Beef Ribs Questions

Ragtop99

Some of the posts showing beef ribs look pretty good and I was thinking of making them for my next BBQ since several guests will not eat pork.  I have some questions:

1) At the store I saw beef back ribs on sale at $2/lb and they looked huge (i.e. each bone was longer than the longest rib on a rack of pork spares).  There were also beef chuck shorts for $4/lb.  What's the difference and which do I purchase for a low & slow set of ribs?

2) Do they require any prep or cooking technique different from pork ribs?  For pork ribs all I do is remove the back side membrane, add a little rub, and cook indirect for 5 hrs at 250* (no foil) and sauce at the end (typically at 325* for 10 minutes a mopping to crystallize it a bit).

Foghorn

1) I prefer the beef back ribs, but it's just a preference. People usually braise short ribs.

2) The cook is essentially the same as pork ribs, but I find them harder to assess for doneness. But don't just cook to time. Cook to temp, or probing, or the bend test - or all of the above.

travisstrick

Get the chucks

nolaegghead

The beef back ribs are the same as the ribeye ribs - meat is between the bone.  The short ribs, meat is on top of the bone.  Get the short ribs.  Way more meat to bone ratio.

http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/zen_of_beef_ribs.html