Beef Ribs


 
M

Morrey Thomas

TVWBB Super Fan
I am a veteran smoker, but recently have become interested in beef ribs. In my area, pork ribs are the king, while beef ribs are not nearly as common.

I found a rack of angus beef ribs at a local, high-end grocer. The ribs had a fair amount of meat between the bones, but the top of the rib was shaved right on the bone with no meat there.

As with pork ribs, I pulled the membrane off the underside. With a bit of work it came off in one sheet similar to the way pork does.

I cooked them low and slow with a good coating of rub. They cooked about as I expected, and the toothpick between the bones had me pulling them at hour 4. I foiled to let rest in the Cambro for an hour of so.

The ribs were very tasty and nicely tender. Two question I have:

There seemed to still be a tough membrane on the rib. I thought I had pulled it off well, but there was still a tough inner layer.

Additionally, are there ribs available that are more generously cut than these? If I could find beef ribs with a half inch or so of meat on the top, I would be more likely to make this a frequent meat on the WSM. As is, these ribs are not meaty enough to fill the demand at the price they were sold at.
 
Morrey,
Shiners (closely trimmed) beef ribs are about all that I can find in my area.
My solution is to buy a whole bone-in rib roast.
Remove the ribs for one cook, then cut a few rib-eye steaks and a roast or two from the rest.
Costco has good prices on packer rib roasts.

Sorry, I can't help you with the membrane issue, never encountered it that I can recall.
 
Morrey shiners is about all one can find nowadays unless you do what Mr. Correll said. You might want to try short ribs very meaty & tasty. And beef ribs are the King of all ribs by a very wide margin.
 
I've found real meaty beef ribs on a regular basis about 4 years ago at a local grocer.
Their meat department is fantastic!
I've talked with the butchers there and formed a good relationship with two or 3 of them.
I've asked (when beef ribs were not in the meat case) if i could order a rack or two.
No problem they told me. And four to 5 days later, I was not disappointed.
Real meaty (and i mean REAL MEATY) beef ribs!
They also sell the "pre-packaged" shiners that, in my opinion, are a huge waste of money and my cooktime.

So, Morrey, may i suggest, talking with your local butcher about ordering a rack (or three).
However, i have asked two other meat markets i frequent if i can order meaty beef ribs and got a flat-out answer: No.

Ya never know if you do not ask.
I stumbled upon these ribs just last week.

Good Luck! When you find them, and cook'um, Post it please!
 
Your input was valued, and it seems my best approach is to contact a local butcher and see what they can do. If I could find quality ribs like the one's Jim pictured, I would without hesitation do more beef ribs in the future. But as mentioned, shiners are about all I have seen in the pre-packaged category.

Thanks for the beef rib discussion!
 
The same principle applies to BB.

If you can, buy the whole pork loin--ribs, loin and tenderloin as a complete side.

Not sold too much anymore (pre-cut is more profit for the store) but if you can find them, have the butcher cut the chine (back bone) from the ribs BUT NOT ALL THE WAY THROUGH (just enough to cut through the ribs very close to the chine--about 3/4" into the loin portion).

You need the butcher to do this unless you own/have access to a band saw used for cutting meat.

Then YOU can easily cut the loin from the ribs, leaving as much or as little as you want on the ribs. The tenderloin (on the inside of the ribs) pulls away very easily (no need to use a knife here).

Presto: baby backs as thick/thin as you want them, loin roasts/butterflied boneless chops cut out of the loin and a whole pork tenderloin.

The price is usually 1/4 of what you would pay for these cuts separately.
 
try going to costco and knocking on the butchers window. tell them you want the long ribs they make the short ribs out of. they are about 2.99 here in ak and make amazing smoked ribs. I used a knife to get under the membrane and paper towels for traction when pulling them off. Just make sure you can see the bones and meat and you should't have any membrane problems.
 
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