Beef Ribs - My Story

jgh1204

jgh1204

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I have had no luck cooking/finding decent ribs. Most beef ribs around here are finger ribs with are all bone/no meat and cost about 99cents/lb. The other are english cut ribs, these have decent meat but are cut across the bone about 3/4" thick.

I found a market in McAllen that had a whole rack of ribs that were to be english cut. I bought the rack, uncut, 3 ribs, about 6lbs, cost around $17 total.

I put them into the bandera at 12:30 and the temp was about 250. These looked like they could handle some heat so I cooked them pretty hot for the 1st hour, average about 280 until the fuel load went down and then it was about 225 for the next 3 hours. I foiled them when they hit 160 and pulled when they hit 195 at 4:30PM.

Put them into a cooler to hold until dinner. At 7, I pulled them out and they looked great. Very little shrinkage, great color and they sliced easily.

My wife was very impressed. My other forays into beef ribs, usually with finger ribs, resulted in tough beef lollipops that the dog enjoyed.

These had a great smoke ring, looked very juicy. I took one bite........MUSH. Baby food mush. Horrible. Could not believe how bad they were. I will upload pics once I get them resized.

Upon review, obviously they cooked too long. I had always read, treat beef ribs like brisket. But I am guessing I should have taken these puppies off the fire at 160.

I doubt I can bring myself to do beef ribs again.
 
Here are the pics.
 

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Sorry about the watermarks. Anyone know of a good free resizer?

BTW, the dog is loving the bones. She wont get the meat. Too rich, would probably make her very ill.
 
Expensive Dog Bones
 

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brother, i've made ribs just like this before...the mush isn't your fault, sometimes (and its happened to me the last two times now), you just get bad ribs.

in actuality, i think if you'd have cooked them a little longer, you might've broken/cooked down some of that fat that made them mushy. just my .02
 
You are right on with cooking them to 190 as beef ribs have LOADS of great fat that needs to be rendered off to be edible. I have cooked beef ribs a bunch and pulling them at 160 will give you a very fatty and moist section of meat that will have "steak" consistency. If you are ok with eating some larger hunks of fat you will really enjoy this. Also, I would be willing to bet that foiling gave you the undesired mushiness that you didn’t like. I would try not foiling the ribs or cutting your foil tme in half and still pulling at 190. This will give you a nice crispy, chewy crust with a moist center. Should give you the texture you are looking for....
 
aside from the bashes, i dont foil beefribs while cooking until they hit 180, if at all. If I am not drooling waiting for them to finish, i go the duration without foil and then loosly wrap and let them rest in a cooler... IMO, once they are over 170-180.. Don't pay attention to the finishing temps though. Use a probe and pull them as soon as they are tender.. that can be at 175, or 180.. or 190.. but pull asap! Dont overcook.. thats most likly where the mush came from. Then a quick stint over the coals to set the outside and seer them a bit. They come out tender but firm enuf to still have some texture.
 
Maybe check them, post-foiling, for consistency the next time you do them. If they're mushy, grill them or smoke them another hour or two, naked, to firm them up.
 
I doubt seriously there was anyway to bring those things back to edibility(I think that is a new word).

Went to Sams tonight to get some pork to make Buckboard Bacon. They had cross cut ribs for $1.88. I asked the guy if they had ribs that had not been cut yet. He said yes, that a box runs about $30, about 4 racks. I asked for 1 rack. He packaged it up, 4#, $6 and some change.

So, it is beef rib time again Saturday.
 
jgh1204 said:
I doubt seriously there was anyway to bring those things back to edibility(I think that is a new word).

Went to Sams tonight to get some pork to make Buckboard Bacon. They had cross cut ribs for $1.88. I asked the guy if they had ribs that had not been cut yet. He said yes, that a box runs about $30, about 4 racks. I asked for 1 rack. He packaged it up, 4#, $6 and some change.

So, it is beef rib time again Saturday.
Click to expand...

Go with the Phil method, it's some good eats! I prepped a couple of racks, and Chad handled the cooking when I became too distracted/intoxicated. Great beef flavor. For rub try a good coating of Grub Rub, and add a little Fiesta brand fajita rub to it.

I think I'm making a trip to Sam's later....
 
If your from Harlingen you may want to find a butcher, and ask him for ribs but ask for a todo el plato. The translation is the whole plate of ribs. These are the uncut english cuts in bulk form. They're great cooked low and slow.
 
I have never cooked a beef rib. Switch to pork and save yourself the hassle..:-D
 
Beef ribs in my opinion are the hardest thing to make properly in BBQ...But when done properly are something that is out of this world. Dont give up on em!
 
Gunrunner, that is what those were.

I never followed up, but I have managed to do beef ribs twice since. Once pretty good and once ok.

It is just difficult to find decent beef ribs. Too much hassle. HEB says all their beef ribs(English) come pre-cut.

It has been awhile, may need to try again soon.
 
I rarely cook beef ribs, but when I do, there eaten up pretty quick. Don't want anyone asking me to share.:biggrin:
 
You most likely need to go to butcher, I don't think H.E.B. sells anything like this, but you need to ask for the whole plate of ribs. If you ask for todo el plato, your asking for the complete ribs with all the meat on top. Think of this as short ribs before they are cut. These are some dinosaur size ribs but awesome cooked low and slow. They will usually ask you if you want three or four rib bones worth. There used to be a meat market in Edinburg I would buy them at. I wish I was able to remember the name.
 
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