What would be the best way to smoke whole plates of short ribs?

Anybody who knows short ribs knows they shrink up on the bone just like any
other ribs. But short ribs shrink up leaving up to 50% of the rib bone
exposed, like so:

http://i47.tinypic.com/2jdjr42.jpg

So if I have shole plated of short ribs is it best to:

1. Score the meat between the ribs to the membrane
2. Completely separate the ribs
3. Leave them alone, just seaon and cook whole.

Im kinda in favor of #1, but I'm afraid that halfway thorugh the cook, the
plates will want to shrink up into a cylinder lengthwise and not lie flat.
The only time I've seen them cooked commercially, they appeared to be #2.

I like the extra surface area of #1 and #2 for extra smoke and spice.

These are whole plates, 4 ribs to a plate, each plate is 12" long (bone
length) by 10" across, and possibly the best part of the cow to smoke and
eat, period.

-sw

Sqwertz wrote:

> What would be the best way to smoke whole plates of short ribs?
>
> Anybody who knows short ribs knows they shrink up on the bone just like any
> other ribs. But short ribs shrink up leaving up to 50% of the rib bone
> exposed, like so:
>
> http://i47.tinypic.com/2jdjr42.jpg
>
> So if I have shole plated of short ribs is it best to:
>
> 1. Score the meat between the ribs to the membrane
> 2. Completely separate the ribs
> 3. Leave them alone, just seaon and cook whole.
>
> Im kinda in favor of #1, but I'm afraid that halfway thorugh the cook, the
> plates will want to shrink up into a cylinder lengthwise and not lie flat.
> The only time I've seen them cooked commercially, they appeared to be #2.
>
> I like the extra surface area of #1 and #2 for extra smoke and spice.
>
> These are whole plates, 4 ribs to a plate, each plate is 12" long (bone
> length) by 10" across, and possibly the best part of the cow to smoke and
> eat, period.


Pic Caption: WARNING - Great meal ahead

I'm a fan of method #1. Sometimes #3 works out fine though.

--
Mort

On Wed, 26 May 2010 07:43:30 -0700, Mort wrote:

> Sqwertz wrote:

>> So if I have whole plates of short ribs is it best to:
>>
>> 1. Score the meat between the ribs to the membrane
>> 2. Completely separate the ribs
>> 3. Leave them alone, just seaon and cook whole.

> Pic Caption: WARNING - Great meal ahead

Short ribs ARE the bomb (if you can get them cheap like I do).

> I'm a fan of method #1. Sometimes #3 works out fine though.

Will they start to curl? I have 27 pounds - 6 racks of them and I won't
have room for them if they're not flat or separated.

-sw