Rib Tips

Under the heading, "Delicious, inexpensive, simple meals that require forethought" comes this entry on beef ribs. Our local mini-chain grocery store put beef ribs on sale for $0.99/lb, causing my taste buds to pulse in anticipation. Conventional Wisdom looks down at beef ribs in favor of pork ribs, perhaps because of their low meat-to-bone ratio, but this hierarchical attitude is a mistake. Pork ribs can be great but meaty, properly cooked beef ribs are arguably better. Often you see orange "Great on the Grill" stickers plastered on beef rib packages in the grocery store meat case, which may be why so many people pass over beef ribs in favor of pork spareribs or baby back ribs. At one point these poor sops probably bought a rack of beef ribs, threw them on the grill until they were brown on the surface and pink at the bone, like you'd grill a New York or Rib-Eye steak, then spent the next couple hours gnawing away at them like stray dogs trying to extract the meat (not to mention an hour flossing afterwards). Who wouldn't think poorly of beef ribs after an experience like that? Beef ribs, like pork spareribs (not baby back ribs*) are fatty and tough until they've been cooked thoroughly. They need to be slow cooked at 200 to 250 degrees for several hours to render out the excess fat and to break down the fibers to the point of tenderness. When cooked this way the ribs will be "fall of the bone" tender and will still be juicy and flavorful. This is the principle behind true barbecue but I wasn't in the mood to fire up the smoker yesterday. Instead of getting one big rack of ribs I purchased two small packages that contained a total of five individual ribs. (The only reason I did this was because the packages I selected seemed to be the meatiest ribs I could find. ) I trimmed excess fat off the surface of the ribs, sprinkled them with kosher salt and put them on foil-lined cookie sheet in a 250 degree oven. I pretty much forgot about them while I ran errands and put together a plastic garden shed. Four hours later I pulled them out, tented them with foil and made side dishes. I don't think most people think to slow cook ribs in the oven, which acts like a smoker without the smoke, but they should because the meal was delicious. For prime rib fans, you know that outer strip of super well-marbled meat around the outside of the prime rib? That's pretty much what the meat tastes like. As you can see from the photo the meat exterior is a deep brown color. It condenses down to a virtual 'meat concentrate' while not drying out. Unlike undercooked ribs, I was able to easily chew off all traces of meat from the bone and no floss was necessary (of course I flossed before bedtime last night, like every night). We had steamed broccoli and boiled new potatoes with a local Zinfandel that tasted like Port. At 16% alcohol it was the malt liquor of wines but it cut the rich meat perfectly (it was a Mission View 1996 vintage from Paso Robles but the winery must have changed ownership because it has a different name now). The ribs took almost no preparation time but did require me to put them in the oven four hours prior to eating. They cost about five dollars total but it was as good as any meal I've had in a restaurant in recent memory. The moral of the story is that Conventional Wisdom is an idiot - buy beef ribs.