Evidently Vons is where it’s at for personal size half racks. 225 for 6 hours or so, pulled at 195 because I was hungry. I think the extra 8-9 degrees makes a huge difference - still felt quite “fatty” at 195, whereas when I pulled the other rack at 205ish it was way more firmed up and delicious. Clearly more testing is in order.
Unfortunately the beef ribs I usually find at places like Vons have less meat on them than that. If you look at the pix above I also don’t think these are the same type, as even yours seem to have less of a meat layer on top of the bones. This is a sore point with me and, so far I’ve never actually been able to buy what I want. Costco seems to sell them in some areas (not mine) except I still need to check out Costco Business Center. If I find them there it’s likely to require freezing some of a $50+ package which is twice what I’d like in size. :o(
Sorry I’m not sure what you’re saying? The 2.5 pound back of beef back ribs were exactly what I was expecting (ie not a lot of meat on top but enough), which are distinctly different than the short ribs I believe you’re looking for with the giant slab of meat on top.
Seems like you have enough leads to buy what you want, but aren’t willing to buy the requisite quantities necessary to get what you want. I mean, isn’t Hungrydrunk posting pictures of exactly what you wanted?
What I was bemoaning was that even the ribs I CAN find close by and in reasonable quantity are not as meaty as those YOU posted. I responded directly to you, not to hungrydrunk. Your ribs look great. I think I’d buy them if I ever found any that meaty
Seems like this link above could solve your problems…
And if those beef back ribs are an acceptable amount of meat for you, I’m not sure why you can’t find them? Go to Vons and pick out the meatiest pack of beef back ribs possible - that’s what I did. They’re sold in 4 rib packs, and I saw one as low as 1.5 pounds and the one I got was the largest @ 2.5 pounds.
Thank you.
what you’re looking for is short ribs, not the rack ribs that Vons sells. The Beef rack ribs will have a lot less meat than short ribs.
What @Hungrydrunk posted are short ribs.
Thanks. Yes I know that. It was just that some of the rack ribs shown in this thread would have been OK had I ever found any with that much meat. AFAI can tell the ones in most markets are #124 plate ribs and are supposed to be tender but have less meat. My experience is the 124s I find have little meat and are NOT tender.
They do require a lot of cook time to break down the collagen and other connective tissue, but they, like chuck, and brisket can be made nice and tender. How much meat is on them depends on who’s doing the butchering. As you may have already read, any meat left on the bones takes away from the adjoining rib eye roast/steaks, and the rib eye brings more $$.
My usual routine involves 2.5-3 hours in foil in the oven before grilling but even that has had unsatisfactory results. I’ve just not gotten the right product in the past. I keep saying I’m going to just go the Costco Biz Center and deal with the quantity. I just haven’t gotten around to it in the few months I’ve been aware that they may be available there.
I’ve had spotty luck with supermarkets on quality. Beef Palace in HB is my go-to these days.
I don’t know how to sugarcoat this so I’m just going to say it - are you sure this is a product problem and not a technique problem?
Well, I AM, but apparently you’re not. Please enlighten me. Is 2.5-3 hours at 250° not enough to break down tissue in a beef rib? I use that method, very successfully, for pork ribs all the time and have seen similar methods fir beef in many places. I don’t have a smoker or a reasonable way to simulate one… if that’s where you’re going with this.
As the internet would say, ribs are done when they’re done.
My very first beef rib run was 275 at ~3 hours leading to 205’ internal temperature. My 2nd run last night was 225 at ~6 hours leading to 195’ internal temperature. In both instances they were 4 bone racks of approximately the same size.
Basically what I’m getting at is, use a meat thermometer?
The dude from amazingribs.com seems to love the bend test, but that’s not scientific enough for me, so I go by temp.
I’m not at all sure what’s going on here, and trying hard to not feel that you’re playing with me a bit. I keep saying that I haven’t ever found beef ribs at a chain market near me (Pavillions, Ralphs, Albertsons, Gelsons, Stater Bros., Smart & Final) that have the amount of meat on them that you seem to find at Von’s. It’s not like I just started looking last week. I’ve been trying, literally, for years. You seem to be questioning first my ability to understand what to look for, and then my ability to cook what I DO find correctly. I really don’t care, ultimately, what they’re called. I just want meaty beef ribs similar to the ones you posted and others have. So… the only conclusion I can come to is that it’s not having found the right product so far that’s been the problem. Not right… I guess?
I don’t think the issues are mutually exclusive. The problem seems to be 1) the beef back ribs you find aren’t meaty enough and 2) the beef back ribs aren’t tender enough.
Regarding number 1, it’s possible I may be getting lucky due to the holidays and an excess amount of available beef ribs. Trust me, based on this thread nobody was more surprised than me to find decent back ribs at Vons. Time will tell.
Regarding number 2, I just don’t know how you can tell one way or another without a thermometer if the issue is technique or product. Perhaps one of the more astute bbq gods can chime in.
we told you where you can find really meaty beef ribs (short ribs). Go to Costco Business Center and get some. Problem solved.
Sounds like you aren’t cooking them long enough. Beef fat/tissue is not the same as pork fat/tissue.
If you look online, recipes cooking at 250 suggest cook times of 4-5 hours. Cooking at 300 suggests a cook time of 3-4 hours. I cook them in the oven at 300 for about 4 hours, give or take a few minutes. Never had an issue with tough or chewy beef ribs. I cook pork ribs for about 1.5-2 hours at that temp.
Instead of blaming the product, maybe try cooking them differently. Sometimes it’s user error, not a defective product.
Re #2- I have trouble understanding how temperature has much to do with gristle. The little meat I find is only between the bones and there’s so little that checking temp after that long seems unnecessary. . There’s not much but it always comes out just fine with that method, which seems to be cooking well beyond fine and just to break it down more. I just kind of resent buying 2 pounds of ribs and getting maybe 1/3 pound of edible meat.
And… for tailbacku… I’m well aware. It’s just that buying 16-18 lbs of ribs for one person (wife won’t eat them) is challenging unless (as I’ve said) I freeze some and cook later… I guess that’s the only solution though.
I think we’ve pretty much exhausted this line of discussion now.
