Note: This recipe was written by Robyn’s Husband, Scott! He makes an appearance on this blog sometimes! This smoked beef short rib recipe has been slightly updated since the first time Scott wrote it as we have continued to perfect the recipe each time we make short ribs on the big green egg! Enjoy!
Beef short ribs are all the rage these days and it seems like every food truck and trending restaurant is serving them. For the last few weeks, I have been eyeing the great looking short ribs I’ve been seeing at our local butcher and have been itching to try them, However, you typically only find them in one of two styles.
Korean-Style, which are butchered like a rack of ribs and cut across the bone, and often served on tacos, sandwiches and are favorites of the food truck scene.
The typical restaurant-style short ribs are seasoned and braised and can be served on or off the bone.
What you don’t see a lot of in restaurants and food trucks are SMOKED SHORT RIBS and that is exactly what I wanted to try with mine.
The overall method I used follows the same principles of Robyn’s Better Than Sex Brisket recipe, but for the short ribs, I pulled inspiration and guidance from a few of my go-to sources including Steven Raichlen and Chris Grove, aka Nibble Me This. In the end, I made it my own and relied on past experiences and a smoker’s instinct to come up with an amazing finished product.
These ribs are not to be missed and invite a welcome addition to the classic, and sometimes repetitive repertoire of smoked butts, briskets and pork ribs. If you are going to spend the time to make smoked beef short ribs on, it is worth looking for a quality cut of meat. If you can’t find good quality beef short ribs locally, I highly recommend Wagyu Beef short ribs from Snake River farms.
While waiting on the ribs, Mr. Hunter takes a dip in the pool. Only 5 months old and already too cool for school! He’s already smoked brisket, a turkey, ribs with his Grandpa, pork belly and now Short Ribs. We’re prepping him for Chopped Junior. 🙂
This method consists of making a good BBQ Rub, smoking at 225 degrees until it reaches an internal temp of 180-185, making a broth that goes into your “Texas Crutch” aka wrapping in foil, and then finally back on the smoker to let them set. If you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag us @grillgirlrobyn so we can see your tasty results!
If you are looking for more inspiration for Beef, don’t forget to check out Robyn’s Better Than Sex Brisket Recipe, Her Better Than Sex Smoked Tri Tip Recipe, or her BRISKET AF T-shirts!
AND, if you need help with your Big Green Egg, you have come to the right place! We have a full tutorial series to set you up for success on the Big Green Egg!
Smoked Beef Short Ribs on the Big Green Egg
- Total Time: 3-4 hours hours
- Yield: 2 Bone in beef short ribs per person. 1x
Description
This Smoked Beef Short Ribs recipe made on the Big Green Egg will change the way you think about short ribs forever.
Ingredients
Meat
Start with good quality, large bone in beef ribs. They shrink down significantly in size, so shop for large ones and try to keep the sizes as consistent as possible. Ask your butcher to trim away silver skin if present.
- Apple juice (for spritzing)
Rub
- 30% Kosher Salt
- 40% Coarse Peppar
- 10% Chipotle Powder
- 10% Paprika
- 10% Garlic Powder
- Yellow Mustard
Texas Crutch/Foil Stage/ Broth
- 2 Shallots – Diced
- 2–3 Garlic cloves – crushed
- 1–2 Tbps Beef base
- 2 Cups water
Instructions
Prepare the ribs and rub
- Mix the dry rub ingredients together in a small bowl. Rather than specifying the exact amounts, focus on the percentages and make a proportional amount to the number of ribs you are smoking. I don’t like to run short on my rub and have to either skimp or make a second batch so I always err on the side of having some extra.
- Trim off any excessively large or loose pieces of fat or meat to the ribs. However, be sure to leave a nice even layer of fat on the topside so you end of with a trim and tidy shaped rib. Set all the ribs in a cookie sheet.
- Score both sides of the ribs in a 1” diamond shape pattern. Since the fat layer isn’t that thick, watch your depth and don’t score it as deep as you would on a brisket.
- Evenly smoother the yellow mustard on all six sides of each rib.
- Generously sprinkle the dry rub onto the ribs and work it into the score marks so that all six sides are evenly covered. See photos. Now take a photo and post it to Instagram to make your friends jealous.
- Cover the ribs with plastic and let the ribs setup in the fridge for at least one hour. Remember to pull them from the fridge and let them come up to temperature before they go onto the smoker.
Prepare the smoker
I used my Big Green Egg, but the overall procedure works on whatever smoker you are using. Always start with a clean smoker and good quality lump charcoal.
- Load your smoker with enough charcoal to sustain about a 4 hour cook. In the large BGE, this was about just under the ½ mark to the line.
