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.

Beef Short Ribs with Barbecue Sauce

SERVES

6

PEOPLE

PREP TIME

60

MINUTES

COOKING TIME

240

MINUTES

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.

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