June 28, 2023

Smoked Dino Ribs (aka Beef Ribs)

Smoked dino ribs (beef ribs) that are fall off the bone tender and extremely juicy

Smoked dino ribs (aka beef ribs) are considered by many to be the greatest bite in BBQ. For good reason too – not only does their colossal size make them visually appealing (they do look like they could belong to a dinosaur) but they are also very tender and tasty. Simple, but time consuming to make, let me walk you through how to bring this prize BBQ meat to your own home.

Prepare the ribs

Either the night before or 1 hour before you’re going to smoke the ribs, generously season them with our new Open Fire Smokey Road Rub. Like we do with all BBQ meats, use a binder like mustard or oil to help the rub stick to the meat. I like to do this the night before I am going to smoke them and put them on a rack with a tray under it in the refrigerator (uncovered). I find doing this the night before will give the beef a better bark and more flavor. If you’re short on time, doing this right before smoking the ribs will work just fine too.

Generously seasoned with our Open Fire Smokey Road Rub, these ribs are ready for the smoker — Dino ribs that have been generously seasoned with our new Open Fire Smokey Road Rub

Smoke them like we always do

You’re going to follow the same game plan we always do when smoking big BBQ meats:

Stabilize your smoker at around 250ºF-275ºF
Add smoking wood of your choice (I like hickory for beef)
Add the ribs
Mop or spritz them every hour
Let them smoke until an internal temperature of 203ºF
- Probing them should feel like butter
Allow them to rest for at least 1 hour
Enjoy

I used a mop sauce for these ribs that consisted of a mixture of apple cider vinegar and our new Open Fire Smokey Road Rub. Mopping vs spritzing won’t result in any major differences. If you prefer to spritz, then go ahead and spritz!

Dino ribs (beef ribs) 1 hour into the cook that were just mopped with apple cider vinegar and Open Fire Smokey Road Rub — Beef ribs that were just hit with our Open Fire Smokey Road Rub and apple cider vinegar mixture

Smoking tips

A few hours into the cook, you will notice the meat will start to pull back from the bone, giving the dino ribs their signature look. The ribs might hit the stall at some point during the cook. If you’re short on time, feel free to wrap them in aluminum foil or butcher paper to help speed up the cooking process. Our Smoked Brisket blog post has some nice information on the pros and cons of wrapping your BBQ meats. For this recipe, I leave the ribs unwrapped the whole time, but it’s really up to you.

Dino ribs have started to pull back from the bone, giving it it's signature look — Dino rib meat has started to pull back from the bone, resulting in its signature look

Rest and eat

Like any other big BBQ meat, you need to let these ribs rest for at least 1 hour before eating. This rest allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, resulting in a juicier bite of BBQ. If the ribs finished earlier than expected, you can wrap them in aluminum foil, then in a towel, and place them in a cooler. The meat can rest and stay warm like that for hours.

Dino ribs that have been smoked and are ready to rest before eating — Dino ribs that are hot off the smoker and ready to rest

That’s all there is to it

That’s really all there is to smoking your own dino beef ribs! Simple and extremely delicious. The hardest part of smoking these ribs is having patience. The smells coming from the smoker will be absolutely mouthwatering. It’s worth every minute that you will need to wait and always impresses everyone. Try this one out and let me know what you think in the comments. I think you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to have smoked dino ribs at home.