Beef ribs are yummy and inexpensive. Get good quality ones, and a good butcher will cut them for you to order. I got these at El Toro Meats in Lake Forest. In the display case, they were cut the other way, so the bones were cut and each strip had 3 short bones in them. I asked for three the long way instead and they were happy to cut them for me.
So I got them a bit wet with some Worcestershire and then added my rub. These went into the fridge for an hour while I got the smoker ready.
I filled the chimney with charcoal and set it on the side burner to get them hot. I then filled the smoker with cold charcoal and some chunks of pecan. Once the chimney was all hot and white, they got dumped across the front of the firebox, so it would spread going towards the back over about 6 hours, hitting the chunks as it went.
Note how you can not see the bones at all. The bones and meat are the same size.
After an hour, I basted them with melted butter using a long silicone brush. Note how you can now start to see the bones on the end, as the meat shrinks around them. Baste them once an hour for 3 hours until the bark forms.
Once the bark forms, I covered them with brown sugar, a splash of Dr. Pepper, and all the leftover melted butter. Then they got wrapped up tight in foil and placed back into the smoker for another hour. They are done when a temp probe slides into the think part the same way and feel it would slide into a muffin. Pull them out and enjoy. Slicing them into small pieces and adding them to mac-n-cheese is my favorite.