Short Ribs

[ron22]

I am new and I heard you guys are the experts here (Ok enough brown nosing )

I bought 1/4 cow this year and now we are working on some of the cuts I do not normally cook.

There were 2 packages of Short Ribs.  Looked online and came up with some info on how to cook them.

Here is what I did. Put in my Gas grill. only 1 burner on (Indirect cooking) .  Cast Iron smoker box filled with mesquite wood chips (what I had on hand). I cooked them at 250F for 6 hours.  I had to have the front of the grill open about 3" to maintain this temp.

They tasted great and were tender. (got wife approval)

What was not so good and why I am here to learn.

There was a lot of fat left when done.

There was a lot of fat to start with but I was expecting the fat to burn off more. So I did not trim it off.

;

We are planning on buying 1/2 cow next time so I need to learn to cook more things.

Looking into a smoker too. (time to study up)

 

[daveomak]

Ron, welcome...... Fat is flavor.... no mistaking that...... You did good, slow cooking them for a long time.....

When you order the cutting on the 1/2 cow, there are some massive ribs below the front shoulder... The first ribs on the cage... I think there are 4 or 5 that they cut off for Dinosaur Bones, (Dino Bones) and serve in top line restaurants.... Front on the rib cage and full of flavor.... that muscle is used a lot and that's where the flavor comes from.... have the meat cutter leave them whole and in one complete chunk.... season well and slow cook, like the short ribs, over flame (indirect) and smoke..... You will be looking at a $200 meal at a high end restaurant... They are so good..... I think that is the best cut on the cow.... (Well maybe the tail and marrow bones and tongue are on top of the list) but for a regular folk, those ribs are tops.....

 

[nedtorious]

Welcome to SMF! I'm in the business of raising and selling beef. It seems like once you get a calf big enough to have good marbling in the steaks, a lot of the short ribs are almost too fatty to eat. It doesn't really matter what you do that fat just won't render. So my guess is that it was the quality of the short ribs instead of your cooking process. Good luck on all your future BBQ adventures

 

[ron22]

Ned if I have the Dino bone cut like Dave suggests will they still be really fatty?

Also I told my wife about the fact they were too fatty to start. Now how am I going to tell her I need to buy a smoker to do it better.  I should have kept my mouth shut :)

 

[nedtorious]

Those front ribs as Dave suggested are money. Its not all the ribs on a calf, probably just 20% of them that are extremely fatty. I just think maybe you got some of the really fatty ones. Every animal is different!

 

[robbq]

Welcome Ron.

Nice. I am learning about the different select cuts of meat. And now I want to buy a cow! Thanks DaveOmak- Ron22 ! lol

Anyway, just as a seasoned backyard bbq guy, yes buy a smoker if wife approved. Or even a charcoal grill. Just my opinion. I have a gas as well. But since grilling and smoking over charcoal I will never turn back. I still have the gas grill in the lineup.

Now just on a recipe on short ribs. I do them indirect heat on my weber performer platinum grill as most of my grilling is done. I choose hickory and some maple for flavor ( my personal choice ) .Now I, trim off any membrane off the back of the bone. I cut individual ribs from the 3 in a section my butcher has and grill them as one bone ribs bone side to grill. 

20140726_174334.jpg

• robbq
• Jul 31, 2014

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• robbq
• Jul 31, 2014

After about 2 hours in 250 - 275 heat I remove. Then I wrap 1-2 each in aluminum foil with some brown sugar, sriracha sauce, and squeeze margarine. I grill them then for about 1 hour or 200 internal temp. I usually get fall off the bone meat after this time. And you can finish them off with some sauce if you like. This recipe is a family award winner.

Just thought I could help in another way and style of Q-ing short ribs. Good luck as well in all of the future greatness of BBQ.

And I do thank the others for the meat info as well...

RobbQ