I'm a fan of beef ribs cut off of a rib roast; I eat them as my cook's treat when I make a rib roast. I'm also a big fan of pork ribs, cooked low and slow. So, whenever I made beef ribs on their own, without the roast, I would cook them low and slow. The beef ribs were good, but not great; I would always prefer pork ribs. I couldn't figure out why the same low and slow technique you use with pork ribs didn't work as well with beef ribs.
Finally, it dawned on me - I liked the ribs cut from the roast better because they were roasted. I wasn't cooking them at a high enough temperature to get a nice, crispy crust on them, and I was drying them out with the long cooking time. Why not cook them the same way I cooked my rotisserie baby back ribs, which always turned out with a wonderful, crisp crust? And, voila! My new favorite rib recipe was born.
These ribs are huge. My kids were calling them dinosaur ribs, because each one is about twice the length of a pork rib.
*Actually, they picked the "dinosaur ribs" up from me. They've never seen The Flintstones. I was flabbergasted when I realized this - they're kids, and they have no idea who Fred and Barney are. I'm getting old...
When I eat pork ribs, I need about half a slab to be full.* For beef ribs, I only need about three of them, so adjust your meat purchase accordingly.
*Unfortunately for my waistline, I rarely stop at a half a slab.
📖 Recipe Card
Rotisserie Beef Ribs
- Total Time: 3 hours 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Big, meaty beef ribs, seasoned with salt and pepper and spun on the rotisserie over medium heat with a little hickory smoke until they have a crisp, browned crust.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds beef ribs
- 3 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1 fist-sized chunk of smoking wood (preferably hickory)
Instructions
- Season the ribs: 2 to 4 hours before cooking, sprinkle the ribs evenly with the salt and pepper, and refrigerate. 1 hour before cooking, take the ribs out of the refrigerator and let them sit at room temperature, and put the wood chunk in water to soak.
- Spit the ribs: Weave the ribs onto the rotisserie spit, poking the spit through the meat every two bones and alternating sides.
- Prepare the grill: Set up your grill for rotisserie cooking on indirect medium heat, with a drip pan in the middle. On a charcoal kettle, light a chimney starter half full of charcoal, and when the coals are covered with ash, pour them into two equal piles on either side of the drip pan. Put the wood chunk on one of the piles.
- Cook the ribs: Put the spit on the grill, start the rotisserie spinning, and cook with the lid closed for about 1 ½ hours, until the ribs are well browned and the meat has pulled back about ½ inch from the ends of the bones. Keep the grill at about 300°F to 350°F; on charcoal, add 8 coals to each pile after the first hour.
- Rest and serve: Remove the ribs from the grill, and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Cut between the bones, and serve.
Notes
Equipment: A grill with a rotisserie (I use a Weber kettle with the Weber kettle rotisserie) and a 9x12 inch aluminum foil drip pan. I use a Weber chimney starter to light the charcoal.
See my rotisserie basic technique for more about setting up the grill.
Beef ribs are huge - my kids call them dinosaur ribs. Plan on about 3 ribs per person.
Look for meaty ribs, with the bones mostly covered. Avoid "shiners" - ribs with the meat trimmed down to the bone.
If your ribs come in two smaller slabs, a short slab may not weave onto the spit. Secure it with one of the rotisserie forks instead.
Dry rub barbecue ribs: Season the ribs with barbecue rub along with the salt, and sprinkle with a little more rub when they come off the grill.
Wet barbecue ribs: Season with barbecue rub, baste the ribs with barbecue sauce for the last 10 minutes of cooking, and baste again when they come off the grill.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Dry brine: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
What do you think? Questions? Comments? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts:
Click here for my rotisserie baby back ribs recipe
Click here for my rotisserie beef rib roast recipe
Click here for my other rotisserie recipes.
 Check out my cookbook, Rotisserie Grilling.
Everything you could ask about the rotisserie, It's a Kindle e-book, so you can download it and start reading immediately! |
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through the links on this site. (Like my Rotisserie Grilling cookbook...)
David B says
Love your recipes, I use my rotisserie often and it always turns out great. Quick question - do you baste these as they cook or put any kind of water/apple cider vinegar mixture on the grill to help keep them from drying out while smoking? Or no, because that will hinder bark formation? Hard to know the balance of wanting juicy ribs but also wanting a nice bark! Thanks in advance
Mike Vrobel says
I do not; they don't really need it, because rotisserie cooking is self-basting. (And they're not on the grill for long enough to dry out.)
Ben says
Love your book and website Mike.
What temperature do you get these to?
Cheers
Ben
Mike V says
That's a good question - I don't temp ribs; I go by how they look. Based on how they react, I'd guess somewhere between 180°F and 205°F. (I know that's a big range...)
Christopher says
I use a old school big George rotisserie usually run about 250 for 2.5 3 hrs never tried them on the grill adding the extra flavor of the smoke sounds like a great idea gonna try that next rib run
Aaron says
Indirect medium heat; In this recipe you say to fill the chimney 1/2 full. In the baby back ribs recipe you say 3/4 full. In the "(see details here)" link it only explains that a full chimney will give you 450-500. I was wondering if you have a detailed explanation of the amount of charcoal vs. cooking temp.
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
@Ron W - Yes, that's what I love about this recipe. Salt, pepper, smoke, and beef ribs. It's so simple, and it works so well.
@Dan - Thank you!
I agree with the part-time vegetarianism, (even if it doesn't seem like it from my blog posts) - I've got one of my regular vegetarian recipes ready to go for next week.
That said, I don't think I could be a full time vegetarian. There are too many ribs to eat out there...
MikeV
DadCooksDinner
Daniel says
Spectacular recipe Mike, thanks for sharing. It's meals like this that explain why I always talk about part-time vegetarianism, not full-time.
Dan
Casual Kitchen
Ron W says
They look great. Just a few comments from a guy who is still trying to get this right...
I prefer to grill them at a lower heat (250-300) with more smoke (use soaked chips, added twice, instead of a chunk, agree that Hickory is best) for around two hours and then use the "Texas crutch" method of wrapping them in foil and spend an hour in a 250 oven. Much better texture and no loss in flavor. I like em Memphis style with a rub with chili powder in it, sauce on the side with lots of smoke. In fact, if you can make 'em taste good using nothing but salt pepper and smoke, you'll be on your way to mastery. Nice blog. We make grills for a living. You can check us out: Google German Grill. Happy grilling!