Barbecue Beef Short Ribs

I’ve often been asked how to barbecue beef ribs because beef ribs taste delicious when you know how to cook them into a succulent tender mess. The word’s out that I know how to cook these delectable beefy morsels well as I’ve won first place several times when beef ribs were included as an extra category in barbecue competitions. In sanctioned contests, points awarded for the beef rib entry do not count towards the cumulative points from the chicken, pork ribs, pork butt, and brisket scores that determine the Grand Champion. Nevertheless, winning first place in the beef rib category has won me extra mullah numerous times to help cover my contest expenses. Besides, beef ribs are super yummy and are a welcome change to the standard pork ribs I usually cook in competition. The beef rib that’s legal for contests are back ribs which don’t have a lot of meat so for this recipe, I’m going to teach you how to make competition-grade beef short ribs which is the meaty version. In California, beef ribs are often sold Flanken-style which is prized by the Korean culture as it is used to make Galbi, a delicious grilled short rib that is soaked in a pear-soy marinade. The Flanken-style is a cross section cut about half-inch thick of the short rib exposing about 3-4 bones (see pic below).
For barbecue beef short ribs, I prefer not to use the Flanken cut as they are too thin for barbecue and better suited for grilling. Uncut beef short ribs are not that easy to find in the Southern California area and I found some at specialty butcher shops, Restaurant Depot, and Korean markets. In the Korean markets, you have to ask them for the uncut version as they usually cut them Flanken style in saranwrap already for their customers. The short ribs I used for this recipe were Angus Choice-grade short rib with some fat cap on them. I trimmed some of the fat cap off and left a little on top to render. I like to cook my beef ribs around 275 degrees as I’ve found that lower pit temperatures don’t render the fat as well and the rib sits too long causing them to dry out. Temps hotter than 275 have a tendency to burn the surfaces before the connective tissue in the rib has a chance to soften and tenderize in the heat. I also cook my ribs in my Weber Smokey Mountain without water in the water pan to maximize the crust formation.