More Beef Short Ribs

[Pooky]

So, yesterday I decided to have another go at one of my favourite cooks at the moment - Beef Short Ribs (Or Beef Flat Ribs as I think most butchers call them over here). They're a beefy treat, reasonably priced and I always get a great smoke ring on them.

I cooked these to 190F, which took about 7-7.5hrs at 250F, then wrapped them in foil, a couple of old towels and popped them in the "Cambro" (coolbox) for about an hour - They were my best yet - Moist, tender and full of flavour.

[tommo666]

one word, AWESOME

[keith157]

They look absolutely awesome, Toby had best beware

[Gary Morris]

Ditto to the above, they do look delicious, beautiful smoke ring.

Gary

[PeanutZA]

Mind sharing your beef rub?

[Pooky]

Thanks folks! Haha - Keith, I don't think Toby's got too much to worry about - I've quite a few meats to perfect before I even get close to that standard!

Of course Peanut - As follows (Obviously, adjust the quantities to your liking):

2 tablespoon Salt (I use Maldon Sea Salt, as I think it's got a nice rounded flavour)
2 tablespoon Black Pepper (coarse)
1 heaped teaspoon Colmans Mustard Powder
2 heaped teaspoon Onion Powder/Granules
1 heaped teaspoon Garlic Powder/Granules
1 heaped teaspoon Paprika (Standard / Sweet / Hot / Smoked, depending on your taste)
1 heaped teaspoon Chipotle Powder
1 heaped teaspoon Pure Ancho Chili Powder
2 heaped teaspoon White Sugar
Half to 1 teaspoon Dried Rosemary

I tend to give it a 1 second blitz in a coffee bean grinder, just to break down the sea salt flakes and the rosemary a little, but I don't know how much difference it makes really.

I also (usually) am quite sparing with it, but on the ribs above I put on a bit more than I normally do (clumsiness - Need to invest in a shaker!)

[YetiDave]

These ribs... Correct me if I'm wrong but they're basically a rib trimmed from brisket, right? I've seen bone in brisket at a local butchers that's basically like these - big wide bones and a thick layer of meat over the top. I might have to pick some up

[Tiny]

Pooky,
I salute you, although I am mildly unnerved as an ex girlfriend was known as poky......but I digress.

Beef short ribs are my nemesys, I have smoked them and foiled them and generally tarted about with them, flavour excellent but rather chewy would be the kindest I could be too myself.

So am I right you just straight smoke and rest? no foiling in beef broth or spritzing with unicorn tears?

I yearn for a decent beef rib so any secrets you can share would be really good.
PS you weren't at leeds university around '92?

[keith157]

Yetidave if you look at the last post on nthis topic it should explain where they come from. The Flank, as opposed to the flank steak, is where the Spares are on a pig your butcher should be able to get them for you.

http://www.bbbqs.com/Forum/viewtopic.ph ... ank#p29667

[Pooky]

Hi Tiny! Haha, I get that a lot - Pook is my surname, but it seems a lot of people use "Pooky" as a cutesy nickname - It doesn't really fit with me being a 6'6" oaf!

Many thanks for your salutations! I don't know what to tell you secrets-wise - It could well be that I've just got lucky!
I have an excellent butcher that I use, "Appleyards" here in St Leonards and the Beef Ribs were beautifully marbled. I trim the skin/fat-layer from the top and remove the membrane from the bottom - There's still a quite thin, fibrous (don't know how better to describe it) layer along the bones and I do my best to remove this too. I give them a light coating of rapeseed oil before applying the rub, which I just pat in, rather than rubbing in, then yep, put them on the smoker and leave un-wrapped until I rest them - No liquid, no unicorn tears (which reminds me, I'm running low on those) and no Griffin spittle. I'm always a bit paranoid about losing the bark, as I'm a bit of a barkaholic!
I was very cautious with temperature control, keeping it as close to 250F as I could - The hottest it peaked at was about 255F.

The upper section of the meat is certainly firmer than the lower section, but not tough. One issue is that the thinner end of the rack, tends to cook quicker and can be 10 degrees hotter than the thicker, meatier end - but I took my temps from this thicker end.

Sorry I can't offer any better advice/solutions!
Nope, I wasn't at Leeds Uni, but I may well have been seen staggering around Leeds in the early hours on a couple of occasions around that time, as well as Pompey, having grown up in Chichester.

Good luck with future Beef Rib ventures -I hope you have more luck next time!