DH and i were just discussing these ribs today, Lee

--
Have a wonderful day

> wrote in message
...
>I haven't cooked many short ribs; too much effort and too little
> return. Part of that is the fact I don't like stewed or braised meats
> much. I am not a fan of "Mom's roast" except once in a great while,
> or any other kind of meat that has been cooked into submission.
>
> I don't braise or foil meats. I will only cook a traditional beef
> roast in the oven for company, and only then for LOML's family. So
> for me, it's pretty much nekkid on the pit or grill, and even in the
> oven.
>
> But I do have a "I'll grill or smoke anything once policy" that I have
> maintained for 30 years and it has covered just about everything I can
> get my hands on that walks, swims, flies, or slithers (snake is good,
> but really overrated).
>
> I found some short ribs that are cut by a small nearby butcher a
> couple of weeks ago. Instead of the small bones with a little bit of
> meat on them I see at the local supermarket, these shorts were cut to
> be about the size of baseball to almost softball sized pieces. They
> had a lot of fat on them, but a LOT of meat. It was too much to
> resist at $1.99 a lb. The butcher told me that he cut them that way
> because "that was the way he learned".
>
> I really wanted to cook them on the smoker, but couldn't decide how to
> do it. Finally, after examining the ribs closely out of the package,
> I saw there was a LOT of fat on those as well as the meat.
>
> So I put the ribs (6 of them) in a large bowl and gave them a good
> coating of my brisket rub and let them set a couple of hours before I
> put them on the WSM. I put them on at 275 - 285 degrees, which was
> fine considering all the fat. Bone down, fat up to let the rendering
> fat roll over the rib meat.
>
> I had them in for 4 hours. They weren't done. Checked again at 5.
> Not done. Checked again at 6. Almost. Checked at 7, and a fork
> twisted the juicy meat easily. The bones were movable.
>
> The meat was excellent. Served with garlic dill mashed potatoes and
> vinegar slaw, they were a hit! The meat had a really intense flavor,
> almost like it was aged. Almost all of the fat rendered off, and the
> meat was just at sliceable after slipping out the bones.
>
> Some observations:
>
> I was surprised at how much fat those six little baseballs rendered!
> Wow! Those six shorties gave more fat off than the >>17 lbs<< of
> spares I cooked the weekend before! It was probably (literally) 2
> cups of rendered fat!
>
> They were enormously easy to cook. They took more time than I thought
> they would, but worth the wait. No special prep needed, no foiling,
> no sitting in a cooler wrapped in towels for a couple of hours, no
> fiddling around/obsessing about maintaining 225 degrees, or any of
> that other stuff. I actually don't do that stuff anyway, and probably
> never will.
>
> There can be a lot of meat on short ribs! Who knew?
>
> I am thinking that like a fatty brisket, these could be very forgiving
> on the smoker IF you got the right sized shorts. I may move on up to
> 300 - 325 or so on the next batch and see if it responds like a
> brisket. I could cook more with less time, and at higher heat maybe
> get a bit of crispy on them.
>
> These would be easy to cook for anyone, regardless of equipment. Like
> a pork butt, they have their own version of the "pop up timer". When
> they were done, the meat pulled back from the bone as much as an 1 1/4
> on each side of the bone. More importantly, the bone became a little
> loose, which was easy enough to test. And using the classic fork
> twist as a final test, it was a no brainer. Not thermometers needed,
> and with a wide range of temps used to cook them, the big short ribs
> should be easy for anyone.
>
> I still wouldn't cook those little peewee sized short ribs I see at
> the local supermarket. Too much work, not enough return. I think I
> am hooked on those big boys, though.
>
> Robert
>
>
>
>
>
>
>