Beef ribs

[SurlyBDR 22,800]

[Jerry Callo 8,704]

On 4/18/2020 at 10:45 PM, Mac8111 said:

HEB didn’t have the big plate ribs. I grabbed these just to play around with.

They are about 3/4” thick.

How long will they take to smoke at 275?












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How the finger ribs turn out?

[LebongJames 1,811]

First time did them on the knock off BGE. Turned out really good. Outside had nice bark and the inside just fell apart. Couldn’t keep the grill under 305.

Edited April 20, 2020 by LebongJames

[Jerry Callo 8,704]

24 minutes ago, LebongJames said:

Couldn’t keep the grill under 305.

Make sure you plan around an hour to slowly get the grill up to your target temp.  Once you go above your target temp, it is near impossible to bring it back down.  

Ribs look great.

Edited April 20, 2020 by Jerry Callo

[CycleTex87 2,970]

Does the H-E-B routinely carry beef ribs?  I've looked a couple times lately (when they've been open) in the brisket area, don't see.

[LebongJames 1,811]

Got mine at Costco

[Jerry Callo 8,704]

2 minutes ago, CycleTex87 said:

Does the H-E-B routinely carry beef ribs?  I've looked a couple times lately (when they've been open) in the brisket area, don't see.

Ask the butcher.  They often have them in the back.  As they have become more popular, I have seen them sometimes next to the briskets.

The one time I got them from HEB, all they had were Select.  I think they usually saw them down to make tablitas.  

Edited April 20, 2020 by Jerry Callo

[utee94 15,825]

30 minutes ago, Jerry Callo said:

Ask the butcher.  They often have them in the back.  As they have become more popular, I have seen them sometimes next to the briskets.

The one time I got them from HEB, all they had were Select.  I think they usually saw them down to make tablitas.  

Yup, they almost always have them in the back in cryopacks, rarely out front or in the big cases.  Ask the butcher and he/she will likely know.

Also, the above is pre-Corona, I haven't tried to buy any in the past month so couldn't comment on current availability.

 

[CycleTex87 2,970]

Ok, cool, thanks. 

[SurlyBDR 22,800]

My HEB puts them out in the cases randomly, seems like it's every few weeks or so.

[Mac8111 2,107]

How the finger ribs turn out?

They turned out really well. Very happy with the results. Everyone enjoyed them and I also did a lemon butter Flounder that I caught the other day. Was a great meal.


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[luke duke 6,413]

I also did a lemon butter Flounder that I caught the other day.

Sounds like something Vic would say about his latest date.

[Sam Lin 3,559]

Had a bit of dispute last time I posted about "beef ribs" in here regarding the definition of "beef ribs" - well, there will be no dispute on this post.

 

I'm in Thailand. Went to a butcher, ordered a rack of ribs. They got me a rack of ribs. I thought they were a pork supplier. They are a beef supplier. I have never done this before, but I know the fundamentals.

So, I have a rack of ribs. Quite a surprise. Barely fit in my cargo area.

It does not fit a Kamado Big Joe. Color is different as it thaws.

I know the "traditional" way is asado, on an iron cross with open wood coals, coarse salt only. Image stolen from countryfirekitchen.com

I don't have that available, I have my Kamado. So, I sawed up the ribs into 3bone sections, 3 sections per length of bone, with a miter saw (bought at the home improvement store on the way home, because I didn't have a saw). Wasn't that bad, bone cuts like soft wood, but was very awkward due to holding with one hand and sawing. As you can see from the pic, I didn't exactly have a real work area. Had some cardboard boxes and the ground.

(Not beef rib content:) Kamado had just finished up dual zone cooking, some lamb loin chops hot and fast, and some picanha reverse sear. Note, the locals don't quite understand that picanha ends at the 3rd vein from the end, this is clearly sirloin and would not be acceptable as picanha to a traditional. Much tougher than picanha. I trimmed the proper picanha portion and froze it for later.

Added a bunch of coal, reconfigured for indirect cook, with 3 layers of grates.

(Back to beef rib content:) Went with the safe and sure salt and pepper, 50/50 by weight. Didn't go as heavy as I would a brisket only because I have no idea how this will turn out and can always season more when eating, or use the meat in tacos or chili. Top pieces got AGC Himalayan Sherpa rub (salt, pepper, garlic powder) because I ran out of my S&P mix and it was nearby.

With 3 racks, everything just fit.

Dome temp is currently 225, I'm not really shooting for anything specific, 225-300 is all ok. Didn't put in meat probes, didn't put in grate probes, figure a cut this wild should be allowed to cook somewhat wild. Will only judge doneness via probe tender. I put the segments of rib with the least meat on the lowest rack, since I won't be able to probe them easily and if they overcook I waste the least meat. At the least they provide an extra layer of heat deflector to protect the meatier sections above. Now 1hr in, bones starting to poke:

Don't know what animal this comes from, could be an old steer for all I know. Meat didn't feel tough when cutting and rubbing. Might turn out terrible, don't know what I'll get. If I was less exhausted from sawing I would have trimmed pretty aggressively, there's a lot of gristle, fat, silverskin.

