Searing the Ribs Was the Way To Go

Of course there are so many other ways to go…

While shopping at our local Costco the other day, Patti found beef ribs on sale. I don't get as excited about beef ribs as she does. I prefer pork ribs, but they weren't on sale.

I didn't want to rain on her parade, so I got as excited as possible and agreed we should buy them for a BBQ the next day; plus, they were on sale. So buy them we did, three packages, about one dozen ribs in total.

We also bought this pineapple and habanero marinade for the ribs, making them sound better to me than they were with BBQ sauce.

All in all, it was a win-win situation for both Patti and me. At least, I thought so.

When we arrived home, Patti asked how I would prepare the ribs? I didn't think I was involved in this process because I am not a fan of beef ribs.

I look at making beef ribs this way. They either come out great or not great. There is no middle ground. However, I could be wrong since I've been wrong many times. If I am, please let me know in the comments section. I would enjoy hearing a happy middle ground to beef ribs.

Patti mentioned boiling them first, which I was against. I'm not too fond of meat when it's been boiled first. I believe there are better ways to prepare meat for the grill. I usually prefer searing the meat, and since I stated my preference out loud to Patti (talk about stepping into the fire), she agreed that I should sear the ribs first.

Searing the Ribs

Searing meat isn't a hard thing to do. It's more time-consuming than anything else, and when you figure I had a dozen beef ribs to start with, and then Patti added another dozen beef short ribs we had frozen to the pile, my hands were going to be busy.

I broke out my 6-quart dutch oven and placed it on the stovetop to get it heated. I set the temp at medium-high, so once I put the meat in the pan, it would sizzle as soon as it was placed in the oil.

I salted and peppered the meat vigorously before adding it to the Dutch oven, and when the oil was shimmery, as I like to say, I started searing the meat a few ribs at a time.

I was a little off with the dozen stuff. Remember now we're talking roughly about 24-30 ribs total. Of course, this may seem like a lot of ribs, but we have a large family, plus you don't get much meat on beef ribs as you do on pork ribs, in my opinion.

The searing roughly took over 3 hours in a hot and stuffy kitchen. Figures we would pick a semi-hot day to have a BBQ. However, Patti wouldn't have to BBQ till later in the day when it was slightly cooler.

Patti has had to be the BBQ chef for the past few years after finding out that too much smoke from the BBQ was affecting my heart and me having issues breathing and enjoying a good BBQ.

Now I stick to the flat grill (outside) and cook inside to keep breathing better, but I'm always the preparer of the meats going on the BBQ, whether beef, pork, chicken, or seafood.

The BBQ

After the searing, I placed all the ribs on a sheet tray, ready for the head BBQ chef to take them away. Patti saw the pile and laughed, thinking of all the searing I did that afternoon. She said, "maybe it would have been easier to boil them?" She was correct as usual, but I dislike boiling beef.

So off the ribs went to the BBQ, and about an hour or so, they were led in by the entire family who had been sitting outside keeping Patti company as she BBQ'ed. Even the dogs were inline to bring the ribs to the table.

All in all, it was a great BBQ, and the ribs were excellent. That's correct; they came out great. They weren't in the middle or even at the bottom end of not great, they were cooked to perfection, and the marinade was perfect for these beef ribs.

So next time when you have beef ribs, if you don't do this already, sear the ribs and then BBQ them—what a difference.

Buon Appetito