Basic Beef Ribs

My brother came to visit and brought me some great treats. He lives in northern Alberta and went to a butcher there, Love’s Custom Meats in Vegreville. He purchased some incredible beef for me. One of the cuts he brought were some incredible beef ribs.

The beef ribs you can get in the store around here have been trimmed of almost all the meat and aren’t particularly well marbled. These were works of art. Nice and meaty with great looking fat lines.

I was chomping at the bit to make these. However, there was one small problem. My sister in law isn’t into really spicy so I would have to go basic. I knew this wouldn’t be a problem because you don’t need to add a lot to make quality beef taste great.

I started by cutting the rack in two so it would fit in my roasting pan later in the process. I sprinkled both sides with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.

I preheated my Louisiana Grills pellet smoker to 210 F and put the ribs on. You can do all this in a 210 F oven and get some tasty ribs but they won’t have that great smoke flavour.

I let them smoke for 3 hours. I put some onion, celery and carrots in a roasting pan and added 175 ml (3/4 cup) beef stock. I put the ribs in and covered them with foil and put them back in the smoker.

I let them smoke for another 2 hours.

I took the ribs out of the pan and put them back in the smoker for an hour.

While the ribs were finishing, I defatted the liquid from the roasting pan and added 175 ml (3/4 cup) beef stock, 50 ml (1/4 cup) soy sauce, 50 ml (1/4 cup) red wine and 10 ml of Worcestershire sauce to the liquid in a saucepan. I brought it to a boil and made a slurry of 15 ml (1 tablespoon) cornstarch and 15 ml (1 tablespoon) cold water. I added this to the liquid and cooked until thickened and shiny.

I cut the ribs into single ribs and served them with the sauce.

The Verdict

These were terrific. They had a great beefy taste and texture. They were tender but still had a good chew and texture. The sauce was rich and beefy. Everyone loved them.

This cook confirmed a great butcher sells great meat and that makes a great meal. It also confirmed I have a great brother!

The Old Fat Guy