Matthew Brealey
New member
I just got a WSM, and for my second cook I went to my butchers and bought four short ribs. I'm in the UK and they are called Jacob's Ladder, and sold as a rack.
Four ribs was 3kg, so like 1 lb 10 ounces each.
I cut the rib joint so that there were four individual ribs, rubbed them, and then put them on the WSM on the bottom grill. On the top I had two baby back racks, with the same rub, and some little beef riblets that were just like 1-inch stubs of bone covered in a bbq sauce that I bought in the supermarket.
After putting them on I realised I forgot the wood chips (no chunks here), so I threw a big handful through the access door. Lots of smoke, but not for very long.
Anyway, after three hours I took the meat off. The pork ribs and the beef riblets from the supermarket were both good (I wouldn't say outstanding), but the short ribs just had no flavour, and were still tough.
So I put two of the ribs back on the WSM and left them there for around another 3 hours.
I cut them up today and made soup.
The soup had very little flavour, and neither did the rib meat. I don't know if the beef was just not very good (it had a LOT of fat, but it looked like good tasty fat) - I've had disappointing beef from this butcher before - or something was wrong with my technique.
Anyway, one thing I also noticed was that the ribs nearest the access door were blacker and smokier and tastier (but still not good) because I'd put the wood chips there.
Soooooooo, a few questions:
How do I feed my BBQ with more wood chips - what's the best way to get access so that the chips are spread evenly?
What temperature do I want? I had the lid thermometer at 225, but my Thermapen shows about 20 degrees higher than that.
Any thoughts on short ribs? Did I do something wrong, or did I just have bad ribs? I previously have grilled short ribs (from a different butcher), they came out really tough because I cooked them on my OTG at a very high heat, but the flavour was fantastic, beefy and delicious.
Do you find that short ribs are a good beefy tasting cut?
These were THICK ribs, and I wonder about smoke flavours penetrating the flesh, although if you can smoke a whole brisket, you should be able to get flavour from a little rib.
Four ribs was 3kg, so like 1 lb 10 ounces each.
I cut the rib joint so that there were four individual ribs, rubbed them, and then put them on the WSM on the bottom grill. On the top I had two baby back racks, with the same rub, and some little beef riblets that were just like 1-inch stubs of bone covered in a bbq sauce that I bought in the supermarket.
After putting them on I realised I forgot the wood chips (no chunks here), so I threw a big handful through the access door. Lots of smoke, but not for very long.
Anyway, after three hours I took the meat off. The pork ribs and the beef riblets from the supermarket were both good (I wouldn't say outstanding), but the short ribs just had no flavour, and were still tough.
So I put two of the ribs back on the WSM and left them there for around another 3 hours.
I cut them up today and made soup.
The soup had very little flavour, and neither did the rib meat. I don't know if the beef was just not very good (it had a LOT of fat, but it looked like good tasty fat) - I've had disappointing beef from this butcher before - or something was wrong with my technique.
Anyway, one thing I also noticed was that the ribs nearest the access door were blacker and smokier and tastier (but still not good) because I'd put the wood chips there.
Soooooooo, a few questions:
How do I feed my BBQ with more wood chips - what's the best way to get access so that the chips are spread evenly?
What temperature do I want? I had the lid thermometer at 225, but my Thermapen shows about 20 degrees higher than that.
Any thoughts on short ribs? Did I do something wrong, or did I just have bad ribs? I previously have grilled short ribs (from a different butcher), they came out really tough because I cooked them on my OTG at a very high heat, but the flavour was fantastic, beefy and delicious.
Do you find that short ribs are a good beefy tasting cut?
These were THICK ribs, and I wonder about smoke flavours penetrating the flesh, although if you can smoke a whole brisket, you should be able to get flavour from a little rib.
