Some eagle-eyed readers may recall that in my Memphis-style barbecue beef back ribs recipe from earlier this year, I only used half of the huge 16 lb. package of beef back ribs that US Wellness Meats sent me. I had been eyeballing the remaining two racks of ribs for a while and I decided to take a different approach to the ribs this time; the Memphis-style recipe was a lot of fun, but it also took a lot of work (and some specialized equipment) to get that perfect taste. This time around, I wanted to make something that was ridiculously easy and still produced some high-quality, juicy, and tender beef ribs.
So I turned to my dear old gas grill, and let the magic of indirect heat run its course.
You’ll Need:
2 racks US Wellness Meats beef back ribs (8 lbs)
1 tbsp black pepper
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tsp each ground mustard, paprika, cumin
1/2 tsp each curry powder, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and cinnamon
1 cup barbecue sauce
Combine all the dry ingredients, then take a pretty picture of the dry rub to show your friends.
Sprinkle the dry rub over both sides of the ribs and let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
As the ribs are hanging out, take a large handful of mesquite wood chips and soak them in water for 30 minutes.
To get a good amount of smoke going, add the soaked chips to a smoker box and place the box under the grill grates on one side of the grill (directly under a burner). If you happen to leave your smoker box outside in the rain sometime, you’ll get a nice rusty color to it like mine! Preheat your grill for about 10 minutes, then leave only the burner under the smoke box running.
Place the ribs on the opposite end of the smoker box (the cool side of the grill) and cover. Adjust the burner’s intensity to get a grill temperature of as close to 265 degrees as possible. Grill the ribs using this indirect method for three hours, or until the rib’s internal temperature reaches 180 degrees.
After three hours, the ribs should look slightly crispy on the outside and most of the fat should have cooked off the meat.
Turn the burners up to medium heat and grill the ribs on direct heat for a couple minutes, to burn off the remaining fat. This should only take a few moments once the heat is going. Brush on some barbecue sauce and remove the ribs from the grill.
Slice the ribs into singles using some kitchen shears and enjoy!
