I'm usually a pork rib guy. But recently, I bought a nice slab of beef ribs from my butcher. I love the flavor of the Kona coffee crusted NY Strip at the Capital Grille in Providence, and decided to try my hand at my own coffee rub for these ribs. (If you don’t have Kona coffee on hand , use your favorite.)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground Kona coffee
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon granulated onion
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
5 lbs. beef ribs
In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, coffee, salt, garlic, onion, and cocoa. Mix well.
Remove the skin on the underside of the ribs. I do this by sliding a knife under a corner of the skin, exposing just enough of a tab that I can grab onto. The meat can be slippery, so pulling the skin off with a folded piece of paper towel in your hands gives a better grip.
Cut the ribs into 2-rib portions. Place all the rib pieces on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
Generously rub the coffee rub into all sides of the rib pieces, turning them meat-side-up, and let them sit on the baking sheet at room temperature for about a half hour, while you warm the oven up to 350 degrees.
Place the sheet pan of ribs in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove the ribs from the oven, and lower the heat to 250. Wrap the ribs in aluminum foil, 2 sections per packet, and place them back on the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet back in the oven and cook them for 4 more hours.
Remove the ribs from the oven and take them out of the foil, placing them back on the baking sheet and back into the 250-degree oven for 30 more minutes.