Beef Short Ribs ???

Brother Reed is a excellent cook. He lives north of me. A fellow MIssissippi guy!!

@Mattman3969‌
Just for the record. Brother Reed is currently ranked in the top 3 in the southeastern district in whole hog. He is pretty sharp. You can heed his council. Don't let is country boy demeanor fool you. He is solid as a rock. And a fine man to boot.

@Mattman3969‌
Here is another good one by brother Reed. I hope one of the videos helps my friend. http://youtu.be/VnLSq1qboe8

Beef Plate RIbs (3 bone) and Beef Chuck Short RIbs (4 bone) are both great.  They can be cooked the same way without braising.  I do use foil for part of the cook which, I guess, is sort of like braising.  Here is my report on some plate ribs:

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1161966/beef-plate-ribs

lousubcap said:

For short ribs I have gone with and without a foil step.  In the end, the foil step turned out more flavorful in my opinion.  I run at around 250-260*F on the dome for about three hours, then foiled with a little worcestershire until about "fall-off-the-bone". This is usually another 2 hours or so.  For prep, I hit with a little worcestershire and montreal steak seasoning.  

And once you go beef ribs, pork will always be in second place.  >-

This is how I am planning to do my ribs this afternoon.. L-)

@Mattman3969- I much prefer the short ribs to the beef back ribs-meatier and with more fat to render.  In this part of the state at least, beef back ribs are priced higher / lb than the short ribs.  Given the choice I would go short over back ribs every time.  Now if beef back ribs are all you can get, then look closely at the amount of meat on those bones as you don't want to be paying premium price for beef bones in the end.  FWIW-

@Mattman3969 I really like beef back ribs but I will say they are fatty.  It's not a big deal to me I just eat around the fat, but my wife doesn't care for them.  I would definitely say they are worth trying. 

Mattman3969 said:

Next question my grocery has some beef ribs on sale that I think are back ribs. They have 7 bones, are these worth buying?

I always used to look for the beef back ribs because I thought that short ribs required a braising step and I really don't care much for braised meat unless I'm in the mood for pot roast.

I began to read here about plate ribs and chuck short ribs and gave them a try.  They are much better than back ribs (at least the ones I can get around here) because they have more meat and a better flavor.  I buy them at Restaurant Depot where I can get the uncut full slab of ribs (3 ribs for plate ribs and 4 ribs for chuck short ribs).  I posted a link to my cook in my post up above.  I used a slightly modified Adam Perry Lang recipe and thought they were wonderful.  They do use a foil step but they don't taste braised.  If you buy at a market, ask them for a full slab and not to cut them.

Mattman3969 said:

Still haven't seen them but he said they are single pieces about the size of your fist. Don't know if that helps or not. Nothing like goin into a cook blind!!

Likely plate or chuck ribs...cut.

Mattman3969 said:

Ok here they are. Is this a low and slow or smoke then braise?? @dmw @lousubcap @cazzy

Yep...you're in for a treat if you cook them right. Hard to tell if they're short or chuck ribs, but they'll be great none the less.

Just make sure you let them get happy. They should probe like butter and should feel very spongy when you touch them.

I would smoke them for a few hours, then braise with beef broth or similar for a couple hours, then back out on the grid if they need more work on the bark. The "when" of each step would depend on how they look and feel.

Also, @cazzy is spot on (of course), don't pull them too early and wait until they are happy, and you will be happy as well.