Beef ribs for oven, grill or slow cooker

I’ve spoken about pork spareribs recently and decided to jump into the beef side this time.

Beef ribs come in a few different forms, all of which need a low and slow cooking process to tenderize and release all of their flavor. Back ribs are the same bones found on a ribeye steak or a rib roast/prime rib. Since a whole ribeye is often sold boneless, the back rib bones are available for sale separately. They are around 6 to 8 inches long and slightly curved. They can have a minimum of meat on them because the steaks and roasts cut from them are far more valuable than the bones, so they get trimmed heavily. A typical section of them, as found in the local megamart, usually have about seven bones.

Short ribs come from a lower section of the rib, and further back. They are called short ribs because they come from the short plate. The short plate is from the same part of the cow that produces the flank steak and the brisket. These are different in that there is meat on top of the bones, instead of between them.

The ones I cooked in the photo were placed in my largest stock pot and brought to a simmer. I allowed them to cook at that temperature for about a half an hour, to help ensure there was no undercooked meat, and it helped remove a bit of the fat. In the meantime, I prepared my gas grill by lighting all the burners to full heat and heating the chamber fully while the simmering was finished. I then placed the ribs on the hot grates and quickly closed the lid. I then turned down the temperature to low and let them cook a while. Since they were nearly fully cooked when I put them on the grill, I was looking for a golden brown color when I turned them over to allow for more even cooking. At this time I sprinkled a seasoning mix I have for chicken over them and reclosed the lid. In a little while I flipped them again to reheat the initially cooked side. When that was hot, I flipped them again and painted them with barbecue sauce. At this point, I turned two of the three burners of my grill off and allowed the remaining one to continue to burn on low, allowing the sauce to slowly dry out a bit and turn to more of a thickened paste versus a pourable sauce. After removing the ribs from the grill, I allowed them to cool about 10 minutes before serving.

OVEN RIBS

3 pounds meaty beef ribs

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon steak seasoning

2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

BBQ sauce

Rinse ribs and dry well with paper towels. Brush on olive oil. Mix together dry ingredients and sprinkle completely over both sides of the ribs. Place in a large bowl and cover. Refrigerate for a few hours to allow the seasonings to flavor the meat. Heat oven to 250 degrees. Place ribs on a foil lined baking pan and cover with another piece of foil, sealing the edges well. Place on the middle rack in the oven and bake for about 3 1/2 hours. Remove ribs from oven and carefully remove top foil. Turn oven on to a low broil. Slather BBQ sauce on ribs and place back in the oven and broil until the sauce thickens. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

CROCKPOT RIBS

1/2 onion coarsely chopped

2 cloves of garlic chopped

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

4-6 pounds beef ribs, trimmed to fit into cooking vessel

1 can cola

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1 cup beef stock

1 cup BBQ sauce

Place chopped onion and garlic with olive oil in your crock pot. Add ribs and sprinkle over salt and pepper. Pour in remaining ingredients. Set temperature to low and allow to cook 7 to 8 hours. Carefully remove cover and pour off excess fat from crock. Remove ribs from crock and set aside. Pour liquid into a saucepan and heat over high heat until sauce thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before serving with ribs.