
Flanken cut beef ribs with chipotle mezcal glaze
These flanken cut beef ribs are made for the grill, and cook to perfection (complete with crispy charred edges) in a matter of minutes.
Barbecue ribs must be one of the most popular menu items ever to come off a smoker. Smokey, sweet, porky sticks of deliciousness that satisfy a primal urge to gnaw the meat straight off the bone. Good ribs will require sheet after sheet of paper towel to mop up extra sauce from your fingers and face. Heck, you may just need a bib as well.
I based my recipe on the 3-2-1 method, which calls for 3 hours of smoke, 2 in foil, and a final hour of unwrapped but sauced smoke exposure. I guess mine is actually more like 3-2-.15? I think 6 full hours can result in slightly overdone ribs, and that really the final step only needs enough time to “set” the barbecue sauce, which is usually only 10-15 minutes. All this takes place at 225f, and I recommend a remote thermometer for a more accurate reading of the temperature inside the cook chamber (I use this one).
Many people think that “fall off the bone” is the hallmark of perfectly cooked ribs, in actual fact barbecue aficionados (and judges) consider this to be overcooked. A perfect rib should have a perfect bite mark, clean to the bone, with the rest of the meat still intact. But, I get it, some people just want them super soft and bone-free, so if you’re one of those people just leave the ribs on for the full final hour.
One final note – the BBQ sauce you choose to use will have an affect on the final appearance. A dark sauce with brown-ish hues will result in a dark lacquer, whereas a lighter, orange/red sauce will lead to a more mahogany finish, and your choice of rub will affect the final color, too.
Recipe after the pics
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These flanken cut beef ribs are made for the grill, and cook to perfection (complete with crispy charred edges) in a matter of minutes.
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