Beef rib cook…some success and failure

Cooked beef short ribs today. Some succes and some failure.

1. Smoke ring and flavor success. I used the smokeboost for 1.5 hrs and had a smoketube with hickory chips.
2. I cooked them for around 5.5 hrs to around 205. It was probe tender, sort of, not quite like butter. I didn’t want to over cook them. I did wrap them with foil about 4 hrs into the cook and basted them with the melted fat that I had trimmed off. I let them rest in my cooler for about an hour.
3. Flavor was on point And they were moist. I used the 1836 Sucklebusters rub with a little added salt And pepper.
4. Somewhat of a fail. It was not as tender as I had envisioned It would be and a slight bit on the chewy side.

This is my second attempt at beef ribs using different cookers. Either I’m not much of a fan, or still have a lot of work to do. I love brisket, but not sure about the ribs as of yet.
By the way, they were choice ribs which appeared to have good marbling throughout.

Any thoughts or suggestions welcome. I’m hear to learn and just put out better food. I’m really happy to get the amount of smoke flavor that I wanted with the Smokefire. Now I know it’s possible.

I think you’re on the right track. you might try cutting between the ribs so they can cook individually next time, though. So long as they are wrapped after 3-4 hours they shouldn’t dry out.

I’m in the other camp. I almost always cook the slab whole if that’s an option the larger the mass of protein the more moisture is retained.

I chalk it up to a bad cut. Sometimes you need to go a bit higher than 205 with beef ribs and chuck roasts but they shouldn’t be dry, maybe a bit of tug. You simply can’t make a lean piece as juicy as a fattier cut. They should be very unctuous almost velvety. Just need a bit more inter muscular fat in the product. Give it another go. The meat looks great, just lean.

JpsBBQ said:

I’m in the other camp. I almost always cook the slab whole if that’s an option the larger the mass of protein the more moisture is retained.

I chalk it up to a bad cut. Sometimes you need to go a bit higher than 205 with beef ribs and chuck roasts but they shouldn’t be dry, maybe a bit of tug. You simply can’t make a lean piece as juicy as a fattier cut. They should be very unctuous almost velvety. Just need a bit more inter muscular fat in the product. Give it another go. The meat looks great, just lean.

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Great. Have you ever tried Costco or Sams for beef ribs? I have both memberships and wondering if one of those are a good option. This last one I purchased was at a Fareway store near me.

Mark.B said:

Great. Have you ever tried Costco or Sams for beef ribs? I have both memberships and wondering if one of those are a good option. This last one I purchased was at a Fareway store near me.

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I’ve had plenty of stuff from both Sam’s and Costco, but not plate ribs. I assume they’d be great. I’ve had faraway and hyvee before without issue. Also some butcher shop stuff that’s a bit pricey.

I did 2 plates of ribs about 4 weeks ago. As I was cooking there was a TWENTY DEGREE difference between them, and the one that was behind on temperature also needed a higher temp (I believe I pulled that one off at 207.5ish).

SupportKing said:

I did 2 plates of ribs about 4 weeks ago. As I was cooking there was a TWENTY DEGREE difference between them, and the one that was behind on temperature also needed a higher temp (I believe I pulled that one off at 207.5ish).

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Yep, that's what I was thinking, a bit longer. I will not wrap the next ones with foil either. I think I'll default to butcher paper soaked in the rendered fat. I didn't like the way the "bark" turned out.

Mark.B said:

Yep, that's what I was thinking, a bit longer. I will not wrap the next ones with foil either. I think I'll default to butcher paper soaked in the rendered fat. I didn't like the way the "bark" turned out.

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You can always firm up bark on butts and briskets etc. with a short return to the grid unwrapped. It recovers in less than 1/2 hour. If that’s an important factor. I’m a proponent of butchers paper for high grade meats but foil for choice and inexperienced cooks. Good luck.