nailshooter41

I haven't cooked many short ribs; too much effort and too little
return. Part of that is the fact I don't like stewed or braised meats
much. I am not a fan of "Mom's roast" except once in a great while,
or any other kind of meat that has been cooked into submission.

I don't braise or foil meats. I will only cook a traditional beef
roast in the oven for company, and only then for LOML's family. So
for me, it's pretty much nekkid on the pit or grill, and even in the
oven.

But I do have a "I'll grill or smoke anything once policy" that I have
maintained for 30 years and it has covered just about everything I can
get my hands on that walks, swims, flies, or slithers (snake is good,
but really overrated).

I found some short ribs that are cut by a small nearby butcher a
couple of weeks ago. Instead of the small bones with a little bit of
meat on them I see at the local supermarket, these shorts were cut to
be about the size of baseball to almost softball sized pieces. They
had a lot of fat on them, but a LOT of meat. It was too much to
resist at $1.99 a lb. The butcher told me that he cut them that way
because "that was the way he learned".

I really wanted to cook them on the smoker, but couldn't decide how to
do it. Finally, after examining the ribs closely out of the package,
I saw there was a LOT of fat on those as well as the meat.

So I put the ribs (6 of them) in a large bowl and gave them a good
coating of my brisket rub and let them set a couple of hours before I
put them on the WSM. I put them on at 275 - 285 degrees, which was
fine considering all the fat. Bone down, fat up to let the rendering
fat roll over the rib meat.

I had them in for 4 hours. They weren't done. Checked again at 5.
Not done. Checked again at 6. Almost. Checked at 7, and a fork
twisted the juicy meat easily. The bones were movable.

The meat was excellent. Served with garlic dill mashed potatoes and
vinegar slaw, they were a hit! The meat had a really intense flavor,
almost like it was aged. Almost all of the fat rendered off, and the
meat was just at sliceable after slipping out the bones.

Some observations:

I was surprised at how much fat those six little baseballs rendered!
Wow! Those six shorties gave more fat off than the >>17 lbs<< of
spares I cooked the weekend before! It was probably (literally) 2
cups of rendered fat!

They were enormously easy to cook. They took more time than I thought
they would, but worth the wait. No special prep needed, no foiling,
no sitting in a cooler wrapped in towels for a couple of hours, no
fiddling around/obsessing about maintaining 225 degrees, or any of
that other stuff. I actually don't do that stuff anyway, and probably
never will.

There can be a lot of meat on short ribs! Who knew?

I am thinking that like a fatty brisket, these could be very forgiving
on the smoker IF you got the right sized shorts. I may move on up to
300 - 325 or so on the next batch and see if it responds like a
brisket. I could cook more with less time, and at higher heat maybe
get a bit of crispy on them.

These would be easy to cook for anyone, regardless of equipment. Like
a pork butt, they have their own version of the "pop up timer". When
they were done, the meat pulled back from the bone as much as an 1 1/4
on each side of the bone. More importantly, the bone became a little
loose, which was easy enough to test. And using the classic fork
twist as a final test, it was a no brainer. Not thermometers needed,
and with a wide range of temps used to cook them, the big short ribs
should be easy for anyone.

I still wouldn't cook those little peewee sized short ribs I see at
the local supermarket. Too much work, not enough return. I think I
am hooked on those big boys, though.

Robert

brick

I have cooked beef back ribs many times, but I don't believe that
I've done any short ribs yet. I'll have to keep an eye out for some
of those fat guys you describe. The richness of beef ribs cannot
be overstated. When cooked just right as you describe, they need
nothing added except perhaps a little salt. With your rub already
in place, they would need nothing at all. Well, a bib does help
control the mess, but doesn't add much to the taste.

--
Brick (Youth is wasted on young people)

stormmee

DH and i were just discussing these ribs today, Lee

--
Have a wonderful day

nailshooter41

Those were my first!

You absolutely hit it right on the head. I wouldn't be disappointed
at all with S&P, and doubt much of my rub actually stayed on. Since
the rub wasn't on the meat long, the only spiciness I could taste that
I knew was my rub was the little lines of it where the rib sat on the
grate.

I think most of the rub probably dripped off with the fat.

I can't imagine a piece (or pieces) of meat much easier to barbecue.

Robert

sqwertz

Short ribs are the only beef ribs I'll cook. Next time I do them
I'm going to do whole plates of them about 5 ribs by 12". They are
thin in spots, but I'm I'll make them work.

-sw

vilco

True, if they're what I think.
Are "short ribs" similar to these? This page hosts a serie of pictures from
raw to cooked:
http://www.carnealfuoco.it/forum/ind...um=3&topic=701

I love to grill them over charcoal or, in winter or rainy days, just broil
them with the oven broiler. Usually I use very few herbs, just some fresh
minced rosemary and ground black pepper, and start adding salt when they're
almost done. Usually I cook them for 50 minutes to 1 hour at high temp like
they do in Tuscany with rosticciana, which is the same cut but with some
differences, expecially more meaty than what I find here.
--
Vilco
Mai guardare Trailer park Boys senza
qualcosa da bere a portata di mano

big jim

Howard, if you can find them still in the rack you would be real happy. I
cooked them at the store. They came 6 bones to the rack (I think) and after
cooking they weighed about 1½ pounds per bone. I got $3.50 a bone.
Big Jim

big jim

Squirts, I was able to buy them by the case. I think they had 6 bones to the
plate, came 4 racks to the case. Were 2 or more inches thick. I believe I
was paying $0.89 for them
Big Jim

sqwertz

I wasn't sure if they were 5 or 6 bones. My butcher has been
cutting the whole slabs into Korean style ribs (cross cut), which is
such a shame, IMO.

Short ribs ain't cheap hetre but much of the markup is prep for
English ribs or Korean Ribs, so I expect to pay maybe $1.29. They
normally go for $1.79 as english-cut ribs at my store - which is
half the price you'll find them at any other store.

I think they're awsome smoked. If I cut them into ribs from the
underside (the rib side) and leave a little attached at the top
side, the smoke is able to reach quite a bit of the surface.

Seasoned with coarse ground black pepper and coarse salt, plus a
little granulated garlic. But cut of beef to smoke, IMO.

-sw

nailshooter41

No, they were the English cut, but really large in size. They looked
like this before the pit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/humming...te/3825888153/

Robert