I’ve done short ribs quite a few times, usually costco bought. I usually brown 'em, make a wine/demi/herb mixture, pour it over them, braise at 250 or so for 4-5 hours. Usually when I pull them out the sauce is reduced to a pretty good thickness, I remove whatever fat there is (usually not a whole lot), strain the solids, richen the sauce a bit and serve…easy! 
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Today, Bryans Wagyu short ribs. Very marbled and beautiful. Did the same as above…lifted the lid of the La Crueset after about 3 hours…to my surprise they were swimming in liquid, mostly rendered fat. Now that I think about it, it makes sense.
Anyway, I’ve pulled the short ribs, strained the solids and have the “sauce” in the frig so the remaining fat will solidify so I can pull it off. There seems to be about the right amount of sauce under the fat. I just put the short ribs back in as there is still fat to render, and poured some wine on them and will continue to braise for the next 2 hours or so.
Any thoughts to my plan? Should I have just left it alone?
Hope I don’t mess these up…LOL.
I don’t think you would have messed it up. It sounds like there was a lot of fat in the meat, which would result in a lot to skim off and cooling it would help a lot. Just re-heat it slowly and it should be good. Sounds tasty, that’s for sure. That’s very similar to the way that I do beef short-ribs but usually I don’t have so much fat. The fact that the ribs were swimming in it already means that they are probably already delicious.
Do you always cool to remove the fat? If not, then what other methods do you use?
I strained all the liquid into a fat seperator and pulled most of the fat off the top. There is probably 1/4" still on top so I tossed the seperator into the frig so it will harden and I will toss it. Never had to do this before. I assume that the short ribs I picked up in the past just had a low fatty content, and these (being Wagyu-they were REALLY marbled)are really high. Makes sense now, just surprised me. I’m nearly certain I have always braised these with the lid on the Creuset. Maybe I’m going nuts…LOL.
When I pulled the meat out to strain the sauce, there is still quite a bit of fat yet to cook off…so they are back in just with wine for liquid. I’ll keep adding wine as needed. The sauce in the seperator actually looks pretty good. I’ll reheat in a bit and add a bit of demi-glace to richen it if needed.
I’ll post later on how this turned out…just rolling with the punches this afternoon.
We use a Le Creuset as well and always keep the lid on during the braising process. Sounds pretty tasty already. What kind of fat separator do you use? I’ve always tried to manually skim the fat and that is a major pain in the ass.
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/cw202/index.cfm?pkey=xsrd0m1|16|||0|||||||fat%20seperator&cm_src=SCH" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Hope that link works…looks really long…LOL.
Lisa is really good with this thing…toward the end I had fat and sauce trying to pour so I put it in the frig. The fat is solidifying now.
TOSS IT??? That fat is why that meat is so expensive! Use it to brown potatoes or something to wring all of its goodness out, for the love of God…
LOL…there was a LOT OF GOODNESS .
I meant that I was tossing it out of this dish…don’t need it here. Maybe a dash in the polenta? Hmm…
Wow…nice! Thanks… I will…
Dan - I really like cooking them one day ahead then refrigerating over night…seems to really concentrate the flavors.
In your case sounds like you are going at it tonight so thats not an option…refrigerator to solidify then reheat. You’ll be fine
Put some of that beefy goodness in some greens (collard or mustard or just spinach) for a down home touch…
I actually save all of our bacon fat for cooking spinach or other veggies from time to time!!!
Thanks Tony,
Every time I do this I think that I should plan farther ahead and do the 2 day method. Just not the way I’m wired…LOL.
The “issue” wasn’t an issue at all. Wow…turned out very rich and decadent. After I removed the fat, I put the sauce in a saucepan and simmered on a pretty low temp for an hour or so. Amazing texture/sheen. The meat was really rich. Retained just enough colagen/fat for amazing flavor, but simply fell apart when the fork hit it. “Guest quality” to be sure. The cheesy polenta even turned out nicely .
Also…the '03 Lagier Meredith Syrah is drinking quite nicely. Meaty/peppery nose…nice texture…a little brambly syrah fruit…and still some tannin to shed. No signs of decline, many years ahead of it, and drinking well now.
I’ll definitely do this again…Bryans Wagyu short ribs are a hit. 6.5 hours total on the cook…not a whole lot of effort.
I’m with Tony. The two-day approach gives spectacular results.
I do a two day with all of my braised dishes too.
Pretty standard. I have the same experience even with the Costco shortribs, so no surprise you got even more fat from the Flannery. One piece of advice: you’ll retain a lot more tenderness in the meat if you let it rest and cool in the liquid, then deal with defatting after that - either by fridging (which can take many hours, preferably overnight), or the fat separator. I let them cool essentially to room temp submerged in liquid, then strain the liquid into separator, then reduce the remaining sauce to where I want it and add the meat back in toward the end.
Thanks Alan,
The whole thing has me perplexed. I’ve done this same recipe lots of times, and usually I will put it together, leave the house for hours, come back, and the ribs are tender, the sauce is quite thick, and there is very little fat to deal with.
The Flannery’s did render a lot of fat, understandably…and the result was fantastic. I can’t imagine that meat being any more tender than it was. Next time I do it, I wouldn’t do it any differently, I would just be ready for more fat removal. They were melt in your mouth, rich, decadent all at the same time. the sauce had a wonderful texture, nice sheen, great flavor. Overnight may have magnified the flavors, but it was good nonetheless…
Wagyu inherently has more fat, and in fact it even melts at a much lower temp than traditional breeds. Braising only intensifies this effect. What Alan said is spot on.