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How To Cook Venison Ribs

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Smoked venison ribs sliced and drizzled with sauce

It’s “game on” when it comes to creating tender, mouthwatering smoked venison spareribs, featuring a flavorful coffee dry rub

Petite in size but big in taste, venison ribs are a great change of pace from pork ribs, even for those who might be hesitant to try game meat for the first time. Why? According to T. Edward Nickens in the December 2009 issue of Field & Stream magazine, “because venison is low in fat. Because it can be obtained relatively cheaply. Because it is free of the pharmacological stew of growth hormones, antibiotics, and antifungals fed or injected into commercial livestock.” Plus it tastes good!

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To complement the meat’s rich and mildly gamey taste, this grilling recipe starts with a robust coffee-based dry rub. Next, we smoke the ribs until they are mouthwateringly tender. Finally, the ribs are brushed with a simple coffee BBQ sauce to balance all of the flavors.

Smoked Venison Ribs with Coffee Dry Rub Recipe


Sliced smoked venison ribs
Tried this recipe?Tell others what you thought of it and give it a star rating below.
3.23 from 74 votes
Venison often gets a bum rap as being dry and tough. Forget everything you think you know about venison and try this recipe and technique to produce tender, mouth-watering ribs that will rival anything you've ever had before.
Serve with: Porter or stout beer.

Course:
Dinner
,
Main Course
Cuisine:
American
difficulty scale

Makes:

Servings: 2 1/2 rack each

Takes:

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours

Ingredients

Meat

Coffee Rub

  • 1 tablespoon finely ground coffee
  • ½ tablespoon brown sugar
  • ½ tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground fennel
  • ½ teaspoon granulated garlic
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder

Coffee BBQ Sauce

  • ½ bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce (half of an 18-ounce (532ml) bottle)
  • 2 tablespoons espresso or very strong coffee
Notes:
About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.
About the mayonnaise. The use of mayonnaise is completely optional but is something that I have done for years. As with the more popular yellow mustard, the mayonnaise serves as a binding agent for the dry rub without drastically the flavor of the finished meat. Unlike mustard, mayonnaise is high in fat, something that only benefits the ribs.
Metric conversion:

These recipes were created in US Customary measurements and the conversion to metric is being done by calculations. They should be accurate, but it is possible there could be an error. If you find one, please let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page

Method

  • Prep. For the rub, combine the ground coffee, brown sugar, smoked paprika, black pepper, ground fennel, granulated garlic, and onion powder in a small bowl and blend well.
  • Remove the membrane from the ribs (read more on removing the membrane here).
  • Season the ribs with kosher salt. If you can, give the salt 1 to 2 hours to be absorbed. The process of salting in advance is called dry brining. The rule of thumb is 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt per pound of meat, but ribs are about 50% meat, so use about 1/4 teaspoon per pound. You can simply eyeball it by sprinkling on the same amount of salt you would sprinkle on the ribs if they were served to you unsalted. 
  • Fire up. Prepare a smoker for indirect cooking. Alternatively, you can set up a charcoal grill for 2-zone cooking by placing a chimney full of pre-heated charcoal briquets on one side of the grill's charcoal grate in order to create direct and indirect cooking zones. Adjust the smoker or grill vents to bring the temperature to about 225°F (107°C) and add 2 to 3 chunks of your favorite smoking wood to the charcoal for flavor. On a gas grill, adjust the temperature knobs so that one half of the grill is off and the other half is heated enough to maintain a temperature of approximately 225°F (105°C) on the indirect side.
  • Cook. Once the smoker or grill is ready, brush both sides of ribs with mayonnaise and season with the coffee dry rub mixture.
  • Place both racks of ribs on the main cooking grate as far away from the heat source as possible. Set the lid on the grill with the fully opened top vent positioned directly above the ribs in order to force the smoke over and around the meat. Allow the ribs to smoke until the meat is tender and has significantly pulled away from the bones, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
    venison ribs on charcoal grill
  • Doctor the sauce. As the ribs smoke, combine the BBQ sauce and coffee in a small saucepan and warm over medium-low heat. Allow the sauce to simmer for approximately 5 minutes until it has thickened slightly. Remove the sauce from the heat and set it aside until ready to use.
  • Baste. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, baste both sides of the ribs with the coffee BBQ sauce and cover the grill so the sauce can become tacky.
  • Serve. Remove the ribs from the grill, slice, and serve immediately with the remaining BBQ sauce.

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Published On: 1/21/2018 Last Modified: 2/13/2024

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  • Clint Cantwell, Champion Pitmaster - Clint Cantwell is AmazingRibs.com's Senior Vice President of Whatever, charged with creating recipes, writing articles, shooting photos, and a little bit of everything else. He was named one of the "10 Faces of Memphis Barbecue" by Memphis Magazine and was the winner of Travel Channel's "American Grilled: Memphis".

 

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