I'm cooking with local lump charcoal, villagers make it with scrap wood they cut down on their land. It has random wood and random scraps in it, I often find square cut pieces of construction lumber. Flavors are random, burn is random. Slid a piece of imported mesquite into the ash drawer, not sure if it'll give much smoke flavor.

Will update as this goes. I'm expecting 3-5hr. I've definitely already enjoyed this experience. If the results taste good, it's all bonus.

[Sam Lin 3,559]

Same bone at 3hr:

[Sam Lin 3,559]

Same bone at 4hr:

[Both Tacos 1,806]

Looking good.

[Sam Lin 3,559]

Same bone at 6hr. Most of the pieces that I can reach are probe tender, there are 2 that still need a little more on the thicker sections. Letting them all ride another hour I think. Photos using flashlight as it got dark out.

 

All of the bones have pulled wayyyyyy back.

 

The Kamado has been running 225-250, creeping up very slowly as the drippings increase, and I've been closing the air intake more and more. It's down to about a pencil width now. The heat deflectors are absolutely coated in liquid, also making a heavier oil smoke that darkens the bark considerably. Definitely need a cleanout burn after this cook.

Edited May 16, 2020 by Sam Lin
typo

[Brisketexan 105,152]

Sam, much respek for what you're doing.

I love those big full beef ribs.  I grew up eating those at pachangas and such.  Even roasted in the oven as roasted costillas -- just salted and peppered and slow roasted to get a crisp outside.  I bet that what you're doing will taste mighty fine.  Looking forward to final money shots.

[Anastasis 23,474]

god damnit now i want beef ribs for dinner. 

[Sam Lin 3,559]

Done. I should have pulled everything earlier, I think I was waiting for too tender, or these simply don't have enough meat to be treated like a brisket. Straight off the grill, bottom pieces are what the bottom layer came out like, top piece is one of the thick pieces:

 

The thinner pieces down bottom are completely dried out (though they had so much intramuscular fat and collagen that they basically "fried" themselves dry, so the meat is this crunchy, flaky "crackling" like a chitterling.) Actually very pleasant to crunch on. This is a bottom piece, it should LDAF if your monitor is calibrated correctly:

 

The thick pieces became similar to a dense dino rib. Again I let them go too long, they rendered beautifully and are a gooey collagen mess, but the fat is mostly gone, when I squeeze it feels like a thick jello, no oil flows out. The bones twisted right out, very tender, great flavor. Thick piece, this should not LDAF:

 

After pulling the meat, I opened the vents to burn off what drippings I could, right now doesn't look like I'm getting more than 400'F, either the fuel is gone or airflow is clogged, when I added coal I dumped the bottom half of an old bag, which was mostly small pieces that tend to block air flow. May have to do another clean burn with new coal tomorrow. Easy enough. Deflectors after I pulled the meat:

 

Lessons learned:

Shouldn't have waited for the thick pieces to finish, the wait resulted in the thin pieces being way overcooked. If I do this again, I'd stack the larger/thicker down below, the thinnest up top, so I could pull the thin ones as they finish, and remove each set of grates as I worked down. The way I stacked them with thinnest at bottom, I couldn't get the finished thin pieces out without unloading all the other pieces and racks, and I was simply too lazy to go through that. I robbed a top piece at the 4hr mark and it was a little chewy from not complete rendering, but juicy from fat and moisture. Somewhere between the 2 extremes I tried is the sweet spot. This was the cutaway of a thinner top piece at the 4hr mark, can see it's not quite rendered, but can also see plenty of fat and moisture:

 

Would I do this again? If I could get the butcher to saw the sections for me, absolutely. The cook was actually incredibly easy, the hand sawing was a PITA. With smarter placement and removal of "done" pieces, I think I'd get great yield. I actually think sections in a kamado may be a better cooking method than whole on an iron cross, as it's easier to remove sections as they're cooked. Flavor was great, I wouldn't change my S&P amount or proportions one bit. Smoke flavor was light, not bitter, which I've had happen on the random village charcoal here, so I consider that a win. Smoke ring was one of the better I've gotten on a Kamado, very happy with the cutaway. The bark is darker than I'd like, probably because of all the drippings smoking off the heat deflectors. Not sure I have the height for a drip pan if I triple rack, but I certainly could if double rack, which should cut down the oil smoke. The rack of ribs cost me about $70usd, fairly cheap as far as beef goes here. Coal costs near nothing here, this cook used less than $3 of coal.

All in all, considering how much of a surprise this cook was and how little care I put in to it, I'm happy with the results and really happy with the experience. This was fun.

[futureman 22,469]

do you live in thailand?

[Brisketexan 105,152]

Solid effort, Sam.  Yeah, rotating the thin and thick pieces is a good plan.  They're just fundamentally two different cuts of beef.

