Beef Short Rib Advice Needed

Greeno55 · December 2012

I have a Christmas staff party to attend Friday night, and clearly I need to bring something from the Egg. I get asked all the time what's making the staff room smell so good, and of course it's my leftovers. I was thinking of doing some beef short ribs, but am worried even low and slow they could be tough. As we all know the search feature on this forum leaves a lot to be desired, but I did find the following recipe. Was hoping for a honey garlic type rib. Anyone have success with this or something like it before?
http://www.biggreenegg.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/keven-rathbun-SmokedBeefShortRibs.pdf

nolaegghead · December 2012

Since there's a braising step, I don't think you can go wrong. Look for the meatiest, leanest, thickest short ribs you can find. I've had better luck with the smaller end (bone size) short ribs. The veal short ribs I picked up the other day got much more tender than the beef short ribs I cooked at the same time. I've done a braise and reverse sear, never did short ribs in that order. Lately I've been doing them sous vide. If you have the luxury of doing a test cook before a giant batch, I'd take that opportunity so you can fine tune things. They'll be tough if undercooked. They're done when they're tender - taste often near the end. You can't cook ribs this way using temp as a guide.

Greeno55 · December 2012

In the past, I used to make them in a slow cooker with honey garlic sauce and they turned out well. Do you think if I did the above mentioned smoke, the put them in a dish with HG sauce it would be enough to tenderize them? I wish I had time for a test batch, but I don't think I will.

nolaegghead · December 2012

Yeah, instead of a slow cooker (where you braise) you're braising in a pot on the egg. Since you're really not getting smoke at that point with it covered, there's no reason to just move that step to the slow cooker and save some lump. I don't know about the 2.5 hours...might be longer if the ribs have a lot of connective tissue and collagen.

Slow cooker or pot on egg - you're not going to heat the sauce/food hotter than the boiling point of water.

billyray · December 2012

Take a look at Griffins site.

http://griffinsgrub.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/braised-short-ribs-in-a-red-wine-sauce-on-creamy-polenta/

SmokeyPitt · December 2012

I've only done short ribs once. I wish I had taken better notes, but I think I basically smoked them for about 2.5 hours at 250, wrapped in foil for an hour, then put them back on and sauced/glazed them for another 30 minutes or so. I could be a little off on the time...but I don't think by much. In my limited experience, it would seem that the recipe you are looking at should make them plenty tender. I would be a little concerned they would turn to pot roast after 2.5 hours tightly wrapped at 375 as that recipe suggests. However, each cut of meat is different so it might very well take that long to tenderize them. Mine were barely clinging to the bone after about 4 hours, with only 1 hour in foil with no liquid.

Again...in my very limited experience...I think I would smoke them for a few hours and then gauge how "done' they are based on how much they have shrunk up, then braise accordingly.

nolaegghead · December 2012

These are some veal short ribs cooked at 140F for 70 hours then reverse seared that I cooked up on Monday.

Greeno55 · December 2012

These last 2 look fantastic. Nola, I'm guessing you mean cooked for 7 hours at 140, not 70. :)

nolaegghead · December 2012

Thanks. Nope. 70 hours. I put them on Friday night and pulled them out of the sous vide bath Monday night. Then I reverse seared with a coffee rub. Unbelievably good and super moist.

Greeno55 · December 2012

Ahhhhh 70 hours in sv. That makes more sense.

Greeno55 · December 2012

@SmokeyPitt - what did you glaze them with?

Eggcelsior · December 2012

nolaegghead said:
Yeah, instead of a slow cooker (where you braise) you're braising in a pot on the egg. Since you're really not getting smoke at that point with it covered, there's no reason to just move that step to the slow cooker and save some lump. I don't know about the 2.5 hours...might be longer if the ribs have a lot of connective tissue and collagen.

Slow cooker or pot on egg - you're not going to heat the sauce/food hotter than the boiling point of water.

Someone needs to invent a pressure cooker egg. Turbo everything!

BuckeyeBob · December 2012

Here's a link to a recent cook I did. Seared them note Egg and then braise in a Dutch Oven. Came out great. http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1145595/short-ribs-pic-heavy#latest

SmokeyPitt · December 2012

Greeno55 said:

@SmokeyPitt - what did you glaze them with?

I threw together a glaze with some teriyaki, honey, and grape jelly. I put it on the stove and cooked it down. I think I threw in a dash of sriracha and fish sauce as well. Again- wish I took better notes!

Mine were not as good as Nola's look...but they were good!

SmokeyPitt · December 2012

BuckeyeBob said:

Here's a link to a recent cook I did. Seared them note Egg and then braise in a Dutch Oven. Came out great. http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1145595/short-ribs-pic-heavy#latest

I forgot about that one...had it bookmarked. Those incredible as well.

...to clarify my previous post...there is nothing wrong with cooking them until they are falling apart like pot roast if that's what you are going for. I was trying to get an "eat em off the bone" consistency.

gdenby · December 2012

If you don't happen to have a vessel for braising, a double thick HD foil packet w. a little extra can do the trick. Essentially, a semi-turbo mode cook. Its not quite as effective w. some kinds of short ribs, 'cause some are very tough, and all the collagen won't melt. But the meat will be good. Try and save as much of the packet juices as possible for sauce.

I have to agree that SV for short ribs, followed by a sear is fool-proof and wonderful. Have yet to try the reverse of that method, but it works well for pork shoulder.

xraypat23 · December 2012

I love me some short ribs! Here's my take on them. Smoked with some oak or hickory for a couple hours at 250. While those are smoking, simmer down a 2 liter bottle of root beer with some siracha. After 2 hours put them in a deep disposable pan, pour the hot rootbeer/siracha mix over them and put them back in the smoker for about 1.5-2 hours. After that, pull them out, place the short ribs back on the grill, make up some bbq sauce of whatever you prefer thinned out with the pan drippings and glaze the ribs. Never had a bad set

Deckhand · December 2012

My best luck with short ribs has been to braise them in a Dutch oven, remove the ribs, toss in 2-3 chopped onions until they're transparent, add a can of tomatoes (crushed, diced, whatever) a small can of tomato paste whatever other veggies you fancy and put the whole thing in the oven at 350° for 2 1/2 hrs. You could do the same thing in the Egg... Leave uncovered for the first hour to get smoke taste... Careful... the liquid picks up smoke VERY easily.

I've done Sous Vide followed by a sear on the egg, Sous Vide followed by a short med-high temp smoke, braised in foil... but nothing approached the Dutch oven for tenderness AND flavor.

Deckhand · December 2012

I forgot (and don't know how to edit a post)... 1-2 cups beef stock, too.

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