Which do you prefer, pork or beef ribs?...

Roanokesmoke · June 2009

Growing up in Georgia and always living in the deep south, pork ribs is all you'll find around these parts. In fact, I don't know if I've ever seen beef ribs at any true bbq joint before, or ever eaten any until recently. Thus, for many years I just assumed that pork ribs are better, and after I bought a BGE several years back, that is all I did as well. But starting recently I decided to give beef ribs a try, and, as much as it kills me to say this...I now much prefer beef ribs over pork ribs. I know I know.... saying such a thing is considered blasphemous around these parts, but I can't keep convincing myself otherwise any longer.

After my 3rd beef/pork ribs cook on the BGE, I finally decided that I would only do beef ribs from this point forward. And, to my complete and utter shock, 7 out of 8 people I had over for my cookout yesterday preferred the beef ribs over the pork ribs as well (and these 8 guys are all serious about their bbq...none of them were your typical casual bbq consumer). They all remarked that the beef ribs had better flavor, better bark, and simply looked and tasted better overall. Perhaps the additional 1-2 cooking time beef ribs requires has something to do it, but in terms of flavor alone beef ribs are far superior to pork ribs, in my opinion of course.

With that in mind, which of the two (or both) do your prefer and why? Are there any other southerners that prefer beef ribs like I now do? I hope you all had a great weekend and thanks in advance for your thoughts...

vidalia1 · June 2009

I prefer pork spareibs...however with that said I made my first beef ribs on the BGE yesterday and they were great....I will do both next time together and see which are gone first.

FearlessGrill · June 2009

Both are certainly good. I think beef ribs end up with a better flavor on their own, while pork ribs are great for conveying the flavor of the rub, sauce, and smoke that you use.

Care to share your method / recipe for beef ribs? Sounds like you've come up with a good technique. Someone posted a question about beef ribs a while back, and I shared my recipes/experiences with them, but there weren't a lot of other suggestions - I had two methods, dry (rub only), and one with a maple bourbon sauce Always looking to make mine better if I can.

Thx,

-John

Jeffersonian · June 2009

I love beef short ribs, but they still don't eclipse my spares.

Embrace the pig!

gdenby · June 2009

Beef ribs are also almost never available at BBQ joints here in northern Indiana.

I haven't done nearly as many "long" beef ribs as I have pork, so mine haven't been any better than pork, although very different. Maybe a little tastier. Around here, they greatly vary in quality. Some are just left-overs from trimming out steaks. Others are intentionally cut, and have much more meat.

Beef short ribs are a different matter. Never seen those at any BBQ joint, but when I make them as BBQ, often they are as tastey as really good spares, and as tender as steak.

Spring Chicken · June 2009

I like beef ribs and tried 'em one time years ago without much success. So I decided to try again at some future date that still hasn't come. Maybe now I can try 'em again. Please share your recipe and set-up.

Spring "The Rony Toma Of Ribs" Chicken
Spring Texas USA

Panhandle Smoker · June 2009

I am southerner and I prefer beef ribs. Since the Egg there is a narrower margine of preference. I will not turn down pork ribs for that reason. I like the texture and flavor of beef ribs a little mor than pork ribs.

Mickey · June 2009

I have never tried to do beef on the egg. I like beef ribs over the pork.
You now have to pass on what kind of ribs you did and how you did them please.

vidalia1 · June 2009

I had 4 beef ribs. I pulled the membrane off and marinated them in this for 24 hours:

http://www.koamart.com/shop/32-2003-soy_premixed_sauces_salad_dressings-bulgogi_marinade_for_beef__17_6oz.asp

Thanks to LC for telling me about this stuff. I find it at Asian markets.

I got the BGE ready at 250 indirect and put the ribs on for 2 1/2 hours. I then wrapped them individually in HDAF and poured a mixture of 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 soy sauce and 2 tbls Tiger sauce on them and cooked for 1 1/2 hours more at 250...they were fall off the bone great...

danny285 · June 2009

Pork is King here at my place. No Beef except for an occasional steak.

Eggscriber · June 2009

When you all are talking about beef ribs, do you mean shortribs with that chunk of fatty meat that gets so tender if cooked for a long time, or longer ribs, like what comes on a rib eye rib roast? At least here where I live, I can only get short ribs, or longer beef ribs in which most of the meat between the ribs has been trimmed off by the butcher, presumably to gring up for hamburger. Where do you get beef ribs??

Shiff · June 2009

We prefer Beef Back Ribs (the kind that come on ribeye). We have tried short ribs (chuck),but they are no where near as good as the Beef Back Ribs.

I cook them for about 4 hours at 225 grate temp indirect then foil them with some broth for an hour and finally remove the foil for the final hour.

I had a hard time finding these ribs until I spoke with the butcher at my local Stauffer's market (Rohrerstown Rd, Lancaster, Pa) and he has found a wonderful source for these ribs and says he will have them in stock from now on. I tried some the other day and they were great.

wannabebackinTexas · June 2009

Growing up in West Texas, Beef Ribs were the norm. I never even saw or tried Pork Ribs until I left the state back in 1983. Since then, I've cooked pork ribs 'o plenty but few beef ribs. Can't ever find good thick beef ribs to cook; they've all been closely trimmed.

Good eggin'
-paul

Ashman · June 2009

My favorite would be the next ones that I am going to eat!! And now that I think about it, if I had to pick, it would be the pig.

Hitch · June 2009

Here is a lonely vote for pork over beef when it comes to ribs.

To clarify... I like my pork ribs vs. my beef ribs. B)

AlwaysGolf · June 2009

From the south, grew up on pork ribs, tried beef ribs but still prefer the pink. OINK, the other white meat.
Plus wife doesn't eat beef.

Roanokesmoke · June 2009

Thanks everyone for your replies. As for how I'm doing beef ribs, first off we have a newer Publix supermarket near me with a great meat section, and they always seem to have beef ribs available (both short and long.) I have no interest in doing short ribs personally, thus I've only done the regular/long beef ribs (their rack size is a lot like a hearty slab of pork spareribs, to give you an idea.) Well, I typically peel the membrane off of course, and rub them with a combination of three separate rubs (a somewhat sweet salmon rub, a beef rub, and a rib rub from the famous Rendezvous restaurant in Memphis.)

Next I'm wrap them well and refrigerate for at least 4-5 hours, but typically overnight if possible. Finally I smoke them at 230-250 (dome temp) with a combination of hickory and jack daniels wood for approx. 6-7 hours (usually closer to the 7 hour mark), while putting a thin coat of my favorite sauce on them the last 20 minutes or so. The end result is awesome---great crust, nice pink interior, and phenomenal taste. Maybe I'm lucky in that my local Publix doesn't trim the meat too close like seems to be the case for many of you---like I said the beef ribs I've been buying all can be otherwise confused for a hearty slab of spareribs.

Bacchus · June 2009

Born in Texas, raised in Georgia, and like pork ribs better.

Celtic Wolf · June 2009

I have to choose??

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Which do you prefer, pork or beef ribs?...

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