Prep Time:  60 mins
Cook Time:  6 hrs 30 mins
Total Time:  7 hrs 30 mins
Servings:  8

Next time you want to make beef ribs, try smoking the rack that'll stun Fred Flintstone. Spoiler alert: it's this one. Thanks to our pal Chef Kenneth Temple, we've got a fantastic blackened variant of the classic BBQ entrée! Better yet, it's an easy recipe with a serious kick right where it counts. Make pals with your butcher, get your hands on some quality beef plate short ribs, and roll up your sleeves for a delicious platter that practically cooks itself. Grilling this easy shouldn't taste this delicious — but today, it does!

Ingredients

Ingredients for the Beef Ribs

  • 2 beef plate short ribs
  • 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 lb hickory wood chips
  • 5 hickory wood chunks

Ingredients for the Blackened Seasoning

  • ¼ cup paprika
  • 2 Tbsp kosher salt
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • 4 tsp onion powder
  • 4 tsp garlic powder
  • 4 tsp cayenne
  • 1 Tbsp white pepper
  • 1 Tbsp black pepper
  • 2 tsp dry thyme
  • 2 tsp dry oregano

Ingredients for the Whiskey BBQ Sauce

  • 24 oz bottle ketchup
  • ¼ cup sugar cane syrup
  • ½ cup Worcestershire sauce
  • ½ cup whiskey
  • ½ cup white vinegar

Items You'll Need

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl, form your blackened seasoning by mixing together paprika, kosher salt, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, white pepper, black pepper, dry thyme and dry oregano. When you’re done, reserve 2 teaspoons; we’ll use them later to give our whisky BBQ sauce some real kick.
  2. Prepare the ribs by cautiously cutting away the silver skin. (We say “cautiously” only in that it’s too easy to carve out delicious fatty meat with it!) Space the ribs across a baking sheet. In a bowl, mix together Worcestershire sauce and water, then pour evenly over the front and back of both racks.
  3. Brush the front side of the ribs with melted butter. Liberally season both sides of the ribs with blackened seasoning, then cover and set aside for 60 minutes. Not only does this marinate the beef, but it helps tenderize the meat before we get to grilling.
    4. Beef ribs being brushed with bbq sauce
  4. We need indirect heat for this recipe, so you’ll want to preheat the grill to 275–300°F using one end burner. Add the wood chips and wood chunks to the smoke box, light your wood chips, and cover them once smoking. Once those conditions are met, it’s time to get those ribs cooking! Set them with the largest bones closer to the heat.
  5. While the ribs are cooking, it’s time to whip up the whisky BBQ sauce. Get a burner going at medium heat; in a medium pot, mix together ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, white vinegar, whisky, sugar cane syrup, and those 2 teaspoons of blackened seasoning (Told you we’d see them again!). Once consistently mixed, bring the pot to a full boil. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  6. After 4 hours have passed, check those ribs— rotate them, if necessary. They should already be showing off a nice, mean bark. But the best is still yet to come! Cover those ribs and let them sizzle along for another 2 ½ hours.
  7. Once you can effortlessly pierce the meat adjacent to the bone with a knife, the ribs are done! Rest your racks for 10 minutes. Once ready, slice each rib from the bone and serve with whiskey bbq sauce.
    8. Juicy slices of finished blackened bbq beef ribs

Cooking with Charcoal?

We’re cooking with indirect heat, so add coals to one side of the grill and heat until coals turn ash gray. Add ribs to the cold side of the grill, face the bones toward the heat. Remove the wood smoking box after the first 45 minutes, then cook for another 3 ¼ hours.