Beef short rib cooking time - please help!

[Steve2022]

Hi all,

Apologies if this is already covered but need a quick answer ideally! I'm new to smoking / slow cooking, I have done beef short ribs twice now and both times turned out fine with a cook time of around 8 hours.

Tomorrow morning I am cooking ribs again for guests but they are individually cut this time, I have only ever cooked racks before. I have 6 to cook, they vary in size but some are quite big. I assume the cook time will be less if they are individual? Will they all be done at the same time?

I've never really tried to get food ready for a specific time but tomorrow we are planning to eat around 3pm and I have no idea what time to start!!! any advice on when to fire up would be great!

Cheers

Steve

 

[MidwestSmoker]

I have never done short ribs on a smoker. The way I see it, these will dry out fast and won't work well for low and slow cooking. The only time I hear of them in BBQ is in Korean style BBQ where they are cooked fast at high temperatures. However, they are first marinated overnight to breakdown the tissues before grilling. Also, the ribs are cut crosswise (flanken style) to facilitate this style of cooking.

 

[RustyJake]

I just cooked short ribs on my Kamado a couple days ago. I kind of trwt them like a brisket. Let them smoke low and slow until the stall (160-180), then I wrap these in foil and will add some beef broth or whatever liquid you want, beer is good too. Wrap them up tight and cook them until they get to 200-205. The pit can be turned up to 250-325 depending on how long you want them to take.
You can sauce them or just put them back on the grill to firm up the bark if you want, or just rest them and serve them. For me, they need to be braised a bit to break down the collagen, so I always use foil and add a liquid to the foil

 

[RayClem]

If possible, cook your ribs as full racks. They will be a lot easier to manage. If you slice them into individual ribs, each will be slightly different in size and each will cook at a slightly different rate. The larger the piece of meat, the more forgiving the cook will be.

If time is critical, you can cook the ribs low and slow for a few hours to get some smoke on the meat. Then wrap them in foil and bump up the actual grill temp to around 275F. Do not rely on the Traeger controller temp as that might not be accurate. I have cooked baby back ribs and spare ribs, normally cooking to 200- 205F. Some like their ribs more chewy and will pull them off sooner. I have never done beef short ribs, but understand they should be treated in a similar manner. It normally takes me about 6 hours or so for pork ribs. Since beef ribs are a little heavier than pork ribs, I would think 8 hours would be about right.

If time availability on the day your guests are to arrive is an issue, you can always cook your ribs in advance and then reheat them before serving. Or you can smoke them one day, wrap them in foil and place them in the refrigerator, and then cook them in the oven to final temperature on the day of arrival. There are plenty of options that can work depending upon your schedule. What you do not want to happen is to have hungry guests and then force them to wait a couple of hours for the ribs to be ready or pull them off before they are ready and they turn out tough.