Chuck ribs with cherry glaze

I found some beef chuck ribs at the butcher shop the other day. The butcher had kept them untrimmed so that they could cut them to order for whoever might buy them. For those unfamiliar with these, they are often cut into short ribs, flanken ribs and gal-bi style butterflied ribs. These were about 12" long and from Niman Ranch, good quality beef. Here they are fresh from the butcher wrap.

Now, it has been a while since I was on the kettle and much to my surprise, I did not set the vents correctly and had the kettle rocking at 400F after letting it run for 60 minutes or so. Bummer! Still, set the vents for 225F and get the cook under control, this can still be saved. And, indeed, it was.

Look at that color, that is from the sauce. I dug out the cherry syrup I made for the cake and decided, why not, it was good on cake. I know, flawless, next week I BBQ with buttercream! Anyway, I glazed with the cherry syrup for the last 15 minutes, at 225F and got this lovely red color. The flavor was excellent on the beef, you get the spice from the aromatics in both the rub and the sauce and then the top note of cherry sweetness and fruit profile. This would totally kill with Simply Marvelous Cherry Rub, if I had any left. I go through more of that stuff... So here is a cut shot, showing the meat grain, smoke ring and just how juicy these were. I really could not be happier with these. I also feel that the full length of the rib made it easier to cook and much more moist than the smaller cuts, this is defnieietly that way to cook this part of the chuck.

Ahem, did I french the bone? Is that what you are asking? No, that happened naturally, as the meat got hotter.

Yes, I could not be happier with the cherry sauce. That bottom shot is one of my better photos too.

Philly-QueMaster said:

Tell us more about this cherry syrup you made.....

Click to expand...

It is the same sauce I used on my chocolate cake and chicken cooks earlier this week, which I may not have posted here, it is on my blog. Here is the recipe...

Cherry Sauce
1/2 pound cherries, un-pitted, stemmed
1 quart water
2 star anise whole
5 whole cloves
8 whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt
Bring all ingredients except cherries to a boil, add crushed cherries to boiling water and boil uncovered until reduced by half. Drain and squeeze cherries to remove all liquid. Return to pot.

1 quart water
1 pint cider vinegar
1/8 cup brown sugar
Bring pressed cherry sauce to boil, add water, sugar and vinegar to pot and reduce at simmer by 1/4 to 1/2 fluid volume. Determine if the sauce has the appropriate consistency, if not, add two tablespoons corn starch to 1 pint of water and bring to boil for two to three minutes, add a little at a time to thicken sauce while on simmer. Remove when a little thinner than desired as it will thicken as it cools.

Big George's BBQ said:

Those look great. I have never heard of chuck ribs before Thanks

Click to expand...

Really? You have heard of beef short ribs, right? Essentially they are beef short ribs before the butcher takes a saw to them. Even these, at 12" long are not the full length of bone. They sit under the blade chuck (I think that is what the cut it called).

SmokeJumper said:

Did you use any smokewood? Let me guess, cherry?

Click to expand...

No, I am out of cherry, I used pecan for a slightly stronger smoke flavor, since I knew the cherry flavor would be there. I figured hickory to be too strong and apple to be the wrong choice flavor wise.