Beef Short Ribs

BluesnBBQ

This weekend my housemate took some chicken leg quarters and beef short ribs out of the freezer. I brined the leg quarters Sunday afternoon (for probably about four hours - I took them out of the brine after Green Bay won), and grilled them direct for dinner.[p]I had never done short ribs before, and I was kind of skeptical. The package had four pieces - little bones with big hunks of meat attached. I let them thaw Saturday night, rubbed them with mustard and a spice rub (I think it was actually Shake's rub, which Nature Boy gave me at the last EggFest), and put them in the fridge overnight. After the chicken was done, I got the temp down to about 200, put on some oak chips, and put the short ribs on direct. I let them cook about 2 1/2 hours, turning them twice. I was very pleased with how they turned out - smokey, and chewy, with a nice crust from the rub. I probably could have cooked them at least another hour or two, and I probably will cook them longer next time. These would make a great appetizer. Next time I'm going to buy several packages and try a larger batch.

sprinter

BluesnBBQ,[p]Funny, the wife and I were saying to eachother this weekend that we prefer beef ribs to pork ribs and beef brisket to pork shoulder. I think that the beef is just more flavorful by itself, pork is kind of bland and requires more seasoning. My opinion anyway. The only problem I've found is finding good meaty beef ribs. They (butchers) always seem to shave off so much meat that whats left on beef ribs is 75% bone and just a bit of meat, hardly worth cooking. Short ribs are great but its tough to make a meal out of them without cooking up about 6-8 slabs, there just isnt that much there.[p]Troy

Nature Boy

BluesnBBQ,
I agree! They are awesome. I did some the other day also, and cooked them about 4 hours at 275 indirect. As you mentioned they had a bit of chew, but all that did was allowed you to taste the wonderful beef and crust flavor for longer! The thinner ones I pulled and munched on early (like after 3 hours), but they did not have much meat. The FAT steaks-on-a-stick went for the full 4, and were just curling up from the bone when I pulled em!![p]I marinated mine in oyster sauce, ginger, garlic, sherry, onion powder, loads of black pepper, then I sprayed them with apple juice a few times after 2 hours. [p]I bought 3 packages, and foodsavered and froze two of em. Leftovers for lunch here shortly!![p]Cheers!
NB

Nature Boy

sprinter,
A few of the ones I got were very short on meat, but most of the pieces were nearly 2 inches thick, with the bone only accounting for 1/2 inch. Total size about 1.5 x 2 x 4.[p]Keep your eyeballs peeled for the fat ones, or ask your butcher to fix you up with some steaks-on-a-stick![p]Hope all is well with you!
NB

sprinter

Nature Boy,[p]I can generally get great beef short ribs, they are awesome. But getting good beef spares or beef ribs in general is tough. When I see them I usually stock up on them but finding them on they fly is a daunting task here.[p]All is well in S. IL. Went to the new LOCAL!!! (yeehaa) BGE distributor late last week, nice folks. Brought up the idea of a midwest egg fest, they bit somewhat but in that the product is so new to them they were a bit hesitant. I'll keep working on them, need to order a gasket and a thermometer. By summer I think they'll be putty in my hands and we'll get a S. IL eggfest. Fingers crossed.[p]Troy