Thor's Beef Ribs (Recipe with Pictures)


These days it's difficult to find a restaurant that serves good beef ribs. Tony Roma's was a staple, but their Knoxville restaurant went out of business a few years ago. That prompted me to start trying to make them myself. This recipe has its seeds in a recipe from Weber's Big Book Of Grilling (by J. Purviance and S. S. McRae, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2001), but this is much simpler.

Beef ribs are also hard to find in stores. You do best to call ahead, and order if you have to. The down side of that is that they can be expensive. The last ribs that I bought were $2.69 per pound, and had to be ordered from Bi-Lo.

Ribs come in "slabs," with between seven to nine ribs per slab. Our rule of thumb in grilling for parties is 3 ribs per person. (I usually eat six or so...). They're big.

Ingredients

Step 1: The Day Before -- Rubbing the Ribs

First take a fork and poke holes through the fat layer in the back. This may not do anything, but I like to think that it does. Unlike pork ribs, there's no reason to remove that fat -- just poke the holes. Then cut the slabs into two and three-rib segments. This makes them easier to grill. Then mix the rub -- equal parts paprika, salt, pepper and garlic -- and rub it over the top and sides of the ribs. Be liberal. Don't bother rubbing the fat layer on the back -- nothing will penetrate it. Cram the ribs into plastic bags and put them in the fridge until it's grilling time.

The rub ingredients -- simple and cheap.

A rack with rub.

Eight racks, crammed into six bags and about to enter the fridge for the night.

Step 2: The Sauce

Start the sauce before you start grilling. Use a wide sauce pan or dutch oven, because you will be dipping the ribs in it. For each bottle of barbecue sauce, use at least half as much red wine. Do it to taste. Then add a clove or two of crushed garlic per bottle of barbecue sauce.

Sauce ingredients. Cheap BBQ sauce + cheap wine = excellent sauce.
I ended up using five bottles for the eight racks of ribs.

Step 3: Grilling

Start grilling about 3 1/2 hours before you want to eat the ribs. At this point, also preheat the oven (see below for temperature). So, if you're using charcoal, start it about four hours before eating time. Once the coals are hot, grill the ribs under direct, high heat. First, do the non-fat side, then the fat side. You are not cooking them here, you are just giving them flavor -- get the meaty side a little black, then flip them over, and the dripping fat from the other side will likely engulf them in flames. Do this for a bit, then set them aside for step four. My grill is nice in that you can raise and lower the charcoal -- I usually raise it for grilling the meaty side, and lower it for the fatty side. If you can't fit everything on the grill, that's ok -- grill them in shifts.

Before lighting the charcoal -- I use one layer of charcoal to span the grilling surface.

The first ribs go on the grill, meaty side down.

The fatty side causes a charcoal-inferno

Step 4: Cutting and Dipping

When the ribs are done grilling, cut them into individual pieces, dip them into the sauce, and put them into a casserole/oven dish.

The ribs are off the grill, and ready for the cutting and dipping.

This is a good opportunity for father-son bonding.
Also, I'm thinking that this is a job that should be done outside, near the grill -- if you accidentally drop a rib or two into the sauce, it can be rather messy.

The ribs after cutting and dipping.

Step 5: Cooking

You can cook the ribs for varying times. I used to cook them for two hours at 300 degrees. Now, I'm cooking for three hours at 275 degrees. Your choice. I think that the longer time is better. Cover the ribs with aluminum foil, put them into the oven, and don't think about it again.

True hatchet-throwing grillers will probably insist that you do this part in the grill, but I don't think that it imparts any extra flavor, and it's a pain.

Ribs in the oven.

Step 6: Eating

You're done -- eat up with the remaning sauce (which I keep hot during the cooking process).

All grab for the ribs.
You'll note, they create a lot of grease -- usually we move them to another tray, but we were lazy here.

Happy teens.