Advice for smoking beef short ribs before braising them in red wine?

Kevin_in_Tyrone

I bought some beef short ribs that I would like to smoke in the egg before braising them in red wine and beef stock.

In the past, I have had good luck with a similar cook for lamb shanks.  I smoke them for 2 hours at 250 degrees and then braise in red wine for 3 - 4 hours.

I have a recipe for beef short ribs that calls for browning the short ribs in oil for about 8 minutes; setting them aside to fry the vegetables (onion, celery, carrots, garlic); return the ribs to the dutch oven with the red wine and reduce by half (about 25 minutes); add beef broth and herbs, bring to a boil, then cover and braise in the oven for 2 - 2.5 hours until ribs are tender.

My question is, how do I incorporate smoking the ribs in the egg to this recipe.  Should I brown the ribs first, then smoke them, then braise?  Or skip the browning?  Or smoke first, then brown in hot oil?  And how much should I reduce the braising time based on how long I smoke the ribs?  I know that braising cooks and tenderizes the beef much faster than roasting at a low temperature.  Should I decrease the braising time by 30 minutes for each hour of smoking?  Or 20 minutes?  Or something else?

Thanks!

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Smoke, brown, then braise.

Eggbertsdad

Your idea sounds great. I wouldn't brown them before if the goal is to get some smoke on them. You could probably skip the browning step after a couple of hours on the egg.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

You can also brown after the braise but I prefer to do it before.

stike

you can still get smoke on them after browning. do whatever is easiest.  don't skip the browning though

i have done a similar thing for osso bucco.  rather than smoke then brown then braise, i just get a little color on them by searing, doing the brown and smoke steps in one go.

Eggbertsdad

stike,

So you don't slow smoke them, you just let the smoke from the sear do the trick?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

That works too. Stike is right- the browning is where it's at on a braise. I would skip smoke before browning, but I usually do both.