Noob Questions re: Beef Short Ribs

[HorseDoctor]

Nest time try cooking an entire 4 (or 3) rib slab (as Franklin does) rather than individual ribs. My Favorite way to cook beef ribs! That way they are much less likely to dry out (get jerky like). Contrary to some folks opinion, sometimes there can just be too much bark!!! Good luck!

[FishTalesNC]

Ok, putting a bow on this thread... I hit them with BBBR and had them on the kettle with cherry wood and up to temp by 7:30am. I arranged them the way I did thinking the bigger thicker rib was closer to the heat and they may cook more evenly with the smaller two in the back. Temps were very stable for me around 225F all day until rain hit at 3pm, had to open up the vents to help it sustain. I started checking and probing hourly at 2pm. At 4pm the big one up front was 205F and probe tender - wrapped it and held in the oven. The other 2 were 199F at that point, but 30 min later were 207F and probe tender. I even noticed that "brisket wobble" on them when the lid was open and I was limping and banging around the deck. Held everything until 5:30pm then we dug in. My wife made some insanely good Hatch green chili cornbread too, perfect compliment. She really liked her rib, but the chuck roast I did recently is still her favorite. My kiddo went wild and devoured her’s, it’s her "new favorite". Mine was the bigger one in front, and unfortunately the bark was too jerky-like. The inside was incredibly yummy, everything rendered beautifully. Just too close to the fire I guess. My initial thoughts on fixing this are: arrange the ribs differently with the ends to the heat, and flip half way thru, and/or spritz (which I’ve never done).

Thank you all again for all your help, and if you have any thoughts on jerky-bark resolutions I’m all ears!

I just realized i did I did not refill my SNS either, I wonder if doing so would help alleviate the problem?

[FishTalesNC]

I found a really helpful link HorseDoctor posted in another thread so wanted to include it here: https://aggiemeat.tamu.edu/barbecue-cut-identification/

I believe these are 3-bone/plate ribs rather than 4-bone/chuck ribs.

[FishTalesNC]

Awesome, good to know Potkettleblack ! They’ll be in my future for sure, beef teriyaki sounds so good right now. Excited to be expending my smoking horizons!

[Potkettleblack]

They’re kinda like the pork shoulder of the cow. So much marbling, so very forgiving.

Dont sleep on those flanken cuts. They’re tasty as all get out, great with chimichurri or teriyaki style sauces. Anything with some vinegar as they are wayguy rich on a Walmart budget.

[FishTalesNC]

Keeping this thread updated in case it helps someone else in the future...

I trimmed and dry brined the ribs at noon, maybe I should have asked the butcher to cut them as close to the same size as possible - I guess that big boy is mine. 😬 I plan to get up at 6am and get some java in me and start the the ball rolling tomorrow. I read Meatheads article saying trim the fat off the top but nothing off the bone side as with the membrane on pork ribs, so that was my approach. I’m also lacking experience trimming meat, but SO glad I sharpened our knives last weekend! The one on the right had a considerable amount of what to me is "normal" fat with plenty running thru it as well, while the other two had a thin layer of the silvery skin, you can see where I hacked up the left one a bit. Seems odd they were so different since I watched them come off the same slab/plate. Getting anxious...

[Troutman]

Those pictured above are chuck short rib plates. What I said was I prefer back ribs of all the cuts but the poster wanted to know about shorties Omega-Man

[Omega-Man]

Those pictured don't look like back ribs to me either. I just cooked Wagyu back ribs and the only meat was between each bone. I have read that they take a rib roast and cut all the meat away down to the bone, mostly leaving shiners. I wouldn't buy them again.

[EdF]

Well, it beats the "Mr Ed" theme!

[Troutman]

Hey those puppies ought to cook up real nice. Actually single ribs allow for more bark, so there you go !!!

[Troutman]

Beatles

[EdF]

"And a splendid time is guaranteed for all"!

[FishTalesNC]

I ran by Sams Club this morning and the only beef ribs they had out were flanken cut, just not what I was after for my first try. As luck would have it one of their butchers walked out and made eye contact... poor guy. He was so patient and helpful though! He said flanken is all they typically put out unless you ask for something different. He ended up bringing out the huge package of ribs they get, talked to me about the cuts, asked how I planned to cook it, etc and said there were 4 on each side typically. So I asked if he’d give me half, and cut them in 2X2 and off he went. Then came back - turns out that one had 3 ribs. Guessing it was going to be a more even cook and maybe better bark if I went 3X1, I had him cut it in singles. It’s monstrous but I think I got what I was after... can’t wait til Sunday.

[Troutman]

Costco here has decent shorties but the best ones come from Whole Foods. Really big, beefy plates.

[HorseDoctor]

Troutman You must be getting a lot meatier back ribs or a lot closer trimmed chuck ribs than I see around here. Not even close to the same from my sources... Only similarity is they both taste awesome!