I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends (Beef Back Ribs)

JohnInCarolina

I was originally planning to do a rack of spares today, but was striking out in the local grocery stores and didn't feel like going to Costco for just ribs.  I hit our local Wegman's this morning figuring they'd have some (since they seem to have everything else!) but... no dice.  They actually only had one puny rack of baby backs left.   But I did spy these gems:



"Food You Feel Good About" - we'll see I thought.  They actually had much bigger ones (pound-wise) available, but I was cooking for myself with possibly some leftovers for the spousal unit so I went with what was actually some of the smaller racks in the cooler.

Did I mention I've never cooked these before?  I've never cooked these before.  Not sure why - I'm not sure I've ever seen ones that I thought looked all that great in the various grocery stores around here until spying these at Wegman's.   So I reached out to the usual cast of characters who tolerate my cook questions, like @lousubcap and @Legume and @The Cen-Tex Smoker and @hapster and @DMW and @henapple and @Eggcelsior and @caliking and @nolaegghead.  OK, so not all of those people responded.  But enough did to give me my bearings.  

I hit them with a "beef rub" that @YukonRon sent me some time ago along with some bourbon barrel chunks.  To know Ron is to receive things (often as gifts) from time to time.  I'm not sure exactly what's in this but it looks like SPOG plus probably something sourced in Louisville:



Took the membrane off the ribs and dusted them with the beef rub.



I did these on the BGE.  I was pretty busy getting ready for classes this week and didn't want to babysit my KBQ most of the afternoon.  I only had some cherry chunks so that's what I went with.   I started them at around 250 dome.  Here they are after about an hour:



Not actually looking all that great just yet!  These were scrawny looking all of a sudden.  I spritzed from time to time with an apple cider vinegar / apple juice / bourbon blend.  Why not?  Don't worry the bourbon was the cheap variety.  

These things cruised along pretty well but as I was working on other things the temp crept up to a solid 320 or so before I dialed it back down.  That probably contributed to them taking a bit less time than I was expecting.  I did them straight - no foil or sauce.  Nothing except the spritz.  I probed them after 3 and a half hours or so and they were probing pretty tender and the temp made me think I'd actually overshot. 

 
Where did all of the MEAT GO?!?!?  These things shrunk like the heads of frightened turtles.  

But after slicing them up and trying them, I don't think I overshot too much:



These were good.  Pretty pretty good as Larry David would say. 



Plenty of beef flavor and really tender.  I'm not quite ready to declare these to be far superior to pork ribs as @lousubcap insists but given this was my first try and they were this good I should probably reserve judgment.  

Anyway, not sure why I waited so long to try these but they're absolutely worth giving a go.  As always, thanks for looking!  

caliking

Rock on! Those look FAR better than ones I've tried in the past. 

caliking

FWIW, this was a much better choice than a rack of spares. 

saluki2007

That’s my experience with back ribs as well. They shrink up and don’t leave much there on the bone. What is there is pretty good. I would take pork over these but will take beef plate ribs of pork. FWIW

lousubcap

Did not realize that this was a virgin cook. With that many "preceptors" you could have suffered under information overload.  However,  you fought thru all the varying information, dialed it in and nailed the cook.  
As with every virgin adventure the next one will convince you they beat their pork cousins every time.  
Great results right there.  Well done!

TechsasJim

Well done!    I like the beef ribs more than pork but the other mouths in my household prefer pork so I don’t do beef ribs as often as I’d like.   

Enjoy the new rib space!

Legume

I offered no help as I tried these twice when I first got my egg and they were shoe leather.  Time for a retry, they look great and I don’t have nearly the household to feed any longer.

JohnInCarolina

Legume said:

I offered no help as I tried these twice when I first got my egg and they were shoe leather.  Time for a retry, they look great and I don’t have nearly the household to feed any longer.

Definitely not shoe leather away from the bone.  Where they meet the bone on the underside there can be a few tough bits.  I think those were on the underside where a bit of membrane was left over.  The membrane was a little thicker than what I'm used to on pork ribs. 

Gamecockeggman

Hell yeah!!  You have done good my friend.  A good turd is in the making

loco_engr

I tried a Walmart rack of back ribs and daughter told they weren't that good! 
Too many years ago to remember what I did

kl8ton

It shrinks?

JohnInCarolina

kl8ton said:

It shrinks?

kl8ton

Very quick on the GIF! I like. 

paqman

Hmmm, I could be wrong here but I think that when @lousubcap talks about beef ribs, he probably means beef short ribs (plate ribs).  What you got is back ribs which I think is the bones from a ribeye roast.

I’ve cooked both and I much prefer short ribs plate.  I typically grill the back ribs hot and fast now.

The one in the money shot looks pretty tasty from here!

JohnInCarolina

paqman said:

Hmmm, I could be wrong here but I think that when @lousubcap talks about beef ribs, he probably means beef short ribs (plate ribs).  What you got is back ribs which I think is the bones from a ribeye roast.

I’ve cooked both and I much prefer short ribs plate.  I typically grill the back ribs hot and fast now.

A good guess but Frank's view is actually that all beef ribs are superior to pork ribs.  At least, that is what he told me this morning.  He and I have been talking about beef back ribs for some time, over the course of many Zoom sessions.  He's been encouraging me to try them for a while.  

I've made plate ribs several times, and I like them a great deal too.  And I am pretty sure within the world of beef ribs they're what @lousubcap prefers, as they're basically brisket on a stick.  

lousubcap

Truer words regarding beef ribs were never written from my perspective.  But I realize that there are those who have not been so fortunate...
"A good guess but Frank's view is actually that all beef ribs are superior to pork ribs. "  The professor nailed the cook and my sentiments.  FWIW-

paqman

Well, OK!  I’m not sure that I would rate beef back ribs as better than pork ribs.  Between the two I would pick pork ribs, I think.  That being said, brisket on a stick would be my first choice without hesitation! 

Stormbringer

Damn fine cook. I've not tried using bourbon in spritzing ribs before, going to try that next time. 

RyanStl

Great looking beef ribs. I couldn't imagine not finding spare ribs here, but you never know what one can't find these days

alaskanassasin

Real friends would have told you to return those toothpick holders!  Just kidding they look good. I applaud the effort for a solo meal when I fly solo I usually make a meal something easy, like an egg.

lkapigian

Nailed It!