You don’t have to be a professional chef to make delicious beef ribs on the grill – actually, that couldn’t be further from the truth! You can achieve finger-licking results with gas, charcoal, or pellet grills, and below, we’ll talk you through how!
Types of Beef Rib
There are a few different cuts of beef rib, and which you choose will change how long you need to cook your beef ribs for. The bigger the cut, the longer your ribs will take to reach the right internal temperature. Here are some of the different cuts:
- Beef Back Ribs – on a full rack, flat, doesn’t often yield a huge amount of meat
- Dino Ribs/Plate Short Ribs – these are huge, with 3-4 bones on a rack
- Short Ribs – short ribs can be an alternative name for the above, as well as English cut ribs and Flanken cut ribs.
- You may find all of these with or without the bone (though it’s unlikely with beef back ribs). In most cases, how you cook them will be the same, the only thing that changes is the cooking time since denser cuts will take longer. Some cuts may lend themselves to some recipes better than others.
Should You Use a Marinade or Rub?
You can choose to follow any recipe you like! Search through our pellet grill recipes for something that gets your mouth watering, or use one of the suggested recipes below:
Umami Marinade Recipe
Combine:
- ½ cup soy sauce (don’t use dark soy sauce!)
- ½ cup red wine
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup beef stock
- ¼ cup hot sauce
- ¼ cup honey
Adjust to taste.
To marinate your beef ribs, put them in a freezer bag with your marinade and massage the bag to cover. Then leave it on the side or in the fridge to marinate. Do this for at least 15 minutes, but ideally, you’ll be thinking much further ahead so you can give them 4+ hours or even overnight marinate.
If you prefer, brush the marinade over the ribs in a shallow dish and then cover with foil.
Rub
Combine:
- ¼ cup paprika
- ¼ cup chili powder
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- Up to ¼ cup black pepper (adjust for your preference)
- 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp salt
Combine all ingredients and then rub all over your ribs before leaving them to sit for at least 15 minutes, but ideally 4+ hours or overnight.
How to Cook Beef Ribs on a Pellet Grill
Using a pellet grill to cook beef ribs (or just about anything!) is super simple. Set the temperature, add your ribs to the grill, and allow them to cook, wrapping them in foil about half way through.
Recommended reading: Smoking meat times and temperatures chart
What Type of Wood Pellets Work Best for Beef Ribs?
You can really try any type of pellet because beef is fairly forgiving, whereas other meats can be overpowered by the stronger wood pellets. Stick to something light like Fruit wood pellets to pay it safe, or try something like Oak wood pellets for a deeper, smoky flavor.
What’s the Best Type of Grill for Beef Ribs?
There’s no grill that’s best for beef ribs – but the different types of grill will make a dramatic difference to your grilling experience. Pellet grills are by far the best and easiest to manage and get incredible, smoky results with. Our Z Grills are enjoyed by newbie grillers and those with decades of grilling experience behind them. Z Grills grills perfectly maintain the temperature you set them at, so you can set them and forget them, easily walking away for hours if necessary. They’re made with the highest quality materials while offering great value for money, so if you’re looking for somewhere to start your grilling journey, or are sick of micromanaging your grill. Click here to browse our latest deals.
More Beef Ribs Recipe
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