The beef Rib Primal is located under the front section of the backbone and used primarily for support. Popular cuts from the Rib include the rich, flavorful Ribeye Steak and the Prime Rib Roast.
One thing beef and pork ribs have in common is their amount of connective tissue, which requires long and slow cooking. Either dry—or moist-heat cooking methods can be used. The key to success when cooking ribs is the low temperature and several hours of cooking time.
The Ribeye
The most popular cut from the Beef Rib Primal is easily the ribeye steak. This steak is rich, juicy, and full-flavored, with generous marbling throughout. It is sold bone-in. Due to the exceptional taste and tenderness Beef Rib Steaks delivers for operators and diners alike, Bone-in Rib Steaks offers great plate coverage and impressive presentations.
Beef Back Ribs
Similar to pork back ribs, beef back ribs come from the upper portion of the carcass. Beef back ribs are generally bone and fat with a bit of cartilage and a small amount of meat.
There is a good reason for the ribs being cut like this, however. Meatpackers and butchers do so because the meat is reserved for ribeye steaks and prime rib. It just so happens that those two cuts of meat are some of the most profitable per pound. Beef ribs are significantly less desirable than other cuts of meat, so the intercostal meat, meat between the ribs, usually ends up like ground beef.
Beef Short Ribs
Beef short ribs, like pork short ribs, come from the lower part of the ribcage where it meets the sternum. Beef short ribs are tough with plenty of connective tissue. Unlike beef back ribs, beef short ribs have plenty of meat on them because, from an economic standpoint, there is no other real use for the meat.
They are called short ribs because they are generally cut shorter, usually between three to four inches. This is done because a beef carcass is much larger than a pork carcass and if they were cut any larger they would be difficult to manage when cooking.
The most common way to prepare beef short ribs is to braise them, although people can and do smoke them on occasion.
