kcarlile,

You can try braising them in the oven at a low temperature say 300 degres for a few hours then finishing them off on the grill.

For a dry rub I like to use garlic salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, cumin, oregano...whatever...

What would you recommend braising them in (assuming I'm interpreting the word correctly as a wet heat)?

This is the technique I usually use for pork ribs but it would work just as well with beef. I usually take a lasagna pan and pour a small amount of water or sometimes beer (enough to cover the bottom of the dish). Then I take the seasoned ribs and place them in the pan and cover with tin foil then bake at 300 degrees (F) for 2-3 hours. I like this technique because you are introducing moisture as well as completly cooking the ribs (without them going dry) at the same time. Once they are nice and tender I fire up the weber and lather them with bbq sauce to add that bbq/caramelization flavour of the grill.

BTW I have tried smoking ribs with a cheap smoker but have not obtained good results (ashy flavour). I think my problems would be resolved where I could control the heat much bettter with a higher quality smoker.

When I do ribs I go with a 3-2-1 method.The night before I take the membrane off the back of the rib and cut them down to St. Louis style ribs. I then use a brown sugar based rub and refrigerate them over night covered with plastic wrap.

First 3 hours on the smoker @ 220 to 240F, spritzing with apple juice and Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, a 3 to 1 mixture (apple juice to rum). After that I foil them with some of the above mixture and back on the smoker for 2 more hours. On the final stage is were I sauce them if I'm wanting them sauced, then back on the smoker for the last hour. When using this method I get really good results.

They come out like this. These were falling off the bone tender.



The smoker they were done on.

Sounds good, Rick, but a bit far removed from the Santa Maria style my wife prefers (I'm less picky than her!) Are those beef ribs?

Oh. {hic{ .... danm it.. I thnk i got the respee rong.... (hic}

No Ken. I haven't done beef ribs yet. You can use the same method for beef ribs. You do change the rub, using salt, pepper and garlic as a rub. You can add what ever seasonings you prefer.

I made a greek inspired pita and man was it good. I took some beef tenderloin, sliced it into thin strips and marinated it oregano and olive oil over night. Also made my homemade tzatzki the day before and let it develop flavour in the fridge for 12 hours or so...next day seared the beef (seasoned with salt and pepper), warmed some pitas in a low oven..stuffed the pita with the beef, lettuce, tomatoe, onions and tzatzki...it was sooooo delicious....now if only I had feta cheese that would be the real kicker .

Sounds really good doc. That reminds me. I need to do souvlaki sometime soon. My son has taken a liking to it.

I did slabs of tripple A tenderloin on the bbq last night. Melt in your mouth good.

One caution with beef ribs; all the ones I have been able to buy have been considerably less meaty than pork ribs. When I used the same amount of rub as I did with pork ribs, the result was quite over-seasoned each time.

I realize the ribs have probably been cooked and eaten already, but just in case...