Tough start, tender finish for Western-style beef chuck ribs

Hey there folks, are you hungry or what?

Today we’re gonna be cookin’ up some boneless western style beef chuck ribs, and they’re really fun and easy to do.

First off, you’re gonna need the ingredients in the list accompanying this story.

Despite their name, these cuts of beef aren’t actually rib meat, but tough cuts of chuck from the shoulder clod. These are what the beef industry calls boneless ribs, also marketed as western chuck style ribs – which you’ll see at your local grocery store.

Regardless, this is a very tough cut of meat, as it contains a lot of connective tissue.

I mean, if you try to cut through these raw, it’ll be like taking a butter knife to a sneaker. You’d be better off using a chainsaw! But there’s a way around that which will ensure you and your family and friends will be treated to a tasty meal.

Many of us grew up doing chores, playing outside or watching afternoon TV reruns while our parents cooked these kinds of meat in the crock pot, but today we’re gonna take ‘em out to the grill!

Unlike prime cuts of beef like T-bone or ribeye, these “ribs” are gonna need to be braised – that is, cooked low ‘n slow over coals, off to the side of the heat source in a liquid such as a combination of your favorite barbecue sauce, beer or whatever. Today we’re gonna use a mixture of barbecue sauce, beer (like I said), green onions, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and black pepper.

The first thing you want to do is take the ribs, coat ‘em with a little bit of vegetable oil or canola oil and rub a little salt, pepper and garlic on ‘em. Once you’ve done that, go ahead and light your coals on one side of the pit.

After your coals are lit, you’re gonna give the ribs a quick sear directly over the coals – about one minute per side to get in those grill marks and flavor, then set ‘em off to the side.

Next, you wanna take your cast iron skillet and set it off to the side opposite the coals, pour in the braising sauce I mentioned earlier, and add the ribs.

What you wanna do next is immerse the meat in the sauce, bringing it to a simmer but not a boil, as you don’t want to make the meat any tougher than it already is!

Then simply continue to simmer the ribs over the next few hours (I cooked mine for five hours to get ‘em really tender), turning them over every 30 minutes or so to ensure even cooking and to get ‘em as tender and tasty as you like. You may need to add more sauce to the skillet during the cooking process just to make sure the ribs stay covered.

Once your ribs are fork tender, remove them from the pan and serve with the sides of your choice. Baked potatoes and beans are always good, but you add whatever you prefer! Until next time...Cheers!

Rob Ford is a freelance writer in Gonzales County.