| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr 55 min |
| Prep: | 25 min |
| Inactive: | 1 hr |
| Cook: | 1 hr 30 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 8 servings |
Ingredients
- Four 2 1/4- to 2 1/2-pound racks center cut beef ribs
- Magic Dust dry rub, recipe follows
- Apple City Barbecue Sauce, recipe follows
- 4 cups apple juice in a spray bottle
- 1/2 cup paprika
- 1/4 cup kosher salt, finely ground
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup powdered mustard
- 1/4 cup chili powder
- 1/4 cup ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup granulated garlic
- 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
- 1 cup ketchup
- 2/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup apple juice or cider
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/3 cup bacon bits, ground in a spice grinder
- 1/3 cup peeled and grated apple
- 1/3 cup grated onion
- 2 teaspoons grated green bell pepper
Instructions
- Prepping the meat: There is a skin-like membrane on the back of the ribs. The easiest way to remove it is to start in the middle of the rack and work a table knife or a screwdriver underneath the skin, going all the way across and teasing it up. Slide your forefinger in there and bring your thumb across, holding the rib down and pulling the membrane straight up. It’ll peel from the middle.
- Once you start cooking the ribs, you can’t leave the pit or grill unattended for any more than about 20 minutes. You’ll need to continually check that the temperature remains between 250 and 275 degrees F at all times in the grill. If it gets too hot, shut the top and bottom drafts to smother the fire. If some of the coals appear to be glowing red, that will cause a hot spot. Don’t cook the ribs directly over the hot spot, move them to a different, cooler, part of the grill. If the temperature dips too low, move the ribs to a hot spot for a while and add some hot coals.
- Sprinkle ribs liberally with Magic Dust, coating both sides. Put them in a shallow pan or on a cookie sheet and cover them with clear plastic wrap or a lid. Refrigerate them until you’re ready to use them. I recommend letting them marinate for at least 1 hour. At the restaurant we dust the ribs up to a day in advance.
- Place ribs on grill and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. About 10 minutes before you remove the ribs from the grill, mop them with sauce. When you take them off the grill, mop again with sauce and sprinkle some more Magic Dust on them. Serve immediately. Serves 4 very hungry people or you can cut the rack in half to serve 6 to 8 people who have a regular appetite.
- Mix all ingredients and store in a tightly covered container. You’ll want to keep some in a shaker next to the smoker, grill, or stove. Keeps indefinitely but won’t last long.
- Combine the ketchup, rice vinegar, apple juice or cider, cider vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic powder, white pepper, cayenne, and bacon bits in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in the apple, onion, and bell pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, 10 to 15 minutes or until it thickens slightly. Stir it often. Allow to cool, then pour into sterilized glass bottles. A clean glass jar that used to contain mayonnaise or juice works real well. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
Reviews
After 30 years of grilling I finally decided to try beef ribs. Beef to me has always been a meat designed for a quick cook. Char the outside and have a nice pink inner. Well I was doing some baby backs for the wife and I figured what the heck, lets try it. I found this recipe and decided to give it a go. So, what I found out is 1 1/2 hours is not nearly enough to get the meat to ride up the bone at 250. Should have realized this as it is the same for pork ribs. The more I left it on the dryer it got even spraying with apple juice. Ended up using the Texas crutch to help to finish these up and ensure that the meat was tender. The spices in the Magic Dust was pretty good but will try them again with my own blend as I prefer that balance. Overall a good tasting rib but the cooking method need to be adjusted to keep them tender. Beef rib seems perfectly designed for the Texas Crutch.
Great beef rib recipe! I cheated and did mine in an oven. I ran out of propane for my grill. Will attempt that method later. Low and slow works regardless of heat source. Missed only the smoke.
Has anyone found on this app “Cooking/Smoking on a Pellet Grill/Smoker”????
following the recipe, the ribs were inedibly tough. tried baking, covered for two more hours. By that time they were too dry. Both the “magic dust” and the sauce were very good and basically the same as my own two recipes. Next time I’ll rub them the day before bake covered at 300 F and thenfinish on a smokey grill for 1-2 hours
Very good. I liked the Magic mix and will use it again. I cooked these on my Traeger pellet grill for 1 h 15 m-they were red, a little tough, but Delicious. Next time I put them on ‘low-smoke’ (between 225 and 250) for 2.5 hours. I combined apple and oak pellets–apple to keep temp down and for flavor, and oak to keep temp up to 225-250.
the link to watch how this recipe is prepared is very misleading….its all about the UNLV football team…..not about beef ribs….what a waste of time!! that alone leads me to give 1 star….please people…if you say this shows you how to cook beef ribs…make sure it does….i expect more from the food network!!!
I have used the Magic Dust recipe twice. Once with beef ribs and then with pork back ribs. Both times the taste was outstanding. I used my own basting sauce, but will try the sauce with this recipe next time.
The ribs were marinated a day in advance and then grill. Everyone in the family complained the ribs were too spicy.
Perhaps the author did not provide all the ingredients that should go in this recipe or the measurements provided here are inaccurate thus rendering the ribs to be way too spicy.
I will not make this recipe again as NO one in my household liked it and that included adults as well as children.
These were awesome! Skipped the apple juice in a spray bottle. Just made the dust, scattered on and pre-baked, covered at 250 for 4 hours. BBQ’d next day over the coals with the BBQ sauce in the recipe. Loved them…meat fell off the bone!
We loved this recipe! I also rubbed down the ribs with the magic dust and let them sit in the fridge all day. I then grilled them and brushed them down with the Apple City Barbeque Sauce which has an amazing flavor all in its own. I then transferred the ribs to the oven and let them slow cook for a couple of hours. The flavor of the ribs just kept us coming back for more! Next time I will try it with pork ribs but I will make the rub and the sauce again. Absolutely Delicious!