Beef back ribs are an underappreciated cut of meat that with the right cooking method can yield incredibly tender, juicy and flavorful results. But cooking them properly comes down to knowing just how long to cook beef back ribs. Follow my guide below to learn exactly how long you need to bake or smoke beef back ribs to get perfect results every time.
What are Beef Back Ribs?
Beef back ribs come from the upper rib section of the cow, specifically the portion just beneath the prime rib roast They are leaner than beef short ribs since they don’t have as much meat between the bones, but still have plenty of rich beefy flavor.
One rack of beef back ribs includes 12-13 ribs. You can find them sold as a full rack or pre-cut into smaller sections. While less common than pork back ribs, beef back ribs deserve more attention for their tenderness and big beefy taste when cooked properly.
Why Cooking Time Matters
Cooking beef ribs correctly comes down to temperature and technique. The goal is to slowly break down the collagen in beef ribs to result in a tender, fall-off-the-bone texture.
Cooking too hot and fast will yield tough, chewy ribs. Cooking too low and slow can make them mushy. So finding that perfect window of time and temperature helps beef back ribs reach their full potential.
How Long to Cook Beef Back Ribs in the Oven
The oven is a foolproof way to deliver tender oven baked beef back ribs every time The key steps include
-
Season Generously season ribs all over with a dry rub A blend of smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper adds great flavor.
-
Slow Cook: Place ribs bone-side up on a foil-lined baking sheet. Cover tightly with more foil and bake at 275°F for 4 hours.
-
Uncover/Sauce: Remove foil, brush with BBQ sauce and broil 3-5 minutes to caramelize sauce.
The low and slow oven cooking time allows the beef ribs to gradually become fork tender after 4 hours. For best results, resist any temptation to uncover the ribs or increase the heat earlier. This long covered bake ensures super moist and tender beef back ribs.
How Long to Smoke Beef Back Ribs
Smoking beef back ribs infuses them incredible smoky flavor. Follow this process for perfect smoked beef ribs:
-
Prep: Remove any hard fat from the ribs but leave membrane intact. Coat with Worcestershire sauce and rub.
-
Smoke: Smoke the ribs bone-side up at 250°F for 2.5 hours until reaching 170°F internal temperature.
-
Wrap: Wrap ribs in foil and continue smoking until 200-205°F and ribs feel tender.
-
Sauce: Unwrap ribs, sauce and smoke 10 more minutes to tack up sauce.
The smoking time will depend on the thickness of your ribs and temperature of your smoker, but usually takes 4-5 hours to fully tenderize the ribs. Check for tenderness before removing from the smoker.
Tips for Cooking Beef Back Ribs
-
For very tender and juicy oven-baked ribs, cook low and slow uncovered for at least 4 hours. Don’t rush the process.
-
Let smoked ribs cook unwrapped first to absorb that great flavor before wrapping to finish cooking tender.
-
Use an instant read thermometer to check doneness instead of relying on cook times alone.
-
For fall-off-the-bone tender ribs, cook until 205°F when smoking or around 200°F for oven baking.
-
Always let ribs rest at least 5-10 minutes before slicing into them for perfectly juicy results.
Serving Suggestions
Beef back ribs pair beautifully with classic BBQ sides. Try serving them with:
- Baked beans
- Coleslaw
- Corn on the cob
- Mac and cheese
- Potato salad
- Collard greens
- Cornbread
You can also put ribs front and center by serving beef back ribs for dinner with just one or two simple sides like a salad, veggies or rice. Provide plenty of napkins and enjoy!
Common Questions About Cooking Beef Back Ribs
How can you tell when beef back ribs are done?
The best way is to use an instant read thermometer to check for doneness. Beef ribs are done when they reach around 200-205°F and the meat between the bones feels very tender when poking with a fork.
Should the membrane be removed from beef back ribs?
It’s optional to remove it or not. Removing it allows more smoke and seasoning to penetrate. But leaving it on helps the rack hold together better during cooking. It’s a personal choice.
Do you put bbq sauce on beef back ribs?
Adding bbq sauce is definitely recommended to give oven baked or smoked beef back ribs that sticky, flavorful coating. Brush on sauce during the last 10-15 minutes of cooking so it can caramelize.
What wood is best for smoking beef ribs?
Good beef rib smoking wood choices are hickory, oak, mesquite, apple, cherry, pecan and maple. Use a heavier smoke wood like hickory or mesquite to complement the beef.
Can you cook beef back ribs in a slow cooker?
It’s best not to slow cook beef back ribs. They come out much more moist and tender when cooked low and slow in the oven or smoker. The slow cooker can make them dry.
For Delicious Beef Back Ribs, Take Your Time
The key to making incredibly tender, fall-off-the-bone beef back ribs is allowing them to slowly cook to perfection. Resist any urge to rush the process. Let your oven or smoker work their magic to gradually break down that collagen for amazing results. Just be sure to accurately gauge doneness for your preferred level of tenderness. Master this and you’ll be rewarded with the best beef back ribs ever.
