Cooking up an entire slab of ribs on your grill or smoker is quite an accomplishment. While it may earn you master griller status, it’s not always a challenge you want to undertake just for a tasty meal. That’s where rib tips come in. These tips are cut from the larger rib slabs so you get the same great flavor and texture you’ve come to expect. But with the way they’re trimmed and the size of each tip, they’re much easier to eat than full-sized ribs. Learn to cook up pork rib tips on the grill or in the oven so you can always enjoy your favorite dish in a hurry.
What Are Rib Tips?
Each set of ribs that comes off of a pig includes a muscular section at the top of the ribs. If you cook a whole slab of pork ribs, this part will take the longest to cook and may leave the lower and thinner sections a little dried out. That’s why many butchers trim off the upper part of the ribs to create neat and even St. Louis style ribs that have a relatively uniform thickness. What’s removed is then cut into slices and called ribbies or rib tips. Those rib tips still contain the same meat, bones, and cartilage of the rest of the slab and give you the same great flavor. They’re also quicker to cook and easy to grab and nibble on without such a mess.
Pork vs Beef Rib Tips
Both pork and beef rib slabs have similar shapes and can be trimmed to produce a section of tips. However, beef rib tips are a little tougher and don’t always soften up on the grill. They’re better for oven roasting or cooking in a Crock Pot with liquid. For a soft and juicy set of rib tips from the grill, stick to pork. The extra fat content leads to a wonderful flavor when combined with the smoke as well.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Aside from the rib tips themselves, you’ll need some seasonings to rub onto the meat and barbecue sauce to complete the dish. If you prefer dry rib tips, you can also serve a range of dipping sauces for the meat like hoisin and ranch. This recipe will work fine for beef rib tips if that’s all you can find. You may want to use the oven cooking method rather than the grill for a softer texture after making the swap to beef.
How to Make Rib Tips
Thanks to a quick cooking time and relatively little preparation, you can whip up some rib tips in as little as two hours. That’s much quicker than the 6 to 8 hours recommended for full slab ribs. It’s a great idea for an unexpected get-together with friends. Try this easy pork rib tips recipe, then get creative with it to make it your own.
Step 1: Prepare the rib tips
It’s not that easy to trim the tips away from the slab of ribs on your own. You’ll have to slice through bone, so you’ll need a meat saw rather than just a knife. If you manage to get the trimmed part of the rib but it’s not cut into tip sections yet, you can do this at home with a knife. Just feel for the bone tips and slice between them, using plenty of force to get a clean cut through the cartilage. If you purchase sliced tips, all you need to do is take them out of the package and give them about 10 minutes to reach room temperature. You’ll want about 4 lbs of meat for this recipe.
Step 2: Apply the dry rub
Dab the rib tips dry with a paper towel if they’re greasy or wet. For 4 lbs of rib tips, sprinkle on a mix of:
- ½ cup of dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon of onion powder
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon of ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon of chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon of mustard powder.
Rub it all over the surface of the meat, ensuring every edge and side is covered.
Step 3: Cook the ribs
There are two ways to cook your rib tips once they are seasoned. You can oil a baking sheet and cover them with aluminum foil, then bake your rib tips in the kitchen. When it’s grilling season, consider cooking them outside instead for a smoky flavor. Either way, expect to cook the tips for about 1.5 to 2.5 hours.
To Grill
Oil the grates of the grill with a spray to ensure the rib tips won’t stick. Since they’re small, make sure your grates aren’t wide enough to let them fall through. Add an oiled mesh if necessary. Preheat the grill to around 275 to 300 degrees F, or a medium heat setting. Place the rib tips bone side down on a high-set grate so they’re exposed to indirect heat. If you’re using charcoal, rake the coals to one side and place the tips on the other side. Grill for 20 minutes, then flip. Continue grilling for 1.5 to 2 hours, or until tender, flipping every 20 minutes. Baste with barbecue sauce during the last 10 to 20 minutes if you want to use it.
To Bake Ribs
Using a low heat setting will keep these tips tender and juicy. You also want to keep them covered. Wrap aluminum foil over the baking pan full of rib tips and cook them for about 2 hours. Remove the aluminum foil and add barbecue sauce if you want to use it, or leave the ribs dry. Cook for another 30 minutes to add a glaze or crust to the surface of the meat.
Step 4: Rest and serve
Since rib tips are relatively small, they only need a few minutes of covered rest time before serving. You can add more barbecue sauce if you want or you can chop the sections into smaller pieces for easier eating by hand.
Tips and Tricks
- Don’t overcook the rib tips or they may fall apart. If they start to get soft or break apart when you’re flipping them, remove them and keep them warm until the other rib tips are done.
- Don’t apply the barbecue sauce too early or it may burn.
Conclusion
Swap your full-sized ribs for rib tips to enjoy a shorter cooking time with almost all of the traditional flavor. Your kids and family members are sure to crowd around when they see what you’ve got on the grill.