The Western Canadian BBQ Association

So On Saturday I decided to do 4 lbs or so of beef short ribs. These things were fat as hell with meat. The first thing I did was make sure I could get my bbq to hold a constant temp of 225 F or so. This is an optimal heat for slow cooking these badboys. Now that that is done, I move on to slicing the ribs into individual portions. With fixins, I could only eat three of these, that’s how big they are. I covered the ribs in my homemade rub and let them sit overnight in the fridge to marinate. At the same time I poured some apple wood chips into a bowl of water and let sit overnight as well.


Now, well the bbq is heating up, remove the ribs from the fridge and let them start warming to room temp. You should always let your thick meat heat up to around room temp before throwing it on the grill. This will ensure even, consistent cooking. I used a small backing sheet with a grate in it. The grate keeps the meat up so that the entire meat surface is affected by the heat and smoke. Plus you will be using this sheet or pan to hold some beer or wine or water. Basically whatever you like as long as it keeps some moisture in the grill without touching the meat. I also added so big chunks of onion so they can slow roast as well. So now add you meat to the grate and pan, you want to spread them out far enough so that they are not touching. The air circulation is a big help. So now that you have reached your optimal heat and added some liquid to your pan you are ready to throw these on the grill. Oh sorry, I missed one step. You will want to sear the outside of your ribs on the hottest part of the grill or in a cast iron pan. Once that is done you are ready to put them on the grill. If you have a smoker box such as I do, you will want to add your soaking wet chips to this and place over the hottest part of your grill. They will burn slowly at first and then burn up pretty quick. Make sure you have necessary glove to handle this box for the changing of chips. I use a pair of channel locks to remove and replace the box. If you don’t have a smoker box, you can easily just use some thick aluminum foil and make one. Just fold you chips in the foil and poke holes on the top and bottom and your smoooookiiiin.


Now after about two hours you can open your grill and start applying your bbq sauce. Either homemade or store bought is fine. I actually just purchased a Budweiser bbq sauce that is really good. This is what I used for these. Lather a nice layer of sauce and close the lid for another hour.

Now a lot of what I talked about in the above is the beginnings to some of the greatest beef ribs you will ever have. My problem was that my bbq tank valve screwed up on me and the first two hours of cook time were wasted. When I started they were at 225. When I went to check on them after the first two hrs I realized that the temp had dropped to 100 F. So needless to say I was supremely pissed. I had to borrow my neighbor’s tank to finish these off. But because I wasted two hrs and was getting pretty hungry, I couldn’t wait the prescribed cook time to eat. They came out with a ton of flavor but were still a little tough. The thing with beef ribs is that they have some veins in them that will only start to render down with a long slow cook. Its these veins that make the meat tough, low and slow and good to go. The only other way to tender these up, is to boil them first. This in my book is a huge no no. You have just sacrificed so much flavor just to speed up your cooking time.. Please do not do this. You will waste some excellent meat.

I will continue on with the proper instruction. So basically you want to cook these for about 5 hrs, ya 5 hrs. You will not regret it. Every hour or half hour, after the first two you can reapply sauce and add beer to your pan. What I do is when adding the beer, just pour some over the meat as well. This will keep everything tender and moist. I am happy with beer, why wouldn’t they be, consider it being your beefs last meal. Lol. When they are done, remove from the bbq and let rest under foil or a cover for about 10 mins. I cooked some corn and mushrooms with these ribs and even with the bbq issues I ran into, they still turned out pretty good. They definitely could have used the extra two hrs though.


So there we have it, hopefully they turn out nice for you as they have for me in the past. If you follow these instructions I am sure you will not be disappointed. Moist, tender and fall of the bone goodness.

Take care and keep the fire hot.

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www.wildfirecooking.com
Home to great cooking for the bbq and some great recipes and tips for the home cook as well.
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