Beef and Pork Ribs with a side of Brisket Pinto's

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kevin james

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Jul 30, 2012
484
384
Sacramento, CA
I decided since today is the first day of spring it would only be fitting to celebrate by cooking some good BBQ (not like I really need a reason, but hey… any excuse will do lol). I decided to do some beef ribs so I went to Costco last night and got a twin pack of beef chuck short ribs, and I took a slab of pork St. Louise ribs out of the freezer to defrost as well… I figured might as well do both… why not? I also decided I might as well make a new batch of brisket pinto beans and BBQ sauce while I’m at it.

So I got my Kat offset all cleaned up this morning, then proceeded to trim some of the fat off the top of the beef ribs and got them seasoned with some SPG while the smoker was coming up to my preferred temp of 275. The pork ribs also got trimmed and hit with some SPG to keep them simple but I added just a sprinkle of some cane sugar for a little sweetness.

Once the smoker was up to temp the beef ribs went on at about 1:30, and I was planning for about a 6 hour cook (although obviously they’re done when they probe tender). Then I got a couple crock pot’s out to start the pinto beans and BBQ sauce (just to baste the pork ribs with). The pork ribs went on at about 4:30, and the beef ribs got wrapped in butcher paper once I was satisfied with the bark, which was about an hour later at 5:30 (they temped at about 180 at this point), then the pork ribs got a wrap in foil at 7:30 after 3 hours in the smoke.

The beef ribs were done at about 8:00 and probing tender at about 206… so just about 30 minutes later than I predicted which wasn’t bad. I had let the pit temp get down a little lower to 250ish, so I think they would have been right on time if I had kept it up at 275. Oh well. I sat them on the counter to rest (still in the butcher paper) while I focused on the pork ribs, which also took a little longer and finished by 9:00. I basted the pork ribs with the sauce and put them back on the pit for about 10 minutes to let the sauce tack up. Then I hit them with just a little bit of home-made rib candy (pineapple chipotle) and let them rest.

Dinner was served at 9:30 and I have to say I was really happy with how everything turned out. Both the beef ribs and the pork ribs were perfectly tender and super juicy.

And now for the pics!

Beef Ribs Pic 1.jpg
Beef Ribs Pic 2.jpg
Pork Ribs Pic 1.jpg
Pork Ribs Pic 2.jpg
Pork Ribs Pic 3.jpg
Beef Ribs Pic 3.jpg
Beef & Pork Ribs and Pintos.jpg
Beef Ribs Pic 4.jpg
 
Wow kevin, that looks fantastic. have you or can you share your pineapple chipotle recipe, i am going to have to try some beef ribs soon, done only pork so fat
David

Thanks. Sure, the pineapple chipotle is just a rib candy glaze and goes on after a regular sauce. Just a little bit to give it that shine and a little sweetness and a hint of heat. I only put it on the top, which gives a nice contrast as you taste the regular sauce on the bottom and the sauce with the glaze on top. Both Kosmos Q and Texas Pepper Jelly make them, but they are so simple that I see no point in paying $10-$12 a bottle for something I can make for almost nothing.

It's literally just 4 ingredients..... sugar, fruit juice, a little chipotle powder and a pinch of pectin to thicken it just a little. For me, a batch consists of 2 cups of regular white sugar, 1 cup of pineapple juice (Trader Joe's, sells half gallon cartons of pineapple juice which makes that an easy choice) 1-2 teaspoons of chipotle powder for just a little heat, and 1 teaspoon of pectin powder to thicken. You can really use any fruit juice and anything you like to give it some heat, or no heat at all if you prefer. I make it in a sauce pan over medium heat just until the sugar is 100% dissolved. Once it's done I let it cool and then put it in a squeeze bottle. Again, I only use a very small amount since it's mostly sugar.
 
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Man that all looks great! That glaze on the ribs is gorgeous. I’m a 275F cooker too and often after the first few hours I run 300F. I’m a believer in hot and fast.
 
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Man that all looks great! That glaze on the ribs is gorgeous. I’m a 275F cooker too and often after the first few hours I run 300F. I’m a believer in hot and fast.

Thanks. I've been testing and making small tweaks to my pork spare ribs for a while now... but I think I have my process on them 100% dialed now and wouldn't change a thing.

The last tweak was the membrane... I have always pulled them... but after hearing both Aaron Franklin and Terry Black's say they don't pull them (too much work when doing that many slabs) I wanted to try it. Honestly, cooking at 250-275, I literally couldn't even tell the membrane was there at all. I literally didn't notice any difference whatsoever from my usual membrane off ribs. The other side benefit I really liked is that there was only 2 bones that popped through on the back. I FREAKING HATE shiners, and when I pull the membranes I always get a a ton of them by the time the ribs come out of the foil. The two I did get were the very firs rib which I don't care about as I only leave it to protect the second rib and on.. and one in the middle that just a small part popped through. The tenderness on them was PERFECT. Perfect bite through without falling off the bone and came clean off the bone, and they did seem a little bit juicier than normal too. Maybe that was my imagination, but I'm sold. I will not be pulling them going forward.
 
The more I thought about this I am going to try a keto version of your candy glaze. Going to use Ocean Spray Diet Cran Pineapple, Allulose sugar sub and some chipotle pepper paste. I think it might just work.
 
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