British BBQ Society Forums

I was just gonna ask the same as Swindon Ed regarding the membrane, Your 20 mins resting needs to tripled to at least an hour ! I always Foil my ribs, and their tricky to monitor the cooking temp of the meat as the bones read differently to the meat between them so your thermometer placement is a tad hit & miss so with ribs I have to peek under the lid every hour or so to check on them, Sounds like yours might have been over cooked and slightly drying out, I usually rely on a good mopping everytime I peek and 'ding' my mopping sauce or beef stock so it's hot when I apply it to keep them moist.
I nearly always always let mine marinate in their rub overnight, I'm sure the salt content tenderises the meat.
G

Ed

Thanks for the response, Foiling is the way forward but I thought ceramic bbqs cooked in a high moisture environment and you didn't need water pans and foil etc. I removed the membrane and rested for 20 mins. The meat wasn't dry at all it was chewy. Do you think cooking until the temp hits 195-200F and resting for longer than 20 mins would help?

Thanks Martin

I've heard people talk about the higher moisture enviroment before but i've never seen any proof of this, i was cooking on a couple of Primo BBQ's at the weekend and we still foiled the meat.

Foiling works in two way firstly allows you to add more moisture to your meat but it also steams the meat slightly and this is what helps the meat breakdown and become more tender.

Most of the DDD people use commercial smokers and smoke for absolutely ages, 12-16+ hours in some cases, at a controlled temp & humidity. In my, admittedly limited, experience I've never had a problem with foiling, in fact once I get to that stage I feel I can relax a bit. Also foiling allows you to "hold" the ribs/joints for a whilke if necessary. Give it a go, it's only a couple of minutes out of the day and I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed.

Chewy but not dry usually = undercooked.

Internal temp is one thing to go by but don't assume that it will always give you spot on results. I've done briskets that have been right at 185 and others that have gone as far as 215.

The same will apply for short ribs, use a Thermapen or skewer to pierce the meat and you're going for a feel that's like poking room temperature butter. It's difficult to describe how it should feel, but once you get it right you'll know.

You can still get a moist product without foiling but it's more tricky, personally I'd say when cooking at 250F, foiling will be necessary, but I prefer to foil late with beef, at around 170-180 internal. This is particularly important with short ribs, if you foil early they have a tendency to shrink up and look like beef lollipops.


Resting is important, don't underestimate the importance of resting. I'd rest for no less than a half hour, longer if you can FTC them. The best beef I cook gets two hours plus of resting after an initial venting.

Gents

Thanks for the input, I think foiling and cooking to a higher temp is the answer, in hindsight I think it was undercooked, it certainly didn't feel like butter. I'll have another go when the weather gets better and I can spend the day in the garden necking a few beers.

Do you use sauce with beef ribs? I read a couple recipes where they didn't.

Martin

Sometimes I sauce, sometimes not. If saucing I stay away from sweet sauces a'la kc style. There are some nice sweet brisket finishing sauce recipes on the webs but they're not mega sweet.

I like serving a hot BBQ sauce on the side. I cook my own hot BBQ sauce that goes well with short ribs but it's got quite a bit of personality so it's not for everyone.