Pics: Steak on a Stick

Still a work of art. Looks scrumptious.

Those look great! BBQ porn right there. Wish I was alone with one now!

I shouldn't look at these right before dinner- my mouth's waterin' like Pavlov's dog.

Looks mighty good.

Well, I convinced a meat manager at Sam's to sell me uncut racks of beef short ribs. I had to buy the whole cryovac bag (4 racks of three bones each, bones about 8 - 9 inches long). I've read this thread and also Ribdog's tutorial with Chris Lilly's recipe. (I actually have Chris' book.) What I'm looking for is a little more detail on trimming the racks. There seems to be a good deal of fat on the bone side, along with the membrane. I'm assuming all that should come off since it doesn't contribute to "basting" the meat. I also saw that most of the fat and all of the silverskin should come off the meat side. Any more tips?

I read AndyJ's temps and times for his FEC and am wondering how that might translate to my AmeriQue. I've done beef back ribs, but this will be my first time with short ribs. All help greatly appreciated!

Jay,

The Membrane on Beef is VERY difficult to remove, you can try, but with all the shrinkage you WILL get with the beef, leave it on as a way to hold the ribs together.

for the fat, it's a little difficult to trim, so the since you have a couple of different racks go with:

1. No trimming
2. Max trimming
3&4. Some fat trimming

That way you can which works best.

In the restaurant, we cooked them long enough that a lot of fat rendered and the ones we got didn't have that much that needed trimming. Beside I love me some beef fat

I've found the membrane was very difficult to remove on a couple of racks, so I just cut a big X in it, can't remember where I saw/heard/read that, TripleD episode I think. On some of the other racks, it was pretty simple to remove, give it a try. The fat on the bottom bone side, I left alone. The top side fat, depended on how much there was. Got some from RD that had a boat load of fat and lots of silverskin. Got a couple racks from a local grocer that didn't have a whole lot, so I didn't bother trimming.

Here's a couple links to some of my previous cooks when I was using the SM020.

http://forum.cookshack.com/eve...1028883/m/5652962427

http://forum.cookshack.com/eve...1028883/m/5312976337

Smokin' - thanks for the advice. I'll take your suggestion on the trim choices, but probably not all at the same time - more beef than we can eat at once! I'll make a final decision once I see how they look when I get them out of the cryovac. I second the vote on beef fat, as long as it's still hot and juicy with the meat! I also like to fry red skin potatoes sliced thin in rendered beef fat. Yum!

I know that you are not a fan of cooking to time or necessarily temp on ribs, but could you give me a hint on "cooked them long enough..." Just for dinner planning purposes.

Andy, thanks so much for the links. I did a search, but obviously didn't find everything. Sounds like maybe 4 - 5 hours depending on the temperature sequence, for a rack like I have. I will probably also forgo the braising step, since the one time I had this kind of rib (in Bozeman Montana many years ago) I'm pretty sure it was not braised. I think my target will be 200. Since the meat is so thick, I think the thermapen will be a good reference.

I've got a rack of plate short ribs in the smoker, 3 ribs about 9 inches long. Trimmed weight about 6 lbs. Since the meat is 2 - 2 1/2 inches thick, I was going to allow up to 8 hours at 225. After 2 hours, they seem to be getting done pretty quickly (up to 130 on a probe between two of the ribs). My question is, should I expect a "stall" as with brisket and PB? Thanks.

Yes, but shorter "stall" & faster finish.

Let us know how they turned out.

Joe, you were exactly right. I will give a blow-by-blow and (hopefully if I can figure it out) post pics tomorrow. Thanks!

OK, can somebody clue me in on how to post multiple (3) pictures in one post, and size limits if applicable? I found a thread with what seems to be old info - does the "image URL" button mean they need to be posted somewhere else first? Why can't I just attach them as with an email? Please help. Thanks.

Smokin posted a how to somewhere, but I use photobucket and then paste the image codes in then text of the post. You can do as many as you want then.

PM Smokin & he'll get you set up.

Beef plate short ribs from Sam's. Trimmed almost all the fat from the top so I could get to the silverskin and remove it. Sliced off the thick fat from the rib side. Rub was black pepper, salt, onion, garlic, ancho, chipotle, and a little bit of paprika for color. Smoked at 225 with hickory for 9 hours total. In at 10:00 am. Somewhat of a stall at 165, 3 1/2 hours in, until around 5:00 pm, then boosted the temp to 250. Was prepared to wait until 8:00 pm to reach target of 200, but at 190 (6:45 pm) the thermapen probe slid right in with almost no resistance. Pulled and rested under foil for 15 mins. Ultra tender and juicy. Fabulous beef flavor. Good bark. I may never do brisket again!

The rack trimmed and seasoned


The rack when done


The rack sliced

WOW! That looks fantastic!

Ain't they gooooood?

Thanks for the help, Andy! And yes, they are gooood! I figure with initial beef cost (too high!), trim and shrinkage in cooking, it turned out to be about $4 to $5 per half-lb serving after everything. Not bad for that kind of good! I'm going to try other sources for the short ribs. Plan to join KCBS and get into RD next summer (there aren't any here in NM where I am for the winter).

Those look spectacular! Way to render the fat. They look mighty tasty.

Thanks Andy and Pags. The way these turned out was a revelation. I always thought "short ribs" were those bony and fatty 3 inch long things in the meat case. One of the posters in the original "beginners" thread (which I can't find now) said "know your cuts of meat." I originally found Chris Lilly's recipe for short ribs and then got intrigued by "dino ribs" references. Found out about full short rib "slabs" and that plate was superior to chuck. Hence the result. I'll be doing them again (three more racks in the freezer.) Thanks all!

Jay

Has anyone had experience with Select grade plate short ribs? It's all I could get at RD yesterday. The others I've done were Choice from Sam's and turned out great. Any tips? Thanks!

Well, cook it like you did your choice and let us know how it went

For me, select grade are just that select so the quality will not be that good. Only way I would trim them is to foil for a bit with liquid to keep them from drying out since they don't have as much intramuscular fat.

I've cooked select a few times as that's all that was available. Still came out good, just not as good.

An older thread, but still on the subject. I've done choice plate short ribs from Sam's Club (earlier pics on the thread), and select ribs from RD (much less internal fat and a little bit tougher, but still very good). I recently got some Angus plate short ribs from RD (quite expensive), and did a 3-bone rack yesterday. I trimmed them the same as always: most fat and the silver skin from the meat side, and most of the heavy fat from the bone side. Same cooking - 225 with a generous rub (in this case Oak Ridge BBQ Brisket Rub), until an IT of about 180, then a boost to 250 for the final 1 1/2 hours to IT of 196. The meat was very tender, almost fall off the bone, but there was still a large amount of internal fat that almost made it hard to eat. Not in layers or streaks, but throughout. I'm thinking Angus for this cut may be overkill. Or perhaps I should have cooked at a higher temp from the start to render more fat. I still have 3 racks in the freezer, so any ideas or similar experiences would be appreciated. Thanks all!