Wine Braised Smoked Beef Short Ribs

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These wine braised beef short ribs end up super tender and amazingly tasty due to the wine and beef broth braising that they get just after the smoking process.

Helpful Information

Prep Time: 15minutes
CookTime: 6hour
Smoker Temp: 225°F (107°C)
Meat Finish Temp: 195°F (91°C)
Recommended Wood:Cherry

What You'll Need

2-3 lbs beef short ribs
Spicy brown mustard
Jeff's Texas style rub
Sweet red wine or Cabernet
Jeff's barbecue sauce

Step 1: Remove the fat

Beef short ribs tend to have a lot of fat. I try to pick out ones that are meaty but even so, you'll have to do some trimming.

Yes, the fat is full of flavor but there is plenty of marbling within the meat and you don't need the fat on the outside surface of the meat to make them moist or tasty.

Wine Braised Smoked Beef Short Ribs - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (1)

Fat and silver skin removed. A very sharp knife makes this job a lot faster and easier.

Wine Braised Smoked Beef Short Ribs - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (2)

Step 2: Apply the Rub

Place the beef short ribs in a plastic zip top bag and squirt about ¼ cup of spicy brown mustard down in the bag with about ¼ cup of Jeff's Texas style rub.

Massage and roll the bag to coat all of the ribs with mustard and rub paste.

Wine Braised Smoked Beef Short Ribs - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (3)

Step 3: Let them Marinate (optional)

Once the mustard and rub are applied, let them sit in the fridge overnight to really soak up the flavor of the rub. You can also use the ribs right away or as soon as you want to. Any time at all with the mustard and rub will do them good.

Do not rinse the ribs once they are finished marinating.

They are now ready to cook. I recommend placing them down in a disposable foil pan and leaving them there during the entire cooking process.

Wine Braised Smoked Beef Short Ribs - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (4)

Looking delicious!

Wine Braised Smoked Beef Short Ribs - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (5)

Step 4: Smoke the Ribs

Setup your smoker for indirect heat at about 225°F (107°C)

Leave the ribs in the pan for best results.

Apply cherry smoke for about 2 hours. (other smoking woods will work fine)

Step 5: Foil braise with wine

After applying smoke for about 2 hours, pour about 1 cup of red wine (I used Rosa Regale but any similar red sweet wine will work great)

Cover the pan tightly with foil and let it cook for 3 more hours at 225°F (107°C).

During this time, the wine and beef juices will create steam and the beef will get a good braising inside the covered pan serving to super tenderize the beef.

Note: Don't want to use wine? You can use sparkling red grape juice or even regular red grape juice to get a similar effect and flavor.

Step 6: High heat finish

After the braising process, uncover the ribs and turn up the heat to 300°F (149°C) if possible.

If your smoker won't heat tothat high of a temperature, use the grill or even the oven to finish them off.

Mix 1 part Jeff's barbecue saucewith 2 parts of the red wine (for example: 1/3 cupJeff's sauce + 2/3 cup red wine) and brush the ribs really good with this mixture.

Brush the ribs with this mixture 2-3 times during the next hour.

Use a Thermapen or other accurate digital meat thermometer to test the temperature of the ribs. When they reach 190-200°F and are fork tender, they are done.

“Tender” is the best measurement of when these beef short ribs are done.

Another visual indicator of doneness is the meat pulling back from the bone.

Wine Braised Smoked Beef Short Ribs - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (6)

Step 7: Serve

Once the beef short ribs are finished cooking, serve immediately.

Wine Braised Smoked Beef Short Ribs - Learn to Smoke Meat with Jeff Phillips (7)

Print Recipe Rate this Recipe

4.3 from 14 votes

This recipe for wine braised smoked beef short ribs will walk you through the process of smoking them low and slow to make them tender and enhancing the already amazing flavor by foil braising them with a nice sweet wine.

Ingredients

▢ 2-3 lbs beef short ribs
▢ ¼ cup spicy brown mustard
▢ ¼ cup Jeff's Texas style rub
▢ 1 cup sweet red wine (Rosa Regale or similar)

Barbecue Sauce/Wine Glaze

▢ ⅓ cup Jeff's original barbecue sauce
▢ ⅔ cup sweet red wine

Instructions

Beef short ribs tend to have a lot of fat. Remove the fat and silver skin. A very sharp knife makes this job a lot faster and easier.
Place the beef short ribs in a plastic zip top bag and squirt about ¼ cup of spicy brown mustard down in the bag with about ¼ cup of Jeff's Texas style rub
Massage and roll the bag to coat all of the ribs with mustard and rub paste.
Once the mustard and rub are applied, let them sit in the fridge overnight to really soak up the flavor of the rub. You can also use the ribs right away or as soon as you want to. Any time at all with the mustard and rub will do them good.
Do NOT rinse the ribs once they are finished marinating.
They are now ready to cook. I recommend placing them down in a disposable foil pan and leaving them there during the entire cooking process.
Setup your smoker for indirect heat at about 225°F (107°C)
Leave the ribs in the pan for best results.
Apply cherry smoke for about 2 hours.
After applying smoke for about 2 hours, pour on about 1 cup of red wine (I used Rosa Regale but any similar red sweet wine will work great)
Cover the pan tightly with foil and let it cook for 3 hours at 225°F (107°C). During this time, the wine and beef juices will create steam and the beef will get a good braising inside the covered pan to super tenderize the beef.
Note: Don’t want to use wine? You can use sparkling red grape juice or even regular red grape juice to get a similar effect and flavor.
After the braising process, uncover the ribs and turn up the heat to 300°F (149°C). If your smoker won’t heat that high, use the grill or even the oven to finish them off.
Mix 1 part Jeff's original barbecue sauce with 2 parts of the red wine (for example: 1/3 cup Jeff's original barbecue sauce + 2/3 cup red wine) and brush the ribs with this mixture.
Brush the ribs with this mixture 2-3 times during the next hour.
Use a Thermapen or other digital meat thermometer to test the temperature of the ribs. When they reach 195°F (91°C) and are fork tender, they are done. “Tender” is the best measurement of when these beef short ribs are done. Another visual indicator of doneness is the meat pulling back from the bone.
Once the beef short ribs are finished cooking, serve immediately.