Beef ribs - good tast but...

[Antek]

Hi all,
Yesterday I did my first attempt on beef ribs. After couple days of searching I found a good butcher who understood directly which piece I need (I live in Belgium so sometimes it’s difficult to explain which cut I need for a low and slow bbq). After app. 7.5h on my weber kettle they turned out really tasty but, unfortunately a bit dry and though. Only some pieces, very few, next to the bone where juicy and soft.

Can anyone suggest what I could do differently to get a better result (moist ans soft meat)?

Here are the steps I followed (with some pics, one upside down, don't know why):

Trimmed and applied dry rub app. 30 min before they went on the bbq
Smoked for 3 hours on +/-250° until nice color
Next 3 hours on +/-250° and occasionally sprayed them with a water
I wrapped them for the last 1,5h until internal temperature of 203° - during this stage the temp was app. 275°.
I let them rest for 1 hour.

Any suggestions are welcome!

Thanks!

[SoCalTim]

Great question! I did Beef ribs last weekend and had the same sorta problem, hopefully someone here who does well with these type of ribs can dispense some wisdom. Tim

[LangInGibsonia]

I've got my first rack of beef short ribs going right now. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[ChrisSpencer71]

I cook beef ribs quite a bit. It sounds like they were a little overcooked. Short plate ribs are incredibly juicy.

You want to treat a short plate like a brisket. I would turn up the heat a little bit and consider not wrapping. If you do wrap, only leave them wrapped for a couple of hours at most. I pull the ribs off when they are probe tender, usually around 195-197 in my experiences. Hope this helps.

[Pork Lord]

Hi all,
Yesterday I did my first attempt on beef ribs. After couple days of searching I found a good butcher who understood directly which piece I need (I live in Belgium so sometimes it’s difficult to explain which cut I need for a low and slow bbq). After app. 7.5h on my weber kettle they turned out really tasty but, unfortunately a bit dry and though. Only some pieces, very few, next to the bone where juicy and soft.

Can anyone suggest what I could do differently to get a better result (moist ans soft meat)?

Here are the steps I followed (with some pics, one upside down, don't know why):

Trimmed and applied dry rub app. 30 min before they went on the bbq
Smoked for 3 hours on +/-250° until nice color
Next 3 hours on +/-250° and occasionally sprayed them with a water
I wrapped them for the last 1,5h until internal temperature of 203° - during this stage the temp was app. 275°.
I let them rest for 1 hour.

Any suggestions are welcome!

Thanks!

The problem isn't your tecnique so much as the way beef is produced in Europe. Most yall's cows are grass fed making them significantly leaner that what we get here in the states (grain fed) which gives way more marbleing.

[Spinaker]

Antek I was going to say it might just be the particular animal that a you happened to get at the butcher. That happens. But I think Pork Lord is on to something here.You may also want to wrap earlier in the cook, say 170 F . All in all, I would go with Pork Lord on this one. I think it might be the beef it self.

[HorseDoctor]

X2... Agree with Pork Lord & Spinaker. Looks like you did everything fine. Suspect it was more a result of the product you started with than what you did to it. If they aren't riddled with fat to begin with, it's tough to get to where you want to be. May be tough to find what we call choice or prime beef in Belgium...

[LangInGibsonia]

My first try turned out INCREDIBLE!! Based on what I did vs. what you did, I have to agree with those above. Get another hunk o' beef and try again.

For mine, I dry brined for 18 hours, applied BBBR right before putting in 225° smoker with 4 oz. hickory chunks. I let it go for an hour and a half then added 4 more oz. hickory. Total cook was 8 hours, no wrap, no spray. They got to 205° IT and were buttery probe tender. Then rested in foil covered sheet tray for one hour in 165° oven. That may be the best piece of non-ribeye beef I've ever eaten.

[LangInGibsonia]

I cut them into individual, 1 bone, portions before I cooked them. I wanted more bark. Good luck! You'll nail it this time.

