stupid question about beef ribs

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fxsales1959

Master of the Pit
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
Dec 17, 2019
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Ft Lauderdale.
is there a technical name for those thick meaty long beef ribs I always see on the pitmaster shows? Where i live the meat cutters don't(or won't) speak english. All I regularly see is those little mutant beef short ribs (they call them). it's hardly worth firing p th stick burner for a batch of them. Since I'm not a big fan of brisket (gasp) I would like to find a rack of those beef ribs with about 2 inches or more of meat to salt/pepper and smoke.
thanks
john
 
Sam's Club here always has dino ribs but they are never in display, you have to ring a bell and the butcher will bring them out to you. I never do brisket, only usually cooking for myself, wife doesn't eat beef. I love beef short ribs from Sam's, just checked, up to $7.28lb, too rich for my blood. Paid $4.75lb six months and I thought that was pretty high. RAY
 
I think what you want are Plate Ribs. It's what the short ribs are usually cut from. They usually come to the store in multi-packs, each slab being about 4 bones about 6-8 inches long. I forget the average weight per slab but it stacks up fast and the whole slab gets pricey fast.
Beef Back Ribs are far cheaper (if you can find them). They are usually longer slabs, much like pork spare ribs, but appear to be more bone and fat than meat.
 
Sam's Club here always has dino ribs but they are never in display, you have to ring a bell and the butcher will bring them out to you. I never do brisket, only usually cooking for myself, wife doesn't eat beef. I love beef short ribs from Sam's, just checked, up to $7.28lb, too rich for my blood. Paid $4.75lb six months and I thought that was pretty high. RAY
I love those Flanken Ribs from Sam's but they went up also. Last 2 trips to Sam's came out empty handed and went to Aldi's.
 
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You're probably going to have to go to a meat shop and order plate ribs and yes they are pricey.
I ordered a plate a few years ago and back then it cost over $30. It was meaty but not 2" of meat.
Very tasty but not worth the $.
Those shows have access to things most of us don't and they don't think about price.
 
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Plate ribs are hard to find. As tx smoker suggests, look for chuck ribs. They are easier to find, less expensive and almost as big as plate ribs. I get them from Costco for about $4/lb.
 
The ones I get from CPB are called beef chuck short ribs....and they are amazing!! Seen some absolutely gorgeous displays of them here in the forum from people. Not necessarily the CPB, but the ribs themselves. Basically brisket on a stick.

Robert
I've never been a "member" at one of those "pay to shop stores" but need some new tars for my jeep so might take the plunge. Is costco the best for meat?
 
PS: what is CPB?
Certified Piedmontese Beef
 
First thing you need is a better butcher. If your not a fan of brisket you may not like them. From my butcher I bought chuck ribs, the bones are 8 to 10 inches four bones per rack, average 5 to 6 pounds per rack. Less fat then the plate but are excellent.
 
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Like I keep saying, the best way to do it is to keep your eyes open at the supermarkets for packs of Korean, Korean Kalbi, Flanken, English or Boneless short ribs out in the displays.

When you see them, ask the butcher for uncut, unopened packs of beef ribs.
They come two racks per cryovac bag, you'll immediately notice the difference in size between Plates and Chucks.
Beef Chuck rib are typically 4 bones and average 4-5lbs per rack.
Very noticeable difference in bone shape, Chuck's bones are rounder in cross section and shorter than Plates.

Check this out to see what I mean, and notice too that these are cut across the bone dividing in two, they should be twice as long.

5u3y0o9.jpg


A professional butcher that really knows his trade will know exactly what you want if you tell him to order by NAMPS /IMPS order numbers.
Beef Plate, Short Ribs, 123 or 123A
Or
Beef Chuck, Short Ribs, 130

Be prepared to open the wallet.
And be sure to say "Thank You" for him taking the time to help you.
 
It can be hard to tell chuck from plate by the rib shape. These are chuck and have very wide bones - as do most of the chuck ribs I get:

chuckribs.jpg
 
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