COUNTRY • JUNE/JULY 2019
TEXAS-STYLE BEEF RIBS are in-
timidating—so big they look like they
came off a T. r e x. But fans know that
beneath the dark, peppery crust and
pink smoke ring is succulently tender
beef so fl avorful that barbecue sauce
is unnecessary (and, in some corners,
verboten). You think brisket lovers
are committed? Wait till you meet a
smoked beef rib enthusiast.
I’m specifi cally referring to beef plate
ribs, the meatiest ribs on the steer. They
are marbled with fat and collagen; over
low, slow heat, they achieve a tender,
juicy texture. They are rarely available
prepackaged, so I had to start with a
special order at the butcher (see “Buy
the Right [Very Big!] Ribs”).
There is no universal code for how
butchers cut plate ribs, so I gave strict
specs to my butcher: “Two sets of beef
plate ribs, three ribs per set and 4 to
5 pounds each. I want 1 to 1½ inches of
meat on top of the bone.” The butcher
was happy to have the direction, and I
got exactly what I wanted.
Pit masters use commercial-size
smokers with lots of controls, but all I
had was a humble charcoal grill. Draw-
ing on knowledge I picked up while
developing a recent smoked brisket
recipe, I turned to a technique called a
charcoal snake. This grill setup involves
arranging coals in a C shape in the grill
and lighting just one end. The coals
slowly ignite each other as they burn
along the length of the snake, produc-
ing hours of heat without requiring
reloading. And because the heat moves
around the edges of the grill, you don’t
have to reposition the ribs as they cook.
I set up a charcoal snake and topped
it with fi ve evenly spaced wood chunks
to smolder for smoke fl avor. I placed
a pan of water in the middle of the
snake to keep the temperature stable
and sprinkled a generous amount of
salt and pepper over two sets of beef
plate ribs (enough to serve about eight
people). I lit one end of the snake,
closed the grill lid, and waited a ner-
vous 5 hours before opening it again.
When I fi nally did, the ribs had
reached an internal temperature of
200 degrees and they looked—and
smelled—like barbecue bliss. But they
were chewy when sliced, and one set of
ribs was burnt on the bottom.
It turned out that the burnt parts
had spent some time directly over
the coals. I needed to fi nd a diff erent
orientation, one that would allow the
ribs to cook through without burning
in spots. For my next test, I placed the
ribs slightly off -center, with the meat
carefully positioned over the gap in
the snake between the head and the
tail—and no meat sitting directly over
the hot coals. This minimized the
charring, but the ribs were still a little
bit tough.
I reached out to Daniel Vaughn, a
Texas barbecue expert. He advised me
to cook these ribs to 210 degrees. Cuts
that require low, slow cooking, such
as these ribs, need to hang out above
180 degrees for a long time so that the
collagen melts. I tried another batch,
this time keeping the grill covered for
6 hours to allow both sets of ribs to
reach 210 degrees. I then let the ribs
rest for an hour before slicing into the
tender, juicy meat. Perfect.
I served these at a backyard gather-
ing recently and, if I do say so myself,
my guests’ minds were blown.Texas-Style
Smoked
Beef Ribs
Wanted: a foolproof method for gigantic beef ribs.
by Morgan Bolling
TEXAS-STYLE SMOKED BEEF RIBS
Serves 6 to 8
We developed this recipe using a
22-inch Weber Kettle charcoal grill.
We call for beef plate ribs here; you
may need to special-order these. We
recommend reading the entire recipe
before starting.3 tablespoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons pepper
2 (4- to 5-pound) racks beef plate ribs,
1 to 1½ inches of meat on top of
bone, trimmed
5 (3-inch) wood chunks
1 (13 by 9-inch) disposable
aluminum pan- Combine salt and pepper in bowl,
then sprinkle ribs all over with
salt-pepper mixture. - Open bottom vent completely. Set
up charcoal snake: Arrange 60 bri-
quettes, 2 briquettes wide, around
perimeter of grill, overlapping slightly
so briquettes are touching, leaving
8-inch gap between ends of snake.
Place second layer of 60 briquettes,
also 2 briquettes wide, on top of fi rst.
(Completed snake should be 2 bri-
quettes wide by 2 briquettes high.)- Starting 4 inches from 1 end of
snake, evenly space wood chunks on
top of snake. Place disposable pan in
center of grill so short end of pan faces
gap in snake. Fill disposable pan with
4 cups water. Light chimney starter
fi lled with 15 briquettes (pile bri-
quettes on 1 side of chimney to make
them easier to ignite). When coals are
partially covered with ash, pour over
1 end of snake. (Make sure lit coals
touch only 1 end of snake.) - Set cooking grate in place. Clean
and oil cooking grate. Position ribs
next to each other on cooking grate,
bone side down, crosswise over dispos-
able pan and gap in snake (they will
be off -center; this is OK). Cover grill,
position lid vent over gap in snake, and
open lid vent completely. Cook undis-
turbed until rack of ribs overhanging
gap in snake registers 210 degrees in
meatiest portion, 5½ to 6¼ hours. - Transfer ribs to carving board, tent
with aluminum foil, and let rest for
30 minutes. Cut ribs between bones
and serve.
Whoa! These ribs are big
in size and even bigger in
smoky, meaty flavor.Buy the Right
(Very Big!) Ribs
Individual beef short ribs (left)
are too small to work here. This
recipe is specifi cally engineered for
racks of beef plate ribs (right), which
you may need to special-order from
a butcher.