How to prepare beef back ribs for smoking

Everyone loves a perfectly cooked beef rib, however there are a few essential steps you need to know before you even put the meat into the smoker.

Neaten the edges of the rack of ribs and trim and excess fat from the meaty side of the ribs.

If the fat is too thick it won’t render (break down) properly during the cook making it chewy when you try to eat it. There's nothing worse than gnawing on a piece of beef fat that just won't break down.

Once you've trimmed the excess fat along the top and side, flip the rack of ribs over.

This is where the fun begins. Use a paper towel to begin pulling off any fat that is too thick to render during the cook. Doing this will expose the membrane on the ribs. Pull off the membrane the best you can as this allows the smoke to penetrate the meat more effectively. It also makes it a lot easier to cut the ribs into individual ribs once they are cooked and also makes it more pleasant to eat.

Do a final tidy up of the edges of the rib rack and you are ready to place your rub on the ribs. I strongly recommend the Flaming Coals Bovine Espress rub for beef ribs. It creates the most amazing bark and has just the right amount of salt, pepper and a few secret ingredients.

To make things easier for you, I've recorded a video how to prepare beef ribs for smoking.

Check out more delicious smoking recipes and How to guides
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Cameron Davidson   By: Cameron Davidson