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Tender rich flavored smoked traeger beef ribs with a mopping of delicious bbq sauce is the perfect cookout. The juicy meat comes easily off the bone, the best traeger beef ribs you will ever have!
I love smoking ribs all day while watching golf or football. They are a low maintanance slow cook that really take in the flavor of the smoke. Love these!
These smoked beef ribs are less expensive than my Dino Ribs Recipe on this site, and pairs well with smoked mac n cheese & buttery smoked corn.
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Ingredients
We aren't going crazy and making our own BBQ sauce. These Traeger beef ribs recipe utilizes the traeger sweet & heat bbq sauce making prep real easy.
- Beef Back Ribs (racks of ribs)
- Yellow Mustard
- Salt, Pepper, Garlic (SPG)
- Apple Cider Vinegar (Spritz)
- Traeger BBQ Sauce (Sweet & Heat)
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
- Step 1: Using a butter knife and paper towels, remove the membrane from underside of the ribs. (More info below)
- Step 2: Slather the ribs with yellow mustard, this is the binder to hold the spices.
- Step 3: Generously sprinkle SPG on ribs. Season both sides of the rack of beef ribs.
- Step 4: Begin smoking at 220°F, bone-side down directly on grill grates, spritzing every 45 minutes with apple cider vinegar.
- Step 5: Smoke for 7 hours at 220°F, or until 200°F internal temperature when checked with meat thermometer.
- Step 6: Slather on barbecue sauce and smoke another 20 minutes to set sauce.
- Step 7: Slice into individual ribs with a sharp knife and enjoy!
Hint: Local store doesn't have beef back ribs? You can use short ribs or order from an online meat market like Meat n' Bone. This is where I purchased the beef back ribs for this recipe.
Removing the Membrane
Taking off the membrane isn't a must, but it will produce better ribs. So.... Remove it.
This goes for 99% of the ribs you will cook, whether they are beef or pork baby back ribs.
Removing the membrane allows more of the flavor from your spices to penetrate the meat and when eating the ribs you will avoid stringy membrane pieces in your teeth.
- Use a dull knife like a butter knife and a couple paper towels. Simply turn the ribs so the meatier side is down on your cutting board and the ribs curve up towards you.
- Starting at one end, slide the knife under the thin membrane the runs along the whole rack of ribs. Pull up enough of the membrane so that you can grab it with your fingers and tear the rest off. This will be slippery, so using a paper towel to grip the membrane is the best way to get a good hold of it.
- Pull the membrane in the direction opposite of the side you started on, it should peel off the ribs. Pull it entirely off and discard in the garbage, it can't be used for anything.
Variations
These smoked beef ribs can be dressed with BBQ Sauce, rub, or left naked. I like the BBQ sauce ribs the best.
- Dry Rub - Use rub at the beginning of the cook in place of the SPG. Meat Church's dry rubs are my favorite.
- BBQ Sauces - Your favorite sauce is going to turn out best for you. Traeger Sweet & Heat bbq sauce was used for this recipe
- Naked - The naked ribs still have mustard and SPG. Just don't use a sauce at the end of cooking.
- Pork Ribs - Don't think you can only do this for beef ribs. Pork ribs are very inexpensive and taste fantastic!
Try my super easy smoked 3-2-1 pork ribs recipe on my website if you are looking for an easy pork rib recipe!
The Smoker
I'm using my Traeger 780 Grill when making these beef ribs. I like the ease of the pellet smokers because you don't have to baby a fire all day long.
You can totally use a traditional smoker if you have one. Hickory wood is my favorite to use when smoking beef ribs.
Beef Ribs Video (Step-by-Step)
Storage
Store leftover ribs in an airtight container in the fridge. These will be good for 2-3 days after cooking them.
To reheat, the best way is in an oven. NOT microwave! I like using my toaster oven set to 350°F for about 10 minutes. Place ribs on a tray lined with aluminum foil. Simply heat until the rib meat is warm/hot all the way through.
Top tip
Removing the membrane before cooking the ribs and spritzing with apple cider vinegar while cooking is what takes these ribs to the next level. Do NOT skip these steps when cooking beef ribs!
FAQ
My favorite type of ribs for this recipe are beef back ribs. They can be found in your local grocery store or at an online meat market.
Slow cooking on a smoker will break the meat fibers down and give you a nice tender bite after cooking 5-7 hours at a low temperature.
Cost. Beef ribs are quite a bit more expensive than their pork counterpart. Beef ribs have a better flavor than pork in my opinion, but will hit your wallet at 2-3x the price of pork.
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Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with smoked traeger beef ribs:
Ingredients
- 2 racks beef back ribs
Binder & Dry Rub
- 3 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
BBQ Sauce
- ½ cup bbq sauce (Traeger Sweet & Heat)
Equipment
Instructions
- Wash ribs with fresh water and dry with paper towels
- Remove the membrane by sliding a dull knife under membrane on the underside of ribs and pulling off while holding membrane with paper towel for easy grip.
- Rub mustard over both sides of ribs & season both sides liberally with dry rub. Pre-heat smoker to 220°F
- Place ribs meat side up on smoker grates and smoke for 5-7 hours until the internal temperature is 200°F. Spritz with apple cider vinegar every 30-45 minutes to keep meat moist while cooking.
- Once 200°F IT is reached, brush on BBQ sauce and cook another 20 minutes to allow sauce to set on the ribs.
- Remove from grill and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Cut in between each rib bone for individual rib pieces.
- Serve with your favorite side dishes for the perfect meal. Enjoy!
- Leave a comment and a star rating if you have made this recipe. It really helps me out. Thanks!
Pro Tips
- Make sure to remove the membrane to prevent stringy nastiness getting in your teeth when eating.
- If all of your ribs are fall off the bone, they are over done. They will still be tasty, but overdone. Cook to 200°F internal temp by checking with a meat thermometer.
- Cooking a lot of ribs? Use a rib rack to stand ribs on end giving you more space on the smoker
- Substitute apple juice for apple cider vinegar if needed. Both work great!
Nutrition
Food safety
We sometimes take for a granted that we have years (or decades) of cooking experience, that the average visitor may not. Add to, or remove from, the list below with health and safety tips.
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended, keep an eye on the smoker in case of fire
Jeff Beasley
My second time using this recipe! They turned out great the first time and can hardly wait for these to get done. I did lightly sprinkle with cayenne pepper this time just to see. Thanks for the recipe and tips!
Will
Glad to hear! I bet the cayenne will give it a nice kick. I might have to try that next time!
Will
This smoked beef rib recipe turned out SOOO good. I had a lot of fun putting it together and hope you enjoy it as much as I did. If you try this recipe, please consider leaving a star rating and comment. They really help out my site. Thanks for coming by!