Description
These are beef short ribs also known as Jacob’s ladder from North Yorkshire native breed cattle.
Short ribs are cut from the ribs just above the brisket. This is half of a full Jacobs Ladder, it has a taper from one end to the other, so beware that there will naturally be more meat on one end. They make a great cut for slow cooking by smoking or braising. Cooked on the BBQ or in the oven, the meat will fall away from the bone and stay succulent due to the good fat content.
Beef short ribs are packed with flavour much of which comes from the high fat content and connective tissue. Being from a hard working part of the animal makes them naturally very tough. If you’re prepared to be patient though, you can make them perfectly tender with the meat falling from the bone.
To reach perfection, short ribs should be cooked low and slow. The idea is to break down all the fat and connective tissue, basting the meat with flavour as they cook. What is undesirable and chewy will eventually become succulent and gelatinous and add to the beefy flavour. The connective tissue in the muscles will start to break down at around 75℃ and the short ribs will need taking up to as much as 95℃ to be finished.
Native breed short ribs are well suited to low and slow cooking due to the high fat content and the more developed flavour that comes with age.
If you buy a rack of ribs, you might want to cut them into blocks of two ribs. This will reduce the amount of time to reach the right temperature and will expose more of the meat.
Cooking Guides
How to Cook Beef Short Ribs – A guide to cooking short ribs either on your BBQ or in the oven.

Nigel Hercock-Walker (verified owner) –
Anthony Harris (verified owner) –
Slow cooked delicious and plenty of meat, good value.
David Reeve (verified owner) –
Paul Melocoton (verified owner) –
Geoff Kitson (verified owner) –
Shaun Harris (verified owner) –
Stuart Burgess (verified owner) –
Will Cole (verified owner) –
This is the second time I’ve tried to cook these ‘short’ ribs. They’re unlike any other ribs I’ve cooked before for two reasons%3A 1. The length of the ribs is incredibly short%3B 2. The amount of fat – both top layer and innner layer – is more than other ribs. The effect this has had for me is that you end up with a lot of meat sitting precariously on not much rib meaning when they start to pull away during the cook%2C they tend to lean and topple. And with the amount of fat%2C you can’t render the top without sacrificing the lower part of meat%2C or you try to render the inner fat but then you get a very dry top piece of meat. I’m sure better bbq’ers would find these easy but I’m going to stick with longer short ribs in the future.
Jeanette Newell (verified owner) –
Really lovely braised.
Alex Yiu (verified owner) –
Andrew Leamon (verified owner) –
Really enjoyed them, super tasty and well chosen by the tram
Peter Kling (verified owner) –
The Jacob’s ladder was made up of very short ribs and multiple layers of meat and fat. The result was some of the meat being under cooked and the rest overcooked. Nothing like the picture…
Micah Kent (verified owner) –
This is an amazingly tasty joint of ribs, great quality and always reliable delivery.
Dave Tilbe (verified owner) –
The title says it all.