- Start a small fire and get the smoker up to 225. Keep a close eye on the size of the fire as it warms up so that the smoker doesn’t get too hot. At this stage it’s much harder to cool the fire down than it is to bump it up a few degrees.
- Open first beer.
- Add your wood of choice, which in this case was 2-3 chunks of Hickory.
- If you are using a BGE, add the plate setter and a water tray with hot (not cold!) water. I use medium size aluminum plans.
Now you're ready to put the ribs on the smoker. You did remember to take them out of the fridge before you started the fire right?
Smoking the ribs
- Load the ribs, bone down, fat side up on the grates, leaving about an inch between the ribs.
- Smoke the ribs at 225 for about two hours until the internal temperature gets to 180-185. I used a Flame Boss so I just dialed in the two probes and let the Flame Boss do the work. If you’re curious what internal temp any protein you’re cooking should reach, be sure to check out our BBQ Calculator!
- After about 165, occasionally spritz the ribs with Apple juice to keep them moist.
- While the ribs are smoking, prepare the Texas Crutch/Foil Stage broth. Do this well in advance of the ribs reaching their target temperature so that everything is done ahead of time. Somewhere around beer number 3 is a good time to shoot for.
Texas Crutch/Foil Stage
- Mix all of the broth ingredients together in a saucepan and simmer on low heat for 20-30 minutes.If you are using an outdoor burner on your grill, watch the temperature so that it doesn’t get to a boil.
- Allow the broth to cool to room temperature and set aside covered.
- Set aside two large pieces of tin foil sized to the number and size of your ribs. Fold the edges up on one of them to make a shallow tray to receive the ribs and broth.
- Once the ribs have reached 180-185, place them in the foil tray, and gently, but generously spoon the room temperature (not cold) broth over the ribs.
- Fold all of the edges up and then cover it with the second piece of foil, overlapping any seams.
- Return the wrapped ribs to the smoker until the internal temperature reaches 200-205, about one hour. I bumped up the temperature slightly on the smoker at this point, but you will need to use your own judgement there.
Final: Set Stage
- Return the smoker temperature to 225 or lower.
- Once the Texas Crutch phase is over, return the uncovered ribs to the smoker.
- Let the ribs set for 30-60 minutes. We pulled them a little early simply because we wanted to eat before Hunter woke up.
- Place the ribs on your serving platter of choice and tent the ribs for about 10 minutes before serving.
- Sit down and prepare to enjoy some great beef short ribs!
Notes
We served our smoked beef short ribs with smoked squash and a caprese salad. I recommend pairing these with a nice fruit forward Zinfandel blend. Gnarly Head for a great bargain or Angels and Cowboys to step it up a notch.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 6-8 hours
- Category: beef, smoked meat, bbq, texas bbq
- Method: smoke, bbq, grill
- Cuisine: BBQ
**Note: This is my husband Scott’s first blog post EVER! Scott is an amazing cook and I’ve been bugging him to blog about his recipes for ages (I’ve had this blog for 7 years!!!), to which he would retort, “I don’t need to read your blog, I live your blog every day.” Finally, he got inspired to write one of his recipes down and this one’s a beauty. Here’s hoping there are many more to come!
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Spot on Scott!! I was fortunate to be the recipient of this awesome recipe. Great job. Smoke on and write on. You are excellent at both.
this is the perfect thing for the outing…well be on a close swimming pool, and i am planning to grill but smoke is prohibited there, I am looking an electric griller online https://www.shorisuperstore.com/collections/grills?page=2
I am still on search, can you share what electric grilling machine you have and where you bought it?
I’m anxious to try the short rib recipe. Looks amazing! I’m curious. Is this something I can set the egg at 225 and leave for 3 hours and then do the crutch phase OR will the ribs come up to temperature during the 3 hours window when I will be unavailable? Thanks
Dave, for the first attempt I would do some babysitting unless you have a flameboss. A flameboss will babyseat the meat and grill temp for you and adjust accordingly.
My schedule requires me to cook earlier in the day. Would they be ok reheated and if so what is the best way to do so?
You are okay to reheat – reserve some cooking liquid from the Ribs so you can use that when you reheat. I’d add some beef broth to the mixture and add that when you reheat in some foil to keep everything moist. Set the temp of the oven no more than 300 so you don’t dry them out! Best of luck!
I am doing 3 racks on my egg set up with a “roast basket” to stand them on their side. Is it ok to just stack them one on top of the other for the crutch stage? (They won’t all fit laying on the grill)
Hi Phil, I think this should work fine if they are wrapped okay. You might also be able to use an eggspander but stacking is totally fine! Send me pics of final pics! @grillgirlrobyn or [email protected]