Help with First Short Plate Rib Cook

[RichardCullip]

Tomorrow I will be stepping up my BBQ game and will cook my first beef short plate rib. It's a 3 bone piece weighing in at 9lbs. It's bigger than my usually baby back pork ribs and the occasional pork shoulder I cook for some pulled pork. I feel a bit intimidated by this big hunk of beef. I'll be cooking it low and slow (target 225 deg pit temp) on a 22" Weber kettle and smoking it with some hickory chunks. In order to ease my discomfort I would love to hear how others cook short plate ribs. My main questions revolve around timing? Is this a 6 hour cook or should I anticipate up to a total of 12 hours. Also, how long should I anticipate having it under smoke and when should I wrap it foil, if at all? I realize that temperature will be a better guideline than time so some suggestions on target temperatures will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.


Here's the before picture

[HawkerXP]

I can't tell you anything, We don't get them big ones here. Please share your cook with us unfortunate ones,

[Sweaty Paul]

Looking forward to seeing this cook.

[grantgallagher]

Ive only done them twice but i def learned a few things. Foremost being dont take them over. When i did them the first time i treated like brisket, wish i had started checking for probe tender closer to 185ish vs 200. They are still delicious but you wont get the true plate rib experience if its all the way to fall off the bone. Just my (very limited) experience

[Huskee]

When I do short ribs they're usually 5-7hrs, leaning toward 7. I find this to be roughly the case whether they're a rack or single bones. I wrap mine at about 170-180 or so, tightly in double layer foil, just like I'd do a brisket, and hold them an hour or so once they hit 195-200. Do you have a pic of them? Seeing them would be helpful to know how thick they are.

[Andrrr]

FWIW I’m far less intimidated of anything after a few drinks. I’m also one of the unfortunate ones so I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out. Best of luck.

[Steve B]

Plate ribs are kinda like smoking chuck roasts (chuckies)
They are pretty forgiving. Only better.
Sounds like you got a really nice size plate.

That being said. If you keep your temps 225 or even 275. You’ll be looking at roughly an 8-10hr cook.

I know I’ve seen many people here say their plate rib cooks are in the 5-6hr range. For me that is unreasonable. I’ve never had them cook that fast. Even at 275-300*
Maybe it’s cause I live near NYC. IDK. 😁
Also you definitely want to place it in a cambro of some type and rest for at least an hour or two. Two being better.
Hope this helps somewhat.
Oh yeah try to take some pics for us.👍

[Polarbear777]

Agreed. If that’s are that thick I’d plan on ~10 hours at 225F.

[texastweeter]

dry brine at least 24 hours in advance, wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate. Day of cook, fill water pan, get pit to 225° with red oak/mesquite mix. Unwrap ribs, hit with hot sauce as a binder, coat all sides except bones with my BEv0 Bark, and go straight into pit, bones down, while as cold as possible. At 4-5 hour mark, check for the bark to be set and nice and dark. If set, and color is right, wrap in butcher paper and return to pit, meat side down for about an hour and half. (depending on if it was 4 or 5 hours to set bark). Unwrap and set back bones down in pit and smoke for additional hour. Start checking for probe tender. There are two membranes on plate ribs, you will feel slight pressure on the middle one when probing, that is normal; other than that it should glide in very easy when done. Once probe tender, wrap in double layer of foil, and into a towel lined cooler for about 3 hours. Pull, unwrap, cut between bones, get fat.

make sense?

[jerrybell]

Mostly makes sense except for the misplaced puts, foul and who.

[texastweeter]

corrected...lol

[glitchy]

If they are as fatty as the ones I get, I do 275 until 205-207 IT. Never had dry plate ribs yet. Aaron Franklin does his at 275-285 too, I just watched him do it last night on one of his BBQ with Franklin episodes. If the bark looks good after 4-6 hours I wrap in butcher paper. Sometimes I leave them open the whole time. They’re hard to mess up.

[RichardCullip]

Short Plate turned out fantastic. Much better than the beef ribs I've tried at a few BBQ places in the San Diego area. My only regret was no pictures of the results. Got distracted with getting the food on the table and forgot to take pictures.

Fired up my Weber kettle with SNS loaded with charcoal at 6AM. Short Plate went on with hickory chunks at 6:45AM when the Weber hit ~190F. Set the target temp to 225F on the FireBoard controller and the Pit Viper fan kicked on. Steady 225F plus or minus a few degrees until Noon. Added more charcoal and wrapped the Short Plate with foil as it was stalled at ~175F. At 1:45PM I adjusted the set point to 250F as the new charcoal took the temperature up above the original 225F. By 2:45PM the Short Plate hit 200F and I pulled it out of the Weber and put it into a faux cambro (ice chest with towels). Dinner was at 6PM and the Short Plate ribs went great with roasted cauliflower and smashed red potatoes.

Thanks for the suggestions and details on how to cook Short Plates. I'm very happy with the results I achieved. Here's a graph of the entire cook.

[Steve B]

Excellent. I knew you had this.
Food pics would have been nice but I’m sure you’ll do this again sooo next time. 😁