Slow Cooker Short Rib Barbecue

I was very pleased with the way this beef barbecue recipe turned out! The sauce was delicious and this was an excellent way to use up my last package of beef short ribs from the freezer. My husband and my mom (staying with us for a weekend visit) were big fans too!

This is the 4th beef short rib recipe I've posted in the past 6 months. I found myself with an abundance of short ribs from the beef raised on my grandparent's farm. I've been working my way through each package in my freezer, trying out different recipes. While I have become an enthusiast of this fatty cut of meat that yields a super tender, flavorful, protein I was not sad to open this final package when preparing this yummy crock pot meal. Short ribs are time consuming. Mostly because it takes quite a bit of time to pick that mouth-watering meat away from the fat and bone that makes up a short rib. So, as I unwrapped these short ribs, I was thinking, "Yay! Last package of short ribs!" We've had a good run with recipes like The Pioneer Woman's Braised Short Ribs, Asian Braised Short Ribs, Korean Beef Short Rib Noodle Bowl, and now this BBQ recipe. Each recipe was completely delicious, but I was ready to focus on another cut of meat. Then, last Friday my mom arrived for a visit, bearing a whole cooler full of beef for our freezer. In the mix: 3 more packages of short ribs! I guess my quest to find new and wonderful ways to prepare short ribs will go on a little longer.



While this recipe spends most of it's time slow cooking in the crock pot, you do need to put in a little stove top time. First, shake the ribs in a mixture of flour, salt, and pepper.



Then heat a half stick of butter in a skillet and brown the short ribs on all sides.



Remove the ribs to your crock pot.



Add the barbecue sauce ingredients to the drippings in the skillet: onion, garlic, beef broth, red wine vinegar, brown sugar, chili sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and chili powder. Stir the ingredients together and bring the mixture to a boil.



Pour the mixture over the short ribs, then cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours.



I forgot all about mine until my husband called me during the class I teach at our church on Thursday nights. "Do you want me to turn off this crock pot?" he asked. Shoot. This is what I found when I returned home around 9 o'clock. These short ribs were definitely cooked!



They were still good, though. I picked the meat off of the bone and discarded all of the fat, then put the meat into the fridge. Next, I poured the cooking juices through a strainer and into a bowl. I refrigerated the strained sauce overnight too...so that I could easily skim off all of the fat. I always make my short ribs a day ahead of serving so that it's easier to remove the fat.



When dinner time rolled around on Friday night, a poured the thick, rich barbecue sauce over the pulled short ribs and re-heated them on the stove top.



This may just be our favorite slow cooker beef barbecue recipe. It certainly rivals our current favorite: Texas Beef BBQ. Soooo good!




Slow Cooker Barbecued Short Ribs from Taste of Home

12 Servings Prep: 25 min. Cook: 9 hours
Ingredients
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 to 4-1/2 pounds boneless beef short ribs
1/4 to 1/3 cup butter
1 large onion, chopped
1-1/2 cups beef Broth
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
5 garlic cloves, minced
1-1/2 teaspoons chili powder
Directions
•In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the flour, salt and
pepper. Add ribs in batches and shake to coat. In a large skillet,
brown ribs in butter.

•Transfer to a 6-qt. slow cooker. In the same skillet, combine the
remaining ingredients. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil;
pour over ribs.

•Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or until meat is tender. Yield:
12 servings.

*Note: This recipe would also work well with a 3-4 lb. beef roast.

Enjoy!