Short rib crises

[Victual Vignettes]

I don't know what's happened to me, but after a long spell of not making short ribs or any braises really, I have attempted them twice in the last couple of months with underwhelming results. Specifically, I'm ending up with a too - watery sauce and meat that is "done" but somewhat stringy and not particularly flavorful.

 

I think I need to go back to the basic elements and get tips on how to amp each step up a notch - what type of wine, ratio of liquid to beef, are you simmering stove-top or cooking in the oven (does it make a notable difference?), type of beef (I have used grass fed on these two recent sub-par attempts). I am open to any and all suggestions. 

 

I should further note that I theoretically have the time to prepare these and let them cook then also cool in order to skim fat, if that is recommended. Essentially, I am able to start at 11:30 a.m. something that won't need to be on the table until 7ish pm.  I am working with a large staub dutch oven and cooking with gas (range and oven). Please give me all of your best tried and true tips! Your ultimate instructions. Thank you. I will share my results.

 

[Smithy]

I think you're using the right equipment. The Staub Dutch Oven has good thermal mass, and that's what you want although I don't think it has to be Staub. I've had good results with other brands of heavy cooking equipment, and even with glass Pyrex baking dishes and aluminum foil in a pinch. My basic procedure for beef short ribs is:

• rinse the ribs, pat them dry, and coat with the seasoning (rub) of your choice;
• brown on stovetop in fat of your choice (I generally use olive oil);
• add enough water to cover the bottom of the pan, and come up maybe a quarter of the way, no more than halfway, up the side of the ribs;
• cover and put into a low oven temperature (225F to 275F);
• walk away and leave them for 1.5 - 2 hours, then check; you're looking for the meat to be tender enough to remove the bones;
• remove the meat from the juice, let it cool enough to remove the bones, and set it aside;
• defat the sauce; make gravy from the sauce if you wish (here's where I would add wine); reduce sauce to the thickness you want; reheat the rib meat in the sauce;
• serve and enjoy.

I haven't cooked short ribs since December 2023, but this post shows the steps and the results. The pan used isn't an enameled cast iron because I didn't have one available, but it was the biggest Dutch oven that I had, and it worked well despite its light weight.

 

Some notes:

• @Margaret Pilgrim, in this post, recommended a French Laundry - inspired recipe with video. She cautioned that the volume is very loud, so be prepared to turn it down. This is considerably more elaborate than what I do, and probably orders of magnitude more flavorful.
• In an eGCI lab on braising, long long ago, some people reported having good success with stovetop braising so they can monitor the progress of the braise and be sure that the liquid is at the lowest possible simmer. It's never worked as well for me, whether I used an electric stove / oven or gas stove / oven, so I've always stuck with oven braising for best tenderness. YMMV.
• For all the detailed experiments and discussion on the braising seminar, search the eGCI for "braising" or "The Truth About Braising". It was a week-long seminar, followed by Q&A, and it's where I first learned about braising and fell in love with the method. The introduction is here.
• Some people found that browning beforehand helped; others didn't. Some found that the braising liquid mattered; some didn't. So my method listed above works for me but isn't the do-all and be-all. See my first note about Margaret's method!

Finally: I've never tried braising grass-fed beef ribs, and don't know what the marbling is like. If that meat is very lean, you may have to adjust methods. I've listed what I do with grocery-store ribs. Maybe someone else can help with the grass-fed aspect. My guess, based on your "stringy and not very flavorful" results, is that you're overcooking them and maybe not seasoning them properly at the outset.

 

[rotuts]

@Victual Vignettes

 

what were your SR's like before ?  what type of meat did you use ?

 

I would think that true grass fed beef presents difficulties w braising :  it's leaner , and tougher than grain finished beef.

 

All braises end up w meat , while tender , when tasted alone w/o the resulting sauce , can be dry and stringy if over cooked.

 

its the nature of meat fibers contracting , making the sauce.   

 

start w a flavorful beef stock .  if using wine , consider a dry-er version , as the sugars will concentrate as the wine evaporates.

 

but you might want that sweetness.

 

and let the braise cool , and use the nexxt day if you can .   some of the stock re equilibrates w the meat.

 

over all , I think you meat is too lean , and possibly over cooked.

 

@Smithy has good refereces , above.

 

P.S.:  Ive only cooked GFB a couple of times , sirloin-ish cuts. I use SV as the method ,  @ 130 F specifically

 

to minimize muscle contraction , and timed for tenderness.  this got me flavorful tender meat .

 

not sure if this helps.

Edited 5 hours ago by rotuts (log)

[gfweb]

I use a pyrex dish and add a cup of red wine, 1 tbsp tomato paste, two tbsp soy, an onion in wedges and a carrot sliced (don't omit the carrot, it matters).

 

Th liquid should come halfway up the meat. Add water as needed.

 

Cover with foil and bake at 250 or 300 for 3 hours.

 

Although I use lots of SV, the product  is different than the braised beef and I like braised here.

[AlaMoi]

the usual seasonings are semi-consistent across recipes - as for 'too thin' one approach I've used is start with a roux, cook it to dark, use that as a base, adding beef stock as needed to adjust consistency to your liking.

for wine I like Marsala - has a nice flavor twist.

another very successful trick:  make it, cool, chill overnight in the fridge, reheat&serve next day.

(the baby potatoes below were boiled and added on service second day....)

[rotuts]

@gfweb  have you made GF short ribs ?    vs grain finished ?

 

@AlaMoi  ditto above ?

 

good tips here ,  my guess is that w a braise , independent of ' cut ' , there is going to be a big difference in results

 

using the exact same cooking method , GF  vs Grain finished .

[Smithy]

@Victual Vignettes, I think you can seecfrom the posts above that there are many, many seasoning and flavor methods in a standard braise... and I suspect that @rotuts has the right of it: grass-fed beef will behave differently than grain-finished beef. Let us know more about what you've done in the past, and maybe post some photos of the beef you're working with now.

[gfweb]

50 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@gfweb  have you made GF short ribs ?    vs grain finished ?

 

@AlaMoi  ditto above ?

 

good tips here ,  my guess is that w a braise , independent of ' cut ' , there is going to be a big difference in results

 

using the exact same cooking method , GF  vs Grain finished .

 

 

I have done  SV short ribs.  I like the old school  braise.  SV is perfectly nice but not what I think of when I hear braised short ribs.  I like the veg and the sauce  that results from a braise.

 

Re GF vs GF...I imagine all were grain finished but I don't know

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by gfweb (log)

[rotuts]

echoing what @gfweb has said

 

braise is probably more about the sauce , then the meat on its own.  

 

Id suggest always letting the braise cool , and be refrigerated overnight, where hopefully some of that flavor

 

in the sauce re-enters the meat.

 

also , ' tradition ' requires temps that have some bubbling .

 

why not try a lower temp , 170 F ?  and thus longer ?

 

traditional cooking techniques , under expert hands , have been tasty for a long long time.

 

but can be adapted , with fairly current knowledge , to yield a better result.

 

and the fat you take off then next day , will not just be beef fat  ( currently a Cure-All )

 

but flavored w other fat soluble flavors.   why not use ( some ) of that for a steamed dumpling ?