What to look for in Beef Ribs

carson1

I was thinking of making beef ribs for the first time this weekend.  Any suggestions on what to look for when buying.  For example whole rack vs cut into individual ribs, spare ribs vs short ribs?  

Foghorn

All I've ever looked for is how much meat is on them.  When I go to my local grocery it is highly variable.  Sometimes there are none of the longer ribs with enough meat on them so I settle for the short ribs (cut as such) - but I always consider it settling as I haven't embraced short ribs yet.  When I go to a butcher shop across town I can get whatever I want so I just point and the butcher cuts what I want.  As a result, I don't know the exact name, but they are REALLY meaty.

I hope that helps.

Foghorn

Foghorn

Foghorn

Here are some pics. The original cut was twice as long and I had them cut in half. 

carson1

Those look great.  They are meatier than most I have seen, how long did they take to cook?

Foghorn

About 5.5 hours at 240-250 as I recall.  I cooked them until I saw the meat retracting on the bone and then I tested them with a toothpick until they probed like "buttah". 

MelSharples

Short Ribs in packer form consist of 4 bones that are approx. 8-10" in length and have an inch or more of meat above the bone with a fat cap on top of that. This is what I cook when doing beef ribs. Be careful when selecting these as sometimes the fat cap can be up to 3/4" thick in places which greatly reduce the amount of meat. You can buy beef back ribs which is the result of deboning the ribeye, these are much less meaty and would probably be best suited for beef stock. As @Foghorn said above the best thing to look for is the amount of meat on the rib the thicker the better, just beware of the thickness of the fat cap.

Zmokin

MelSharples said:

Short Ribs in packer form consist of 4 bones that are approx. 8-10" in length and have an inch or more of meat above the bone with a fat cap on top of that. This is what I cook when doing beef ribs. Be careful when selecting these as sometimes the fat cap can be up to 3/4" thick in places which greatly reduce the amount of meat. You can buy beef back ribs which is the result of deboning the ribeye, these are much less meaty and would probably be best suited for beef stock. As @Foghorn said above the best thing to look for is the amount of meat on the rib the thicker the better, just beware of the thickness of the fat cap.

I've bought beef spareribs where they had gouged out nearly all the meat between the bones, and I would say, those ribs would have been better used for making beef stock than serving for dinner like I did. (I did save the bones for beef stock anyway), but I have also found Beef spareribs with lots of meat between the bones that were excellent as a Main Course.  They still are higher bone to meat weight wise, so they are cheaper by the pound than short ribs.
But I do love beef ribs.  I also will buy short ribs, just to make hamburger with.  I will slice the meat off the bone, freeze the bones until I have enough to make beef stock, and grind the short rib meat into ground beef.

carson1

Thanks for the advice.  I have not seen beef ribs at the grocery with that much meat on top (1 inch).  Do I need to be looking at an actual butcher?

buzd504

carson1 said:

Thanks for the advice.  I have not seen beef ribs at the grocery with that much meat on top (1 inch).  Do I need to be looking at an actual butcher?

I have always had good luck with beef ribs at Restaurant Depot.  Our grocery doesn't usually have good ones either, unless you ask in advance.

gdenby

Here is a good reference.

Around me, the plate short ribs are mostly found at butcher shops. The back "spare" ribs are often available, but sometimes trimmed to the point where there is hardly enough meat to satisfy. I see chuck ribs cut "english" style, into 2 - 3" portions. Hard to Egg w/o braising in foil. Once in awhile I see the "flanken" style cut thin across several bones. Those work pretty well done Korean galbi style, w. a period in marinade, then grilled quickly.

Shiff

Restaurant Depot has been the best place for me to find Plate Ribs (3 bone) and Chuck Short Ribs (4 bone).  They are very meaty and take about 5 hours to cook at 250 grid temp.  I don't bother with Beef Back Ribs anymore since they aren't meaty enough.  If you go to a butcher to get yours, be sure to have them left as whole bones and don't cut them into those little ribs that they usually sell.