Colm O'Gorman: How to make my slow-cooked beef short ribs with barbecue sauce

Slow-cooked beef short ribs.

Beef short ribs have become increasingly popular of late. 

I do not remember them being a common cut of meat when I was a child, though apparently in Ireland and Britain, they were better known as ‘Jacobs Ladder’, so they must have been around back then. 

I never remember us having them at home, but having first discovered them a few years ago, I have become a huge fan. 

They are a perfect cut of meat for slow cooking and full of flavour. Beef short ribs are much meatier than other rib cuts such as pork spare ribs, usually having a large portion of meat attached to a short flat rib bone.

They are usually sold either as a single rack of ribs or cut into single portions. 

For this recipe you want them in single portions, so if they come as a rack, ask your butcher to cut them for you or just cut between the bones to make individual short ribs.

This dish is slow-roasted in the oven and then finished under a hot grill or on a barbecue to add a little char. 

It is a very simple dish to make, and though it takes a while to cook, it needs very little attention. For a nice smoky flavour, use a good quality smoked paprika in the spice rub and the barbecue sauce.

I get my beef short ribs from Farmhouse Grocer, a local producer here in Wexford and they are fabulous, but most good butchers will stock them or can order them in for you.

This is a great recipe to cook for a crowd. You can serve the ribs up on a big platter smothered in barbecue sauce. Serve with your choice of sides. 

A horseradish mashed potato would be beautiful with these. Make your mash as usual, maybe with some cream for a little added richness and lots of butter and then add a few tablespoons of horseradish sauce before mashing the spuds. A warm potato salad would also be lovely, and some homemade coleslaw. Try adding some grated apple and horseradish sauce to the slaw for something a little special.

Beef Short Ribs with Barbecue Sauce

Preparation tips: this will need 30 minutes to prepare, plus 30 minutes to rest the beef. Cooking time is an estimated 3 & 1/2 to 4 hours, but with little attention needed.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 60 mins

Cooking Time

 4 hours 0 mins

Total Time

 5 hours 0 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• Ingredients:

• 2kg beef short ribs

• Spice rub:

• 2 tbsp muscovado sugar

• 1 ½ tsp onion powder

• 1 ½ tsp garlic powder

• 1 ½ tsp ground cumin

• 1 ½ tsp mustard powder

• 1 ½ tsp salt

• 2 tsp smoked paprika

• Fresh ground black pepper

• Barbecue sauce:

• 200 ml apple cider vinegar

• 250 ml tomato ketchup

• 3 tbsp tomato purée

• 120g muscovado sugar

• 3 tsp smoked paprika

• 1 ½ tsp ground black pepper

• 1 ½ tsp flaky sea salt

• 1 ½ tsp onion powder

• 1 ½ tsp mustard powder

• 3 cloves of garlic

• 375ml cold water

Method

1. Warm your oven to 150 Celsius. Thoroughly combine all the ingredients for the spice rub in a bowl. Rub the mix into the ribs, covering them thoroughly and let them sit for at least thirty minutes to best allow the flavours to develop.

2. Next, make the barbecue sauce. Pop all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk to combine them well. Arrange the ribs in a large roasting tray and pour over the sauce. Cover the roasting tray with a double layer of tin foil, tucking the foil in under the rim of the roasting tray to seal it. This will ensure that your sauce does not evaporate off during the long slow roasting time and that your ribs will be tender and delicious.

3. Pop the tray into the oven and roast the ribs for three and a half to four hours, basting the meat with the sauce every hour. Your sauce should not reduce too much during that time, but if you think it is losing too much liquid, just add a little water. The ribs are done when the meat is soft and tender and ready to fall away from the bone.

4. When they are cooked to perfection, remove the tray from the oven. The ribs will have produced a bit of fat during the slow cooking process, so remove the ribs from the roasting tray and either use a fat separator or just scoop the fat off the surface of the sauce. Pour the sauce into a saucepan and reduce it to thicken it and intensify the flavours. Simply simmer the sauce over medium to low heat until it had reduced to the right consistency; you want a lovely smooth, glossy barbecue sauce.

5. While the sauce is reducing, pop the ribs under a hot grill, or flash them on a hot barbecue to give them a little char and caramelisation. This will only take a few minutes. Take care not to overdo it or you will burn the sugar in the spice rub and the sauce.

6. When they are ready, put the ribs on a large serving platter and pour over the barbecue sauce. Garnish with a few chopped spring onions and serve immediately with your choice of sides. This is finger-licking food, so get stuck in, get messy, and enjoy.