[RMac5 1,551]

Left overs, if any, will make some damn good tacos and breakfast tacos.

[Anastasis 23,474]

1 minute ago, RMac5 said:

Left overs, if any, will make some damn good tacos and breakfast tacos.

Thai pico de Gallo and beef rib in a flour tortilla. Drool. 

[SurlyBDR 22,800]

A coworker ordered pork ribs curbside from Costco. They were out, and substituted these flanken style beef ribs instead. He "didnt know what to do with them" so he gave them to me. 

Malcom Reed inspired me

 

 

Fucking finominal

 

Oh yeah, used this for rub 12+ hrs in a ziplock

Edited May 26, 2020 by SurlyBDR

[Sam Lin 3,559]

Does look finominle. You can also look up Korean kalbi/galbi recipes, also a great use for that cut (or thinner). Hot and fast for kalbi.

[wd40 1,976]

On 4/20/2020 at 11:34 AM, utee94 said:

Yup, they almost always have them in the back in cryopacks, rarely out front or in the big cases.  Ask the butcher and he/she will likely know.

Also, the above is pre-Corona, I haven't tried to buy any in the past month so couldn't comment on current availability.

 

so the butcher at my HEB told me last week when I asked him for some, that due to the beef shortage, even when he does get any in, he's not allowed to sell them that way.  has to cut them up into those little 3"-long chunks I drunkenly raged about a some time back.

the Korean braised thing is good and all, but that's not why I built my smoker.

[SurlyBDR 22,800]

3 hours ago, Sam Lin said:

Does look finominle. You can also look up Korean kalbi/galbi recipes, also a great use for that cut (or thinner). Hot and fast for kalbi.

I did see that recipe and will try it in the future. I wanted to keep it simple for my first time cooking this particular cut. 375 for about 40 minutes on the grill

[RichUT 1,832]

Found a good looking pack of plates at Costco and fired up the pit this weekend. They did not disappoint.

[AustinMT 952]

Today’s effort

[RichUT 1,832]

Shits going down this weekend.

[AustinMT 952]

8 hours ago, RichUT said:

Shits going down this weekend.

Nice meat but where’s the pepper?

[RichUT 1,832]

I’ll put that on just before it hits the smoker. That pic was from the salting I started this morning

[Baboontyme 2,812]

Wow that's much nicer and larger than the  rack I have queued up for tomorrow. 

What done test do you all use for beef ribs? In my experience probe tender (brisket test) leaves the fat not fully rendered. 

[RichUT 1,832]

Wow that's much nicer and larger than the  rack I have queued up for tomorrow. 
What done test do you all use for beef ribs? In my experience probe tender (brisket test) leaves the fat not fully rendered. 

A friend grabbed these for me at restaurant depot.

I’d like my beef ribs to get to 195 internal, but probing them just right is a bit of a bitch

[AustinMT 952]

8 minutes ago, RichUT said:

A friend grabbed these for me at restaurant depot.

I’d like my beef ribs to get to 195 internal, but probing them just right is a bit of a bitch

Interesting.  Most say (and I do) 203

[Both Tacos 1,806]

Wow that's much nicer and larger than the  rack I have queued up for tomorrow. 
What done test do you all use for beef ribs? In my experience probe tender (brisket test) leaves the fat not fully rendered. 

Take it to 200 and do the probe test just to check. I try to probe between the bones and get all the way down to check for tenderness.

[RichUT 1,832]

[Baboontyme 2,812]

Christ man I take them much higher than that and they are still not done. Perhaps lower temps than I am used to is key here (I cook hot).

[futureman 22,469]

4 hours ago, RichUT said:

I need your address. 

[luke duke 6,413]

What done test do you all use for beef ribs? In my experience probe tender (brisket test) leaves the fat not fully rendered. 

Poke them with your finger. When you can easily go a knuckle deep, they’re done.

[RichUT 1,832]

 

 

 

Pulled these off about 45 mins ago and they are resting. Money shots coming later tonight.

[RichUT 1,832]

[Both Tacos 1,806]

You glorious bastard.

[DDD Dad 14,339]

21 hours ago, RichUT said:

Oh my.

[Mac8111 2,107]

Poke them with your finger. When you can easily go a knuckle deep, they’re done.

That’s what she said


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[Firemans4Horn 18,073]

First time smoking beef ribs yesterday. There was a little extra fat I would have liked to see rendered but I was hitting 203* almost everywhere and it probed perfectly. 
 

Definitely a fan of beef rib over brisket for smoking at home. My kids devoured it with no sauce. 

[DDD Dad 14,339]

Looks great!

[Baboontyme 2,812]

I posted my cook on the other thread. I'm at 203. I just put them in the oven at 205 and I'm going to wait. 

[Baboontyme 2,812]

I still don't understand this cut. I've been holding around 200 for over an hour to render the fat. They passed the jiggle, probe, knuckle test but when I cut in between them and turned them sideways it is obvious they are not done - lots of gelatinous fat. I'm putting them back in the oven and drinking another Oberon.