Beef Back Ribs Today

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Shawn White

Sous Chef
Joined
Jan 5, 2005
Messages
791
Location
Calgary, Alberta
It's me again, enjoying my 10 days at home, cooking up a storm.

Today it's 8.5 lbs beef back ribs with my new rib rack, first attempt at beef ribs. They have been on for 2.5 hrs now and I'll have to make a decision soon.

I like to foil pork side ribs without liquid for around 45 minutes. I'm wondering if I should foil these beef ribs for a while or just leave them be.

Maybe I'll foil a few and see.

Comments? Opinions?
 
I don't foil beef ribs either--usually (I do on young grass-feds as they're so lean)--but if you're able, try it on some as TexLaw suggests. See what you think.

10 days! Yowza. We'll be expecting daily cook reports you know.
 
K Kruger said:
I don't foil beef ribs either--usually (I do on young grass-feds as they're so lean)--but if you're able, try it on some as TexLaw suggests. See what you think.

10 days! Yowza. We'll be expecting daily cook reports you know.

A little over 5 hours now. I trimmed a couple of ribs off one end or the other of each piece so they would fit in the rack on the top grate. I'm going to foil one of these smaller pieces (2 ribs) for a while.


Yeah, 10 days not including travel days. Awesome!

I did some fresh sockeye on the grill last week when I got home, but didn't write about it or take pics. Then we left for the weekend.

Monday was handmade burgers over lump with sauteed mushrooms
Tuesday was Bacon Wrapped Chicken Skewers
Wednesday was the Brined Chickens
Tonight, well, you know ...
Friday ... too busy, leftovers + salad night then start 4 butts for Saturday

leaving again Sunday morning...

Next week .... diet and exercise :)
 
K Kruger said:
The skewers looked great. Really tasty.

I imagine you're bringing pulled pork back with you, no?

When's the contract up?

Yup, gonna bring back as much as my wife will let me get away with, when I get there in the freezer it will go.

It's back to Montreal for another three months (home for weekends bi-weekly)
 
Here are the pics.

The beef ribs were on for 6 hours. I didn't baste or spray and they were a little dry outside, moist inside and pulled clean from the bone with a bit of a tug.

I actually liked the foiled test ribs a more, it was softer. If I do them again I will probably foil them.

They were good, but like Nick said, I prefer the pork ribs. For me I think it's the difference in the fat.

The final pic shows a close up of a couple ribs with my berry habanero jelly on them.
 
Shawn--

Ribs look great. I want that pic ap! (I'm a pork rib fan myself but I do beef periodically.)

Bryan--

Did two tri-tips myself before leaving the house. Got three stashed. Shawn, you'll have to cook you a tri.
 
Susan Z said:
Nice looking ribs, you betcha! I've only done 'em on the grill (Raichlen's recipe featuring Hoisin sauce). They were moist and meaty and amazing. For the life of me I don't know why I haven't done 'em again since. Mebbe it's because those bronto-ribs are hard to find.
Man Suz, I love hoisin sauce... now I'm going to have to go to the Vietnamese restaurant soon.
 
Cruising said:
When I was shopping at Sam's, next to the brisket flats, there was a beef
that was "round" in shape. I forgot what it was called (maybe even beef
round - but I think it was more like beef roast or something - I really don't
rememebr).

It looked like it had a fat cap on it. It cost less than $1.00 a pound. That
is why it caught my eye. Is that worth smoking like a brisket?

If it was a beef top round you can cook it on your WSM, but cook it at 275*-300*. Pull it when it's rare to med rare.
If it was eye of round... leave it in the case. Not a lot of beef flavor in that.
 
I bet I would love tri-tip ... does it go by another name?

Cruising: if that chunk was a piece of blade (chuck) roast it will make excellent beef BBQ, cook low 'n' slow, but as you can tell, which cut of meat it is matters a lot. I can't seem to get 'chuck roll' here, but I can whole boneless blade. They weigh in at around 20lbs or so.
 
Shawn White said:
I bet I would love tri-tip ... does it go by another name?.
Bottom sirloin butt (rarely), and 'triangle' roast. It is NOT sirloin tip as some 'butchers' will tell you. TVWBB has a pdf on tri-tip; helpful if you go to a real butcher, though not all are familiar with it. If you've got a guy that uses the IMPS/NAMP numbers it is cut 1185C (for the fat-on) or 1185D for the trimmed. Trimmed is good or trim it. They do not need all kinds of exterior fat to cook right. They are very flavorful but will suffer from overcooking. However, I've taken them to past medium (not quite to med-well) with no loss of juiciness. Slice thin, against the grain, on the bias (if you want wide slices).
 
thanks Kevin, I will print that off and file it in my BBQ binder for a grillin day

Back to the beef ribs ... been thinking about it a bit, I will do them again.

I think I should have started spraying or basting them after 2 - 3 hours to prevent the outside from getting dry, especially if they aren't going to get foiled.

Next time I will try to get larger ones. I stayed on the small side this time but some of the packs were 50% larger (taller and meatier).

Sound like a plan?
 
Sound like a plan?

Definitely. The small ones I get are from the young grass-feds I mentioned. When I'm buying them though, I go for larger. The way cattle are raised these days--usually--often means you have a better shot at a good fat/lean ratio on the larger animals, especially in the rib and plate areas.

Marinades are nice with beef ribs. You can make a little extra and mop with it or use it as a mop only. A nice combo is a rehydrated pepper blend (Ancho, Cascabel, New Mex, Guajillo, or the like) pureed with onion, garlic, a little pineapple juice, sour orange or grapefruit juice, some brewed strong coffee, a squeeze of lime, s & p, and a bit of Turbinado, piloncillo, or maple syrup to balance the acidity.
 
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