Beef Ribs in BBQ Sauce - slow cooked short ribs! (2024)

• ▢ 6 x 300 - 350g / 10 - 12 oz beef ribs (aka beef short ribs) (Note 1), patted dry

RUB:

• ▢ 1 tbsp brown sugar (sub white)
• ▢ 2 tsp paprika
• ▢ 1 tsp garlic powder (sub 1 tsp fresh garlic)
• ▢ 1 tsp onion powder (sub garlic powder)
• ▢ 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• ▢ 3/4 tsp mustard powder (Note 2)
• ▢ 1 tsp salt
• ▢ 1/2 tsp black pepper

Barbecue SAUCE:

• ▢ 2 garlic cloves , minced (sub 2 tsp powder)
• ▢ 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (Note 2 subs)
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups ketchup , or Aussie tomato sauce
• ▢ 1/2 cup brown sugar , loosely packed (ie don't pack it tight)(sub white)
• ▢ 2 tsp EACH black pepper, onion powder, mustard powder (Note 2)
• ▢ 1 tsp cayenne pepper (adjust to taste re: spiciness)
• ▢ 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (sub soy sauce)
• ▢ 2 cups water

Optional garnish:

• ▢ Parsley or chives , chopped

• Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F (all oven types).

• Mix Rub in a small bowl large, enough to fit one rib.

• Press beef ribs into the rub, coating all sides. Shake off excess.

• Mix Barbecue Sauce ingredients, except water, in a baking pan. Then mix in water.

• Place ribs in sauce, turning to coat. Arrange meat side down in the sauce, bone side exposed (sauce won't cover completely, that's ok).

• Cover tightly with foil or lid, bake 3 1/2 hours.

• Remove from oven, remove foil. Turn ribs (some may have fall over, that's ok, just turn them). Spoon over sauce.

• Bake 30 minutes uncovered, spooning over sauce again halfway through, until surface is caramelised and sticky. Check to ensure ribs are tender - pry a bit apart using two forks. (If not, cover and return to oven, but after 4 hrs they certainly should be!)

• Remove ribs onto serving plate (use a spoon as meat will barely be attached to bone, if at all). Mix sauce to bring together (Note 3 on adjustments). Serve with ribs!

SERVING OPTIONS:

• Share platter (rustic!): Serve ribs on a platter for people to help themselves with some sauce on it, and some sauce on the side for people to help themselves.

• Individual posh restaurant style: place rib on plate, spoon over sauce (see note about straining option). Garnish.

• See in post for side options (both rustic and posh!).

1. Beef Ribs - comes in a variety of cuts. For this recipe, you want the chunky rectangle block cut, often called Beef Short Ribs. See photo in post. They come cut in individual bones and are very meaty.

They shrink about 30% so try to get big meaty ones. But if you can only get small ones ~250g/8oz, that's still ok!

Beef ribs racks (less meaty, bones not separated) - use anywhere between 1.5 - 2.5kg / 3- 5lb (this recipe requires a minimum amount of braising liquid and it makes tons of sauce, more than needed for the beef ribs). Oven time will vary depending on meatiness, but for average racks, I'd say 2.5 hrs covered, 30 min uncovered (but check at 1.5 hrs). You may need to scale up the Rub slightly (more surface area)

ALTERNATIVE MEATS: Beef cheeks (easily 2kg/4lb, beef chuck cut into baseball size chunks (2kg/4lb). For both these, check at 2 hrs, total oven time ~3 hrs. For brisket, use the Barbecue Beef Brisket recipe. For pork ribs, use this recipe and for chicken, use this recipe.

DO NOT buy beef ribs that come in a vac pack where the ingredients label has salt or any other ingredient other than beef (these are brined so they're salty, so this will come out too salty). If you're desperateand brined beef is all you can get, leave a comment below and I'll tell you how to adjust the recipe.

2. Ingredient subs:

• Mustard powder - dijon or yellow mustard
• Cider vinegar - white wine vinegar, sherry or Champagne vinegar OR 1/3 cup normal white vinegar.

If subbing fresh garlic or mustard spread in the rub, then rub those wet ingredients on first before pressing into dry rub.

3. Sauce adjustments -in the perfect world (like in the video!), it is the perfect thickness for serving straight out of the oven. In reality, ovens vary, roasting pan heat retentions vary, rib sizes vary, hence evaporation rate varies. If need be, add a splash of boiling water to thin out. If too thin (doubt it), pop back into oven. Taste and add salt if needed, or a hit of hot sauce if you want more spice.

Thickness choices: pourable (per video), thicker (like BBQ sauce from squeeze bottles), dolloping (spoon) OR strain it for silky smooth for VIP (optional!). The sauce has very intense flavours so even if thinned to be pretty pourable, you will not dilute flavour.

4.Other cook methods:

• Stove - 2.5 hours on low simmer, lid on (handle with care when removing)
• Slow cooker - 8 hrs on low, 5 hrs on high, then transfer to oven to caramelise 30 min uncovered, per recipe.
• Pressure cooker - 1 hr on high, follow slow cooker directions above. Depressurise naturally for 10 min, then release valve.
• Instant Pot - Follow slow cooker directions above but do the searing in your Instant Pot. Cook using slow cooker or pressure cooker function using above times.

Finish on GRILL!This is an excellent wow-factor grilling recipe. Cook it per recipe fully covered until it's fall apart tender (check with 2 forks). Then spoon over sauce, keep covered and transfer beef into a container, and sauce in another ie. do not do the uncovered roasting step. Once fully cool, refrigerate. On the day of, microwave beef to heat through - we only grill to caramelise the outside and get subtle smokey flavour. Baste with warmed sauce, then grill 3 minutes on each side on medium, basting lots, until you get a wickedly good caramelised sauce with charred bits. SO GOOD!

5.Meat will be literally falling off the bone so don't expect the meat to be clinging to the bone once meat is tender. In fancy restaurants, they sometimes reconstruct it so it looks like it's still attached, but it's not. If meat is tender, it cannot be attached to bone!

6. Storage - gets better with time, excellent low-effort make ahead option. Cool, refrigerate in sauce (or separate sauce if you strained it for posh-style). Keeps 5 days in fridge. The either reheat in microwave (I do this, for most moist steamy outcome), or oven (180°C/350°F covered for 20 min until meat is hot and tender all the way through, then uncovered to recaramelise surface if needed, I find it's not required).

Freezer - 3 months in airtight container. Thaw then reheat using one of above options (do not try to microwave or heat from frozen). It freezes 100% perfectly.

7. Nutrition per beef rib, assuming all sauce is consumed (there will likely be sauce leftover. See in post for what to do with it 🙂 )