[Antek]

Thanks! :-)

[HouseHomey]

That looks amazing. I'm not sure but I thinks it's called an "English cut" where you have one fat long rib.

[RonB]

Well, you have my mouth seriously watering.

[Antek]

First of all thanks a lot guys for the comments! This is an amazing forum :-)
Reading all your opinions I think @Pokr Lord and Spinaker are right… I’m reading that others did them in several different ways (bit lower, as LanginGibsonia, or a bit higher temperature, as ChrisSpencer71) and they turned out good. This is a bit upsetting because it’ll be more difficult to find good/right quality I need than to change something in the technique.
I’ll give a call to my butcher to ask if they can get grain fed beef to give another try and see if it works.
On the other hand I was thinking about another solution to my problem. Did anyone try to to cut small pockets in the meat and fill them with butter or other kind of fat? And does it have influence on the tenderness (ribs or any other cut)?
I saw it in Bob Gibson bbq book. He does it on Rib roast but he serves it medium rare (140°), but I think it’s a different cut and he only does it to enhance the flavor.

[Spinaker]

Antek
​I have injected with rendered beef fat from timed fat. Your problem is lack of inter muscular fat. (I think) So, that being said, it seems logical to me to inject fat into the meat. When I did it, I was already working with a Prime brisket. To be honest, I don't really remember a noticeable difference. That doesn't mean that it won't for you. I'm not sure as to the science regarding this one. Doctor Blonder could probably tell you. Hopefully he chimes in. But others will probably know as well.

I would try injecting rendered fat and see what happens. You might be surprised. As many here will tell you, there is a learning curve to cook what you want, and cook it well. Sometimes you gotta try new things, when it ends up working.....Its awesome. I think you need to change your technique, in all honesty. What works for us on this side of the pond, isn't necessarily going to work for you folks.

[Torpedo]

I don't think that injecting butter or fat into meat will make it more moist or more tender. The natural fat that is inside the meat is already a part of the meat and helps hold it together. As it breaks down and melts, it helps the meat to start to fall apart as well as moisten the meat from the inside.

[Antek]

Update:

Two weeks ago (when I was buying nice piece pork butt, Duroc, that turned out very good :-)) I asked my butcher in downtown if they had also grain fed beef and surprisingly he said he has. They import Australian beef that should be similar to American varieties. So I ordered for today 3-4kg beef ribs that are going on my kettle tomorrow morning! J

I’m going to change couple of things and follow the instruction on the website. First of all I’m planning to dry brine them for 12 hours. I hope it’ll help to keep moisture. Second, I’m going to aim for a lower temp (225°) during the run.

What do you think? Any (other) tips are welcome!

The result and the pics will follow.

Ps. Buddy from the US is coming for the dinner and he said he didn’t eat beef ribs for a long time, so the pressure is high! ;-)

[LA Pork Butt]

Antek Let us know how they turn out. I have only done the beef ribs which ar more like pork spare ribs. They had some dry spots, but they were really tasty. I want to do some short ribs. They are on sale this weekend, so I am going to give them a try.

[LA Pork Butt]

Antek I saw your second attempt. They look great! I did some short ribs - half the length of yours and half the meat. Tasted good, but not as tender as I would have liked. I need to try some big ones like yours.

[Antek]

Next to the meat quality, I think it helped that my bbq was really full during the second run. Read somewhere that it helps to keep the humidity level high during the cook = keeps meat moist.
Hope you're going to nail them next time!!

[LA Pork Butt]

Antek I cook on a BGE, so humidity wasn't the issue. They were short ribs, so I think the were just the thinner part and not as marbled.

[HorseDoctor]

Be careful & allow ample time if you're going to cook that low. I routinely cook ribs at 260-275 F without problems. Don't change too many things at a time while working out your technique. I suspect starting with a grain fattened product will make a big difference. Good luck!