How To Barbeque - Cheap Cuts of Beef (Part 1)

A lot of you out there love to barbecue, but don't do it as often as you'd like because you think you either don't have the time, the patience, the skill, or the money to put food on the table from your grill as often as you'd like.  Well, I'm here to tell you, that's just not the case!

I've already told you how to start your fire with a chimney, if you're using charcoal, so that saves a ton of time in the start up process, and if you're using gas, I know you're not going down that road! Impatience is something that you overcome with confidence and knowledge and goes hand in hand with the skills that you're learning on this site, because you never mind waiting for something good.  So, what about the money?  How do you overcome that?

A lot of people think that, if they're going to learn how to grill, they need to buy either steaks to impress everyone, a slab of ribs for the summer holidays, and burgers and hot dogs for the weekend games.  Truth is, they're missing out on the whole middle range of great meats that don't cost an arm and a leg.  So, when I talk about cheap cuts of meat, I'm usually referring to the  "$2.49/lb or less" variety.   It's not often you can get any kind of steak cut for that kind of money, and if you figure on about a half to two thirds of a pound per person, plus your sides, we're really talking about a quality home cooked meal, serving meat off the grill that tastes like steak, for about $4.00 a plate!  Do I have your attention?


I'm going to focus on two particular cuts and how I prepare them, even though I've said a hundred times, I'm not your recipe guy.  I would far rather teach you how to drive your car, than tell you what car to buy and where to drive it.  Grilling is about using your knowledge to create something you can be proud of, so feel free to experiment!

One of my favorite cuts is boneless or country style beef ribs.  I get mine at the big box store, because they go through enough volume to keep the price low and the stock fresh.  Sure, sometimes I buy more than I can use at one time, but they freeze just fine.  A lot of people don't eat beef ribs with any regularity, probably because, if you go down to your local rib shack, they specialize in pork or baby-back ribs, and the sauce that smothers them.  (I know, a lot of people love the sauce, and there's a lot of great sauces out there, but once you get used to having flavorful, tender, juicy meat, pork or beef, you may want to leave the sauce in the bottle!)  Besides, a lot of rib shacks don't do enough volume in beef-on-the-bone ribs, so they buy a cheaper cut that's tougher and fattier, then don't cook it right, so nobody orders it again!  Vicious cycle.

Anyway, out here where I'm at, I can get a nice cut of boneless beef ribs, nicely trimmed, in strips about six inches long, an inch and a half wide and two inches thick.  'Bout half a pound apiece.  We have a local sauce out here, called Chaka's MMM Sauce (We call it Mmm, Mmm, Mmm sauce in my house!) that I use as a marinade and it goes with just about everything...except some fish, I've found.  Comes in Zesty or Original.  I like the Original just fine. Doesn't have hardly any sugar in it, so it doesn't set your grill on fire and you can baste with it, or cut up your meat, dip it and put it back on the grill.  I put my meat in the marinade about the same time I'm startin' up the grill, so the meat reaches room temperature while the sauce is soaking in.  I like to put some steak salt on the ribs too, but you can use whatever's clever!

Fifteen minutes later, the coals are ready, I spread 'em out, nice and even, as low down as I can get from the surface, then close the lid.  Give it about five minutes to melt any residual grease, then give it a quick scrape, then a brush and we're ready to go.  Place the ribs over direct heat, correct side up, as in the way they were packaged!  Remember, they are a little thicker than they are wide.  Give 'em about ten to twelve minutes each side, depending on your weather conditions, fuel source, ventilation, distance between heat and grill and grilling surface.  (All that stuff you already learned in my "Layman's Guide to Great Barbecue" ) Roll them in Chaka's when you flip 'em, then again before you serve 'em.

If you're serving a larger gathering outside, you can slice these up on the grill and, believe me, you'll get a whole bunch of hungry on-lookers wanting tasters.  Put the slices in a bowl and nobody needs to worry about cutting up the pieces. ( No need to add any more Chaka's on top or let the meat swim in it.)  If it's just the four of you, take it straight to the table and let everyone pick their own piece.  Honest truth, every time I serve it and there's someone new at the table, I have to explain to them that it's not steak.  Looks, feels and tastes just like sirloin.

So, what do we have?  As far as most are are concerned, a steak dinner ($10.00). About forty minutes total time, light to bite, assuming maybe some rice ($3.00) and a salad ($4.00) with some garlic bread ($2.00)?  Low maintenance, quick and easy, one pot clean-up, under five bucks a head.  You couldn't get out of the McMeal grill for close to that!

Looks like that's all I'm going to get through right now, but look for Part II of this mini-series and I'll take you through another one of our family's favorites!