Delicious Feast: How Long to Slow Cook Short Ribs?
For this family gathering, I want to cook slow-cooked spare ribs myself, but I am very worried about the cooking time. If the time is too short, I am worried that it will not be flavorful. If the time is too long, I am worried that the meat will be too mushy. Finally, after my unremitting efforts, I found the most suitable slow-cooking time. Today, let's talk about "How long does it take to slow-cook spare ribs?".
How long to slow cook short ribs?
The time required for slow-cooking spare ribs depends on the actual situation.
Generally speaking, if you use an ordinary pot to cook spare ribs and simmer slowly on the stove with low heat, it will take about 1.5 - 2 hours to make the spare ribs fully absorb the flavor of the soup and the meat of the spare ribs becomes soft and tender.
If you use a pressure cooker to slow-cook spare ribs, the required time will be shortened. Generally, after slow-cooking and pressurizing, you only need to continue cooking for 20 - 30 minutes. But it should be noted that the taste of spare ribs cooked in a pressure cooker will be slightly harder than that cooked in an ordinary pot. If you want it to be softer, you can extend the cooking time.
Precautions
If you like a soft and mushy texture, like the kind for the elderly or children, you can extend the slow-cooking time on low heat by 30 - 60 minutes on the basis of using an ordinary pot. Only in this way can the spare ribs be separated from the bones.
The actual time for slow-cooking spare ribs should be determined comprehensively considering the size and quantity of the spare ribs. If the spare rib pieces are relatively large or there are a large number, the time should also be appropriately extended.
Slow cooker beef ribs recipe easy
Main ingredients
500 grams of spare ribs
3 slices of ginger
2 scallions
2 tablespoons of cooking wine
2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
Appropriate amount of rock sugar
Appropriate amount of salt
Appropriate amount of minced garlic
Appropriate amount of green garlic
Appropriate amount of clear water
Steps
Pretreatment: Cut the beef spare ribs into pieces, blanch them in hot water to remove blood and impurities, and take them out for later use.
Stir-fry fragrant: Heat a hot pan, add the sliced ginger and scallions and stir-fry until fragrant.
Fry the spare ribs: Add the blanched beef spare ribs to the pan and fry until both sides are golden brown.
Season: Add cooking wine and stir evenly to bring out the fragrance. Pour in enough clear water. The amount of water should be slightly more than enough to submerge the spare ribs. Add light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and an appropriate amount of rock sugar for seasoning.
Slow-cook: After boiling, turn to low heat and cover the pot and slow-cook for 40 - 60 minutes until the beef spare ribs become very tender.
Reduce the sauce: After cooking, season with salt according to personal taste and sprinkle with minced garlic and green garlic.
Why are my slow cooker ribs tough?
The main considerations are the following reasons:
Insufficient cooking time
The texture of spare ribs is relatively hard. If the cooking time is not enough, then the spare ribs cannot be fully softened and tender, so they taste very hard. Therefore, in daily life, the cooking time for spare ribs should be sufficient to make the meat fibers of the spare ribs soft and tender.
Improper control of heat
When cooking spare ribs, it is generally recommended to simmer slowly with low heat. If the heat is too high, then the spare ribs will be cooked on the surface but still raw inside. Secondly, if the heat is too high, it is also very easy to dry up the soup of the spare ribs. Use low heat to allow the heat to penetrate evenly into the inside of the spare ribs. After being cooked, the spare ribs will be soft and tender and fall off the bones easily.
Poor handling of spare ribs
Before cooking spare ribs, the spare ribs need to be blanched first. Blanching can not only remove the blood and impurities of the spare ribs, but also make the spare ribs better absorb the soup, which is beneficial to softening the meat.
Insufficient amount of water
When cooking spare ribs, enough water should be added. Water can help soften the meat of spare ribs. If too little water is added, then the spare ribs will not have enough moisture to moisten them during the cooking process and will easily become dry and hard. Usually, when cooking spare ribs, the amount of water should cover the spare ribs.
Do short ribs get more tender the longer you cook them?
Yes, the longer spare ribs are cooked, the tenderer the taste will be.
Under long-term cooking, the collagen in spare ribs will slowly decompose and the meat fibers will gradually soften, resulting in soft and tender meat. For example, after slow-cooking for 2 - 3 hours, with a gentle bite, the meat will separate from the bone and the taste is very soft and glutinous.
But in daily life, it is not recommended to cook spare ribs for too long, because if the cooking time is too long, the meat of the spare ribs will be too mushy, losing its original shape and taste and becoming loose. In this way, the taste will not be good.
Secondly, after long-term cooking, minerals such as calcium in spare ribs will also dissolve excessively, resulting in a reduction in nutritional value. In daily life, it is recommended to control the cooking time according to your own favorite taste and the size and type of spare ribs.
How long does it take for short ribs to get done?
The time for baking spare ribs will be affected by the size of the spare ribs, the power of the oven and the desired taste:
Generally, for normal-sized pork spare ribs, after preheating the oven to 200℃ and putting the pork spare ribs in, it only takes 40 - 60 minutes to bake. If you like a crispy texture, then baking for 60 minutes is the most suitable.
If your spare ribs are relatively thick or beef spare ribs, then the baking time will be longer. Preheat the oven to 200℃ and it takes 1.5 - 2 hours to bake. During the baking process, you can wrap the spare ribs with tin foil to make the spare ribs heated evenly.
If you bake spare ribs on a grill, the time is similar to that of an oven, but it should be noted to turn the spare ribs regularly and also control the heat to avoid overheating and causing the spare ribs to burn too quickly.
Why are my short ribs not tender in the crockpot?
It may be caused by the following reasons:
First of all, the factor of insufficient cooking time needs to be considered. It should be understood that the meat of beef short ribs is relatively firm. Different from pork ribs, it needs a longer time to cook until tender. If the cooking time is too short, then the meat fibers of beef short ribs will not have time to decompose, resulting in a hard taste.
Secondly, it may be caused by incorrect temperature setting. If the temperature set during cooking is too low, then the cooking process will become slow, making it difficult for beef short ribs to reach the ideal tenderness. When cooking beef short ribs, make sure that the temperature of the slow cooker can keep the liquid in the pot rolling slightly, so that the beef short ribs can be heated evenly.
Also, the size of beef short ribs will affect their taste. If the beef short ribs are large, then the cooking time will be extended. If the time is insufficient, then the beef short ribs will taste hard.
Then, improper handling of beef short ribs before cooking will also make them hard. For example, not marinating or blanching in advance. Marinating in advance can make the meat of beef short ribs more tender, and blanching can remove blood and impurities and make beef short ribs better absorb the cooking soup.
Finally, if there is too little soup, the beef short ribs cannot be well soaked in the soup and will easily become dry during the cooking process, thus affecting their tenderness. Therefore, when cooking beef short ribs, make sure there is enough soup to cover the beef short ribs so that they can be slowly cooked and become tender in a moist environment.
