Why do my short ribs blow?
Short Ribs ready to be oven browned
So this is one of those where I had some short ribs in the freezer, I defrosted them, and cooked them pretty much how everyone else does, and the short ribs come out tough, not fork tender.
I'm not a huge cookbook collector, but I have few general go-to reference cookbooks, and the braised short ribs recipes are all pretty much like this:
Sear the ribs in dutch oven or in a baking pan in the oven, add liquid, cover and cook for hours on a low flame.
Short ribs browned in oven
I did try the browning the meat in the oven method, because I think the short ribs can get cooked to fast when searing them. Or maybe this is all just in my head and not real food science...
Thinking this was one of those dishes I could safely ignore, I got sucked into the world of tweaking the GardenFork.TV website, and then realized how long it had been since I started cooking the ribs. I got up and turned them in the dutch oven, and let them cook longer.
I even cooked these in the afternoon, and then pour off the liquid, threw that in the freezer to separate the fat out - which worked, BTW.
I gently reheated the ribs which I had cooked with onions, carrots and about 2 cups of liquid, half red wine - half water.
But the ribs were tough, which bummed me out a bit, as they looked great when i first opened the package. Food guru Chris Kimball has taught me that meats like short ribs will turn tough if cooked too long. The proteins lock up and don't allow any liquid in, thus being tough to chew.
Braised Short Ribs look great, taste tough
So many recipe give a time and oven temp to cook meat, but what I think recipes really need is a temperature to attain, and then the meat is done.
Have to work on this more. What are your thoughts on overcooking meat, especially things like short ribs? Let us know below:
Frederick Michael Elliott
Eric, sometimes freezing meat damages the texture and flavor. Try the same recipe with fresh ribs that were never frozen.
Sarah
In my experience, you can't overcook short ribs. The longer, the better, as long as it's over low heat and in a braising liquid. Let me check Shannon's book!
Rachael
Hi Eric,
We boil our ribs with carrots, celery and onions for a few hours and then grill them in BBQ sauce. They come out tender every time!
Ginger
Braised short ribs? What's wrong with just boiling them up, fry up some sauerkraut, and make nummy dumplings in the rib pot?
Braised ribs? Naaaaaaaaaaaw
Claire
A short ribs favorite in our house is to line the bottom of a crock pot with chopped celery and carrots and some cloves of garlic. Season the short ribs with salt and pepper, put them on top of the veg, then add in about a cup of water (a little whiskey will give them a neat smoky flavor). Cook on low for about 8 hours. They're slide off the bone tender.
Tonia Moxley
Maybe the oven roasting dried them out. Searing is quick, and just produces a crust. Roasting actually cooks them.
Palladini
The best short rib I have ever had were from my Masterbuilt 30 inch Electric smoker. Did 3 - 2 - 1 method. This 3 hours at 270, constant throughout the smoke, then 2 hours wrapped in foil with some other goodness in the foil, then remove from the foil, very moist and fall apart at this point, back in the smoker for another hour, about the mid point of that hour, apply your favorite BBQ sauce. YUMMY!