Beef Ribs in Sweet Chilli BBQ Sauce

This reverse sear method of cooking will require an oven. a barbeque is optional.

Jacobs ladder is the UK name for a cut of meat commonly called ‘beef short ribs’ or ‘Beef Fingers’. This cut includes a short section of the rib bone and the meat around it, which can vary in thickness.

Serves:
2-4

Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 6hrs

Difficulty Level:
Medium

Pairing: Bushmills 16 year or Rhône Syrah

Ingredients

Meat:


For the Rub:

  • 1 tablespoon of brown sugar

  • 2 teaspoons of paprika

  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

  • 1/2 teaspoon of cumin powder

  • 3/4 teaspoon of mustard powder

  • 1 teaspoon of salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper


For Barbecue Sauce:

  • 1 white onion, finely chopped

  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

  • 2 whole red chillis, roughly chopped

  • 125ml apple cider vinegar

  • 335g tomato ketchup

  • 80g dark brown sugar

  • 2 teaspoons black pepper

  • 2 teaspoons mustard powder

  • 1 teaspoon hot chilli pepper

  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

  • 500 ml water

Stage One

(6 hours before you want to eat)

  1. Remove the ribs from your fridge, they’ll come to room temperature as you prep everything else

  2. Use a sharp knife to cut through the meat between the bones, to separate the ribs (optional; this recipe works perfectly without separating the ribs)

  3. Preheat oven to 130°C fan

  4. Mix all the rub ingredients together in a bowl

  5. Press beef ribs into the rub, coating all sides

  6. Heat a large ovenproof casserole dish (we like cast iron) on your hob

  7. Add your onions with a dash of olive oil and fry until brown

  8. Add all the Barbecue Sauce ingredients to the onions before mixing in water

  9. Add the ribs and roll them in the sauce

  10. Heat everything together - remove from the heat once gently bubbling

  11. Turn the ribs until they’re all meat side down in the sauce (don’t worry if the bone is out of the liquid)

  12. Cover tightly with the lid and place in the middle of your oven for 4.5 hours


Stage Two - Oven Finish

45 minutes before you want to eat

  1. Increase the oven temperature to 200°C fan

  2. Remove your casserole dish from the oven and remove the lid

  3. Carefully roll the ribs over until they are meat side up

  4. With the lid off, place the dish back into the oven for 30 minutes


Stage Two - BBQ Finish

45 minutes before you want to eat

  1. Preheat your BBQ until it’s very hot (around 300°C)

  2. Remove your casserole dish from the oven and remove the lid

  3. Carefully move the ribs from the dish to the BBQ grill, meat side down. The bone will most likely come away from the meat at this stage and the meat will be very tender.

  4. Cook until charred (if the bones have separated, you could BBQ both sides of the meat)


Stage Three

(15 minutes before you want to eat)

  1. Carefully move the ribs onto your serving plate/s without the sauce

  2. Return the casserole dish to the hob, on medium-high heat and mix the sauce

  3. After 5-10mins the sauce will have reduced and become thicker

  4. Pour the BBQ sauce over the ribs and serve with chips, corn and slaw