BBQ-Heroes

Beef Ribs Marinated in Chili Oil

If you’ve mastered the classic pork ribs, it’s time to take the next step with beef flat ribs. For this recipe, we marinate the ribs in chilli oil to give them just the right amount of heat and extra depth of flavour.

These are beef flat ribs cut from the belly section of the cow’s ribcage. The meat is leaner than traditional short ribs but can resemble pork belly when it has a good fat cap. We score this fat in a crosshatch pattern to help it render down and become incredibly tender during cooking.

Just like pork belly, the fat in these ribs is what makes them so rich and flavourful. If your guests aren’t a fan of soft, rendered fat, they can trim it off at the table. But you can trust us. That soft fat is where the magic happens.

For this recipe, we used chili oil to make these ribs spicy. Chilli oil is a staple in Chinese cuisine, made by infusing oil with different ground chillies.

If you prefer a mild heat, use just the oil from the top of the jar. If you like it hot, scoop deeper into the jar to get more chili flakes for an extra kick.

We’re going to smoke these ribs in our kamado. And when smoking, less is more. You want to see thin, blue smoke, which gives the best smoky flavour without overpowering the meat.

If the smoke is thick and white or grey, your ribs might taste like an ashtray. That is not something to aim for.

After two hours, the ribs have absorbed enough smoke, so we wrap them to speed up the cooking process. We’re using butcher paper to preserve as much bark as possible. If you can’t get your hands on butcher paper, aluminium foil works too, but the bark will end up softer.

After another 4 to 5 hours on the grill, we reach an internal temperature of 93ºC (199ºF). But this number isn’t magic. The probe test is the key to knowing when your ribs are ready.

Insert a skewer or thermometer probe into the meat. The ribs are perfectly tender if the probe slides in and out with little to no resistance.

If these ribs are ready too early, simply wrap them again and place them in a cooler. This keeps them warm for hours without overcooking.

Here, you’ll see why we kept the fat cap on. The combination of soft, rendered fat, smoky flavour, and chili oil marinade creates an incredible bite worth every second of smoking time.

These are our chili oil-marinated beef ribs. Will you try them out? Let us know in the comments below. Snap a photo, post it on Instagram, and tag @bbqhelden to see your masterpiece.

Ingredients

  • Beef flat ribs with a good fat cap
  • 2 tbsp chili oil
  • 2 tsp sea salt
  • 2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp paprika

Instructions

  1. Remove the membrane from the bone side of the ribs by sliding a dull butter knife under it. Once you get a grip, pull it off in one piece.
  2. Mix the remaining ingredients. Score the fat cap in a crosshatch pattern and coat the ribs thoroughly with the chili oil mixture. Massage it in and let the ribs marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight in the fridge.
  3. Set up your smoker for indirect heat at 120ºC (250ºF). Once the temperature is stable, add a chunk of smoking wood.
  4. Place the ribs on the grill and smoke for 2 hours.
  5. Wrap the ribs in butcher paper or aluminium foil and return them to the grill. Insert a thermometer probe and close the lid.
  6. Continue cooking until the ribs reach an internal temperature of 93ºC (199ºF). Check for tenderness using the probe test.
    Let the ribs rest for at least 30 minutes before serving.

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