The dish:
Not so long ago, American Barbecue was pretty much unheard of in Australia. Brisket was being corned or minced, pork shoulder was just another roast cut and the word “smoked” was generally only followed by “trout” or “salmon”. Of course, now everyone is familiar with smoked briskets, pulled pork, and many of the other classics – but there are some cuts that still don’t get quite the same amount of attention.
For me, the best example of this is the beef short rib. It encapsulates the tender, rich, beefy bite of the brisket and comes on the bone – which looks great on the plate (who doesn’t love holding and biting into a “dinosaur rib”) when it’s time to serve! They are much less work than trimming a full packer brisket, and are generally quite well marbled so maintain moisture through the cook – it’s pretty much brisket point on the bone!
When considering beef, there is numerous “rib” cuts – so it is important to make sure you get the right cut for this. What you are looking for is specifically “plate”/”chuck” ribs. These come from the lower section of the ribs of the cow (as compared to the leaner “prime rib” where rib eyes are cut from, and the “back rib” which sits in between). There are some low and slow brands that specialise in pre-packaged, perfectly cut ribs – and you can generally get these from any specialist butcher. Personally, I prefer grass-fed – as these are already a rich cut, grain fed can be a bit too rich, depending on your palate.
The cooker:
Many people that want to get into low and slow often ask what they should purchase as their first cooker. While pellet grills, offsets and bullet smokers are all excellent cookers in their own right, the Weber Kettle makes an excellent, affordable entry level cooker that is incredibly versatile.
Using the MEATER+ thermometer for the convenience with no wires and the ability to set timers and custom alerts – and the cloud functionality gives me the ability to keep an eye on the cook if I need to duck out for any reason.
The technique:
While normally cooking in a kettle you would be using charcoal rails or baskets, for this cook we will use what is called the “snake method”: essentially setting up your charcoal to burn like a fuse – lining it with hardwood chunks to give that real “wood-smoked” flavour. While the conventional wisdom has often been to only use beads once they are fully lit – most brands these days only use natural ingredients and don’t contain accelerants, so they are suitable for this application (just avoid any briquettes advertised as easy-light, etc). In this instance I’d recommend the Weber Briquettes, larger than the Heat Beads branded ones, I’ve found the Weber equivalents burn longer and more consistently.
The pictured configuration is designed to burn left to right. A briquette snake will generally give you roughly 3-4 hours burn time at 120°C-150°C for each quarter of the kettle. I would expect this snake to last around 7-8 hours.
To lay the snake:
- Start at the end of the snake, in this instance, the right hand side
- Lay two briquettes down next to each other on the outer ring of the charcoal grate
- Stand up the next two briquettes leaning back against the two lying flat
- Continue this around like fallen dominoes around the kettle in a “half-moon” shape.
- Do the same to add a second row on top of the bottom row – this time just a row of single briquettes, stop around 3 briquettes from the end of the bottom fuse.
- Line the snake with some wood chunks. The meat will only take smoke for roughly the first 3 hours, so be mindful of this when laying your wood chunks.
- Light your charcoal chimney, a bit higher than ¼ full
- Once the chimney is fully ashed over, dump the lit charcoal onto the start of the fuse where we left some of the bottom row exposed
- Place a drip tray, replace the cooking lid and give the kettle 15-30 minutes to come up to temperature – top and bottom vents fully open
- When you place the lid – aim for the top vent to be diagonally opposite the lit section of the fuse. This will draw the smoke from the fire across the meat.
Ingredients:
Serving suggestion: 1 individual rib per person
- 1-2 racks of (usually) 3 beef short ribs
- Yellow American mustard to bind the rub
- Your favourite beef rub, for me it’s Hardcore Carnivore Black for unbeatable bark!
- Salt and Pepper to season
- Your preferred wood chunks (Western Premium Cherry for me!)
- To spritz:
– ¼ cup Apple Cider Vinegar
– ¼ cup Water
– 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
Notes:
- Beef is a strong flavour that best suits savoury rubs. Beef loves salt!
- Don’t worry if you’re not normally a fan of American mustard, it doesn’t really add flavour to the meat, it is just there to help with binding the rub and forming bark.
- If you would like to add a bit of spice, swap the mustard for hot sauce and swap the rub out for Kosmo’s Q Cow Cover – Hot
- You will need a spray bottle to spritz the ribs. It’s not a deal breaker if you don’t have one, but it will likely dry out the edges.
- Low and slow is not an exact science, your cooking temps will vary slightly in the cook, use the bottom vent of the kettle to regulate ambient temperature. Generally once you are around 10°C from your target temp you can close the bottom vent to just open and it will maintain the temperature from there.
- I cook my ribs unwrapped – if you would like to speed up the cook, wrap with pink butcher’s paper at the 3-4 hour mark and place back in the kettle. This will speed up the cook without completely compromising your bark like foil.
Method:
- Setup kettle for snake method, preheat to 120-150c.
- Trim the thick, hard fat from the top of the short ribs. This doesn’t break down like normal soft fat if it is left on, so best to trim most of it off.
- There are two schools of thought regarding the membrane of the back of the ribs. I like to serve my ribs with the meat still on the bone, so I recommend leaving the membrane on. If you would like to slice the meat like a brisket, take the membrane off.
- Sprinkle the ribs all over with salt and pepper.
- Thinly coat the ribs all over with mustard.
- Liberally apply the rub (see picture for a guide).
- Mix vinegar, water and Worcestershire sauce in a spray bottle and shake to combine.
- Place the ribs into the kettle, directly opposite the fire, under the top lid vent.
- Smoke for 2.5 hours. Lift the lid, and spritz any dry sections.
- As the snake of charcoal burns around, rotate the cooking grate and the lid vent to keep the meat opposite the flame and directly under the lid vent.
- Repeat every hour, spritzing dry spots, rotating grate and lid as required until the ribs reach an internal temperature of 91° C.
- Probe the meat with a thin skewer, the meat should provide no resistance, like a hot knife into butter. If there are still sections with resistance, continue spritzing method and check the meat every 30 minutes. Every cut of meat is different, some will be perfect at 91°C, some need more. The feel is more important than the temperature at this point.
- Once the meat probes like butter all over, take off the heat, wrap in foil and a tea towel and place in an esky or cooler bag to rest for at least 45 minutes before slicing.
- Serve with your desired sides – I recommend coleslaw and cornbread, and your favourite BBQ sauce!
This recipe was put together by DGR BBQ. Melbourne based and a friend of BBQs & Outdoor, be sure to follow DGR BBQ on Instagram @dgr_bbq, for more Aussie Barbecue Inspo!
