Grill-Roasted Beef Short Ribs with Mustard Glaze

I love ribs and had high hopes for this recipe. But the cooking times were confusing (the way it included multiple cooking methods; charcoal, gas-grill and oven). The confusion meant we ate our dinner at 8pm. The recipe called for cooking the ribs in a Pyrex baking dish with 2 tablespoons of vinegar, which resulted in a nightmare to clean. I should have lined the baking dish with aluminum foil. The ribs themselves were delicious. I was sure I wouldn’t like the mustard glaze, but it complemented the slow-cooked ribs very well. As long as you allocate 4-1/2 hours to make the recipe, I’m sure you’ll enjoy them. 4-stars.


A long wait, but ultimately they were delicious
Comments:

Chris Kimball says to use “ribs that are 4 to 6 inches in length and have at least 1 inch of meat on top of the bone.” If only we had the same butcher! Instead I used what was available, which were meaty, but just regular short ribs. I have never need “English-Style” short ribs.

Be sure to line your baking dish with aluminum foil to avoid a baked-on mess requiring 24-hours soaking in order to clean.

At first when I read the recipe, I thought that your could either cook the ribs in one of 3 methods; oven, charcoal or gas-grill; each for almost 2 hours. But as I made the recipe I realized the the ribs required 2 hours in the oven before spending another 2 hours on the grill. Unfortunately we ate dinner at 8PM.

Rating: 4 stars.
Cost: $28.
How much work? Low/Medium.
How big of a mess?  Medium/High.
Start time 1:30 PM. Ready at 6:00 PM.

Chris Kimball’s original recipe is here. and the mustard glaze is here. My descriptions of how I prepare it today are given below:

2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons pepper
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/4 teaspoons paprika
3/4 teaspoon ground fennel
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
5-lbs bone-in, “English-style” beef short ribs
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Mustard-Glaze:
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon spice rub; reserved from step 1.
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

In a small bowl, combine kosher salt, brown sugar, pepper, cumin, garlic powder, paprika, ground fennel and cayenne pepper. Mix to combine and set aside 1 teaspoon in a another small/medium bowl rub for glaze.

Set a rack to the middle of your oven and pre-heat to 300-degrees. 

Evenly cover all sides of ribs with spice rub; press rub so that it sticks. 

Line a 13?x9? Pyrex baking dish with aluminum foil and set ribs with the meat-side up, putting the thicker ribs around the edge of the baking dish. 

Sprinkle the vinegar evenly over ribs. 

Use aluminum foil to tightly cover the baking dish, and bake for about 1h45m. The internal temperature of the ribs should be 165-degrees.

While the ribs bake, whisk together all the ingredients for the glaze.

Prepare your grill by opening the bottom and top vents half-way. Set a little unlit charcoal (only about 2 quarts) on one half the grill. Light a chimney starter half-full (about 3 quarts) with charcoal. When the coals are ready empty over the until coals (leaving half the grill without any coals)
.
Put the ribs with the meat-side up on the cool side of the grill, beginning about 2" from the coals. 

Brush the ribs with 1/4-cup of glaze. Cover the grill and cook for about 2 hours until the internal temperature of the ribs is 195-degrees. Brush the ribs with glaze every 30 minutes.

When done, tent with aluminum foil and allow the ribs to rest for 5 minutes.