3 Bone Plate Ribs vs 4 Bone Plate ribs?

[GolfGeezer]

So, I've always been a bit confused about Plate ribs, Chuck Short Ribs, Dino Ribs. Of course I had to ask the inner web, and this is basically what I got. The left part of the table is the Plate Rib definition,

3-bone plate ribs (from ribs 6-8) and 4-bone chuck short ribs (from ribs 2-5) are both types of beef short ribs, but they come from different parts of the cow, with plate ribs being meatier and more expensive.
Here's a more detailed comparison:

Origin	Mid-section of ribs 6 through 8	Mid-section of ribs 2 through 5
Bone Count	3 bones per rack	4 bones per rack
Meatiness	Generally considered meatier and more marbled	Still meaty, but with shorter bones and potentially more connective tissue

Of course, it is always dicey to claim one is better than the other, but at least this helps an idiot like me get a grasp on what I'm actually cooking. It also seems that Dino Ribs refer to either kind. Maybe useless "knowledge", but there you are!

[Smoked Transistors]

Helpful for sure. Thanks

[Panhead John]

Same here, thanks Sam! Sincerely……Idiot #2

[Steve B]

Always wondered what the difference was as well. Thanks for finding this.

[realdocBBQ]

I've always heard the 4-bone rack referred to as 'chuck' plate ribs. In my experience, the 3-4 times I've had each, the 3 bone racks have been thicker and meatier. Not sure how pervasive that is, but it seems to match up with the general consensus I've seen.

[RonB]

Thanks for posting this.

[Finster]

Thanks for sharing. It's always been a bit confusing to me, so I just try not to overthink it...lol

[Uncle Bob]

The explanation you found is actually pretty definitive, but common usage messes with accuracy. 3 bone are plate ribs, aka. Dino Ribs, 4 bone are Chuck or short ribs (further confused when cut into shorter portions such as English cut, roughly 3-4 inch sections, and flanken or Korean cut) and then there are the back ribs which are further back on the carcass from the chuck short ribs and have little meat other than between the bones. And to confuse further, those back ribs are sometimes called finger ribs referring to the meaty portion as resembling fingers of meat. Just as we see folks who don't see the need to embrace nomenclature accuracy confuse pork loin and pork tenderloin, beef rib nomenclature is often abused. Shall we add tomahawk and cowboy ribeye differences to the "argument"?

[GolfGeezer]

That last one is fun for me as I heard the difference between tomahawk and cowboy steaks as "cowboy steaks are tomahawks with their d**k cut off"!