Tidbits & Stuff

A very popular cut of beef, especially at bar-b-q's. Let's start this off with a quiz. How many pairs of ribs does beef have? Hmmm, I'll give you 3 more seconds. Give up? Ok, read on and you'll figure out the answer. I'll give you hints along the way.

Names for Ribs: Not to be confused with pork ribs (known as spare ribs or baby back ribs).

• Short ribs (chuck)
• Short ribs (plate)
• Back Ribs

Characteristics: Short ribs which come from the front of the animal - aka chuck (rib pairs 1-5) are meatier and contain less fat than ribs coming from further down the chain.

The ribs from the plate section of the animal (consisting of rib pairs 6 through 12) become less and less meatier and will have more fat the further towards the back of the animal you go. Purportedly rib pairs 10 and 12 are fattier with less meat than rib pairs 6-9. I've never counted the rib pairs so I'll take the experts words for it.

Back ribs don't have much meat, but they taste good and are great for grilling. Go figure.

How to Cook Ribs: Here's the fun part. There are tons of recipes on how to cook ribs. I'll give my take on preparing ribs. I strongly suggest you comb the internet to find the one you like best.

Grilling Ribs: Before we can cook ribs by slapping them on the grill, there is pre-grill preparation that must occur. They must be seasoned. Before you season, you must decide if you want to rub or to marinade the ribs. Or, you can try both. Do a taste test. Rub half of the rack and marinade the other half.

• Rubbing Ribs: Rubbing ribs means to literally rub them with a dry seasoning. You have the option of preparing your own or purchasing a store-bought rub. I always recommend trying your own. Put together a combination of your favorite seasonings. Here are a few recipes I found on the internet:
  All Recipes.com
  Rubs and Spices
  CD Kitchen.com
  Look through those and find one that you like, or you can mix and match to come up with your own.

  Now that you've made your rub, apply it liberally over both sides of the ribs. It's best to rub them at least a day prior to cooking to allow the seasonings to seep through and thoroughly season the ribs. Better yet, if you have a vacuum sealer, vacuum seal the ribs to speed up the seasoning process. A couple of hours of vacuumed seasoning will yield tasty ribs.

• Marinading Ribs: As with seasoning, here are a few marinades that I found interesting:
  BBQ Marinades
  Nigella's Sticky Rib Marinade
  BBQ Ribs. This one seems especially interesting.

  When marinading, be sure that the meat is covered entirely. I'm a big fan of marinating well in advance of cooking. The longer the better. Again, if you have a vacuum sealer, you can marinade the meat and cook it an hour or so later.

Cook Ribs in the Oven: Cooking ribs in the oven can be tricky depending on the type of seasoning you use. Using a rub is less messy, but less forgiving if you accidentally over cook the ribs. You'll end up with dry ribs. A liquid marinade, on the other hand, is messier but more forgiving if your ribs were left in the oven too long. The liquid of the marinade serves to keep the meat moist.

No two cooks prepare oven ribs the same. There is the slow cook method in which you turn the oven to 250 degrees and allow them to cook slowly for several hours. Other cooks set the oven to 350 degrees and cook for about an hour. There's also the boil then oven method. Whether you use the slow, quick or boil and cook oven method, be sure to cover the rib pan with aluminum foil while they cook. Once they're about done you can always remove the aluminum foil to broil the ribs a little if you like to have them a little crisp.

Slow Cooking Ribs: Probably one of my favorites. Everything in the crock pot is not only easy, but tender and tasty. The best type of seasoning for crock pot ribs is using a marinade. Place the ribs in the crock pot and add your marinade. Depending on the type of marinade you may want to add a little water to the crock pot because the slow cook method amplifies all of the seasoning. Allow the ribs to cook. The number of cooking hours depends on the size and quantity of ribs and the power of your crockpot. You'll know its done when the meat starts to fall off of the bones.

Crock pot cooking is the only time when it is not necessary to season the meat several hours beforehand. The slow cook method serves to introduce the seasoning into every nook and cranny of the meat. What a delicious thought.

Back to the number of ribs question: Oh, by the way, one crucial piece of info I left out. There's another rib that is not sold as 'ribs'. It is usually sold with the loin cut of beef. Now that I divulged that info, do you know how many pairs of beef ribs there are? . . . The answer is 13.

More info and recipes:

Hormel
Pccnaturalmarkets
Cooks.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Felicia A. Williams is a freelance writer and webmaster of this website, Visit Hudson Valley.com and No Job for Mom.com. She is also the Insurance Feature Writer for Suite 101.com