Details Of The Cook
Barbecue the beef back ribs at 250-275°F for 4 hours and then check for doneness. The ribs should be tender after 4-6 hours of cooking—these ribs took just 4 hours. Replenish the water pan with hot tap water during the cook, as you feel necessary.
If you want to spritz the ribs with beer a few times, feel free to do so, starting halfway through the cooking process. I used the bottle of Lone Star beer shown in the background of one of the earlier photos.
Here’s how the cooker temperature went during my 4-hour cook:
| Time | Lid Temp | Meat Temp | Vent 1 % | Vent 2 % | Vent 3 % |
| 3:30 pm | – | – | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 4:00 pm | 198 | – | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 4:45 pm | 205 | – | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 5:20 pm | 224 | – | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 5:45 pm (b) | 267 | – | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 6:00 pm | 275 | – | 75 | 75 | 75 |
| 6:15 pm | 273 | – | 75 | 75 | 75 |
| 7:00 pm (b) | 276 | – | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| 7:30 pm | 282 | – | 50 | 50 | 50 |
(b) basted ribs with beer
Note that the vent percentages represent the way I set the vents at the time indicated.
After cooking for 4 hours, I checked the ribs for tenderness by pulling on two adjacent bones. The meat offered just a little resistance before tearing easily, so I knew they were done.
The ribs came out of the cooker and I basted them with a little barbecue sauce.
I wrote in my cooking log, “Really dark, almost black in color. Good tenderness and smoke ring. Rich flavor, almost like eating prime rib.”
If you can find beef long bones, give them a try. You’ll like them!
Choosing And Prepping Beef Back Ribs
Beef back ribs correspond to loin back ribs on a pig, but of course they’re much larger in size. The extremely tender rib roast sits right on top of the back ribs, so you know these suckers are going to be tender and delicious if prepped and cooked properly.
For this cook, I wanted big, meaty, beef back “long ribs”. I bought these at Restaurant Depot, a members-only wholesale restaurant supply store with locations throughout the United States. If you are a Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) member, you can get a free day pass by showing your KCBS membership card and a photo ID.
The photo above shows 3 slabs of ribs in Cryovac packaging weighing 11.92 pounds. The ruler in the foreground gives you a sense of the size of these ribs.
Examine beef back ribs carefully before purchasing them. Look for meaty slabs with good meat coverage over and between the bones. We’ve all seen stores selling slabs in which the meat has literally been carved out from between the bones—don’t buy those ribs. Also, count the number of bones. A full slab of beef back ribs will contain 7-8 bones.
Prepping beef back ribs is about the same as prepping pork ribs. Remove the membrane from the bone side using a butter knife and paper towel, as described in the Pork Loin Back Rib Preparation article. The membrane on beef ribs is much thicker and may put up more of a fight than on pork ribs, but the process is the same.
After removing the membrane, scrape away any large areas of fat on the bones, then flip the slab over and trim away any large areas of fat from the meat side. You don’t have to be too fussy, just trim away what makes sense to you.
The last step is to figure out how you’re going to fit these monsters into the cooker. These ribs are not as long as a full slab of pork loin back ribs, but much wider and with much thicker bones, which makes fitting them into a rib rack difficult. They also don’t like to roll into a circle like pork ribs do.
I was able to fit the smallest slab on the bottom cooking grate, but had to trim off 2 of the longest bones from the larger slabs. Those trimmings went on the bottom cooking grate, and the other 2 slabs went into a rib rack on the top cooking grate, as shown in the photos further down this page.
Author Steven Raichlen likes ribs so much, he wrote an entire book about them! For these beef back ribs, I used his “Lone Star Rib Rub” recipe from Raichlen on Ribs, Ribs, Outrageous Ribs.
Lone Star Rib Rub
- 3 Tablespoons kosher salt
- 3 Tablespoons pure chile powder
- 1 Tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 teaspoons granulated garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin
Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Examples of pure chile powder include chipotle and ancho. I used ancho for these ribs.
Apply a heavy dose of rub to both sides of each slab and let sit at room temperature while you fire-up the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker.
Fire-up the Weber Bullet using the Minion Method—fill the charcoal chamber about 1/2 full with unlit Kingsford Charcoal Briquets and then spread about 30-40 hot coals over the unlit ones. I used an upside-down Weber chimney starter to light the 40 briquettes shown above.
Place a few chunks of your favorite smoke wood on the hot coals. I used 2 oak chunks and 4 small hickory chunks.
Assemble the cooker with the water pan in place and fill it with cool water.
Arrange the ribs on the top and bottom cooking grates and put the lid on the cooker.
Set the top vent to 100% open and leave it that way throughout the entire cooking process. Start with all 3 bottom vents 100% open. As the cooker approaches 250°F, begin to partially close all 3 bottom vents to maintain 250-275°F. Adjust the bottom vents as needed to maintain this temperature range throughout the cooking process.