British BBQ Society Forums

Hi,

I'm thinking of smoking some beef ribs this coming weekend and wondered which cut is best value.
I've heard Jacobs Ladder and Short cut.. what's the most popular, and what sort of price should I expect to pay?

Thanks!

It seems daft BUT have a look at Amazon under groceries you'd be surprised at how many suppliers there are and they give you prices as well. Not saying to buy them from there (other meat providers are available) but it gives you a good baseline

thanks for the tips,

I spoke to my local butcher http://www.johnpettitbutchers.co.uk/

And thay have beef short ribs at £3.30 per lb, which seems good value to me.

Hopefully they'll be good as they have won loads of awards over the years!

Hi Nick,

My butcher will essentially do three types of ribs, he has the cut down rack (What I know as a Jacobs Ladder), Beef Short Ribs or a Beef Long Rib.

I also think that the term Jacobs Ladder means different things to different butchers, the Jacobs Ladders I tend to have had have been cut down racks:



I have had varying results by asking for these from other butchers and I think it generally depends on the butcher and the other cuts they are trying to get. I have had some fantastic handlebar long ribs which have had lots of meat on them and then some that must from the other end of the rib which were very fatty.



My favourite is the beef Short ribs in singles, these are often reasonably lean and I find that they give me my brisket fix without hours of prep and 12 hours of low n slow.

I couldn't agree more with the difference in terminology between butchers. All I can add is that 38 or so years ago the College of Distributive Trade at Smithfield held that Jacobs Ladder was the bone section above the eye of the fore rib of beef. If that makes sense (I was only sent there on 3 occasions as they taught different cuts to those we used where I worked).

The pictures are great and extremely useful, I had even tried showing him youtube clips on my phone.

I found Beef Short Ribs at Smithfields meat market for £2.40/lb. They are a little fatty on top, but will let you know how I go as they are planned for this weekend

nick9one1 wrote:thanks for the tips,

I spoke to my local butcher http://www.johnpettitbutchers.co.uk/

And thay have beef short ribs at £3.30 per lb, which seems good value to me.

Hopefully they'll be good as they have won loads of awards over the years!

Petits is a wonderful butcher, if you go in midweek they may have more time to discuss things. Like most
butchers if you give them enough notice they can sort out pretty much what you require.

Oddly i bought a single short beef rib today, to try, along with some very meaty pork ribs. Will be asking for opions on those later.

How long should i cook the single rib for? It looks lovely, so i relly dont want to ruin it.

I cooked some ones similar to the ones above for about 4 hours at 250F until the meat had pulled well back from the edge of the bone, they are pretty difficult to overcook, and so moist, I usually cook in a rack of 3, but have some single ribs in the freezer.
Cheers
Marcus